US Field Hockey News

US Field Hockey News

U.S. Field Hockey Summer League Continues in Virginia Beach

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. —U.S. Field Hockey’s Summer League, the Association’s annual elite-level competition, continues with its second weekend of play, June 7-8, at the U.S. Field Hockey National Training Center in Virginia Beach.

Games begin at 1 p.m. Saturday and resume at 8 a.m. on Sunday. There is no charge for admission to the games.

The league’s second weekend of divisional play features the debut of the South Division including the four-time defending league champion Southern Charm, 2002 league runner-up Midwest Cyclones, the Virginia Beach-based Tidewater Tempest and the U.S. Under-20 team.

The North Division opened play May 31-June 1 in New Haven, Conn., with the Metro Rush jumping to the top of the standings with a 5-0-1 record. The New England Eclipse and Pennsylvania Pride earned 2-2-2 marks during the first weekend followed by the Philadelphia Fury at 0-5-1. All of the league teams will meet for interdivisional play the weekend of June 21-22 in Virginia Beach, with the top four teams advancing to the semifinals, July 6, also in Virginia Beach.

With a team loaded with national team standouts, collegiate all-America selections and promising high school stars, the defending champion Charm is again the team to beat in 2003.

“We are going to be a very attacking orientated team playing to our personality strengths,” says Charm coach Nick Conway. “We will score goals, but for us to be successful we need to ensure that we are not overly aggressive and do not ship easy goals. We may struggle in the group phase of the competition due to the lack of player availability, but if we can accumulate enough points to advance, then watch out in the finals.”

The Charm has won all but the first league championships since the league was formed in 1998, but Conway also sees a more balanced competition in 2003.

“The standard and competitiveness of the league has increased every year since its inception due to the growth in the number of people that wish to be involved,” said Conway. “The biggest difference that I see now is that the college players, and recent college graduates, are having a much bigger influence on the outcome of games Whereas before it was the same wise old heads that would dictate games, now it seems that to win, you have to have a nucleus of younger, fitter, players to support your experience. The league gets stronger every year thanks to this shift in power and prominence.”

Conway will miss the Charm’s opening weekend while assisting with the U.S. National Team on its tour of Argentina and Chile. Univ. of North Carolina head coach Karen Shelton, who led the Charm to league championships in 1999 and 2000, will lead the team at Virginia Beach.

The weekend roster for the Charm includes Olympians Cindy Werely, (’96) and Jackie Pereira (Australia, ‘96, ’00) as well as current U.S. national team members Jill Dedman and Abby Martin. The team also included former U.S. national team players Michelle (Vizzuso) Crawford, goalkeeper Jana Withrow and forward Jenny Everett along with current U.S. Under-23 team members Meredith Keller, Kerry Falgowski, Maria Whitehead and Kelsey Keeran. Keller (Univ. of North Carolina) earned collegiate All-America honors in 2003 along with Charm teammates Heather Aughinbaugh (Wake Forest), Kelly Doton (Wake Forest) and Kelly Dostal (Wake Forest).

The 2002 Summer League runners-up, the Cyclones are expected to once again contend for top honors with a team that includes U.S. U23 team members and college All-America selections April Fronzoni (Univ. Michigan), Kristi Gannon (Univ. Michigan), Molly Powers (Univ.Michigan) and Tiffany Leister (Univ. Iowa) as well as All-America Sophie Rosmalen (Michigan State). Goalkeeper Kristina Kirkaldy of Michigan State is an alternate to the U.S. Under-23 team and led the Spartans to an NCAA semifinal berth in 2002.

The Tempest earned its first ever trip to the Summer League semifinals in 2002, and returns leading scorer Angie Loy to the roster. An All-America from Old Dominion, Loy led the league with 9 goals in 2002 and will be joined by ODU teammates Tiffany Snow, Melissa Leonetti and Tara Herrmann. A member of the U.S. Under-23 team, Snow was the NCAA Player of the Year in 2002 while Leonetti earned All-America honors and Herrmann captured All-Region accolades. Univ. of Richmond coach Angie Bradley will lead the team while coach Beth Anders is coaching the U.S. National team.

Entering its first year in the league, the U.S. Under-20 team is coming off a win at the annual John F. Kennedy Memorial Tournament. The U20 team went undefeated at the tournament and beat the U.S. Under-23 team, 3-2, in the championship game to capture the title. Coached by Tess Ellis and assistants Tracey Griesbaum (Univ. of Iowa) and Michele Madison (Michigan State), the U20 team is expected to form the nucleus of next year’s Junior Pan American Championship squad. The team features Expected to form the nucleus of next year’s Junior Pan American Championships team, the U20 squad features collegiate All-America Natalie Martirosian (Princeton) and all-region selections Lauren Powley (Maryland), Gracie Sorbello (Duke) and Lauren Stiver (Iowa). The team also includes high school All-America picks Jill Civic and Rachel Dawson as well as U.S. U16 team member Katelyn Falgowski.

Now in its sixth season, the league features eight franchise teams comprised of top players from around the country including U.S. Olympians, U.S. Junior national team members, collegiate All-Americans and high school standouts. The League encourages mixed-aged teams which allows athletes as young as 15 to play on the same teams with players with years of international experience. Players earned spots on the League rosters through open trials held in the early spring at locations throughout the eastern United States.