Season preview: Field hockey
By Becca Bincer, Managing Sports Editor
The 2001 field hockey team, fresh off of a 2000 campaign that left them with a 14-3 overall record, a Little Three championship, a bid to the NCAA Tournament and a 10th-national ranking in the season-ending STX/NFHCA Division III National Coaches Poll, has some big shoes to fill in the loss of Gretchen Bowe '01 to graduation. Bowe, who left her field hockey career behind her as an AstroTurf NFHCA Division III All-American, as well as the NESCAC Player of the Year, led the 2000 Jeff scoring juggernaut with seven goals and five assists, despite an unexpected early end to her senior campaign due to an injury sustained during the Nov. 11 Williams College showdown.

However, unlike the rest of her classmates, Bowe will make her return to the Jeff roster this year. As the Edward J. Hitchcock Fellow, Bowe will assist Head Coach Chris Paradis during the 2001 Amherst campaign. From the sideline, Bowe will watch Jeff Tri-captains Mairin Brady '02, Marcy Busch '02 and Anne Close '02 lead a deep and talented squad back to the postseason. Brady, along with senior goaltender Beth Sensing, earned postseason recognition. Brady marked five goals and five assists during her junior year co-captainship and received AstroTurf NFHCA Division III All-American honors as well as First Team All-NESCAC nods, while Sensing followed suit with a Second Team AstroTurf Division III All-Region bid.

The 2000 Jeffs were helped along by the maturing play of Abby Ouimet '03, who seconded Bowe's scoring efforts last season, with eight goals. Busch came in with six goals and two assists, while Christine Ryan '04, Robin Ackerman '02, Allison Aldrich '04 and Katherine Ryan '03 also helped chip away.

On the defensive end, Sensing, along with Close and Laurie Smith '02, anchored a stringent defense that held its opponents to less than one-third of the season-total 35 Jeff goals. The defense will play a key role this year, although the offensive play from last year's freshman crop seems promising as well.

The Jeffs will start their campaign by taking on Colby College on Sept. 9. The following Wednesday, they will begin a three-game homestand.

Issue 01, Submitted 2001-09-15 13:13:53