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June 24, 2007 — Pennsylvania/New Jersey 6, Midwest 1
VIRGINIA BEACH — For the Pennsylvania/New Jersey High-Performance Center field hockey team, the first half of the of the US Field Hockey National Championship match against the Midwest HPC was a test of the team’s work ethic encapsulated in the word “kaizen,” a Japanese term meaning “continuous improvement.”
Pennsylvania/New Jersey could have found itself doubting its improvement path when Midwest’s April Fronzoni put in a corner rebound in the third minute of play, while being unable to execute on its first seven corners.
But neither the team members nor P/NJ head coach Kristen Holmes-Winn were flummoxed in the least.
“We’ve had enough of a foundation, through our training, that we knew we would be able to come back, pull people out of spaces, and eventually get some easy goals out of it,” Holmes-Winn said.
After drawing level by the interval on a gorgeous high-low corner play between Katie Evans and Team USA’s Angie Loy, Pennsylvania/New Jersey rapped in five second-half goals, the last four in a span of less than six minutes to win the National Championship 6-1.
The win caps a splendid tournament for P/NJ, whose talent level and results compare to the best performances ever by a USA Field Hockey-sanctioned summer-league team.
Penn-Jersey’s eruption came about five minutes after Midwest peppered goalie Linz Markwart, late of Kent State University, with four rapid-fire shots.
“Our goalkeepers did really well in training, and unfortunately, Allison Nemeth got a head cold during the week, so Linz went in there and did a great job,” Holmes-Winn said.
U.S. international Sarah Dawson had goals in the 45th and 60th minutes, while Loy added a 59th-minute tally to her first-half goal. Teen sensations Katie O’Donnell (56th) and Kat Sharkey (62nd) rounded out the scoring.
P/NJ had some of the better young talent in the tournament, with Katie Reinprecht joining O’Donnell and Sharkey in the winning effort.
It must be said, however, that the outcome would not be the same without the efforts of some of the Team USA veterans, particularly captain Tracey Arndt (87 caps).
“With her out there, we could do things we ordinarily couldn’t,” Holmes-Winn said.
MIDWEST 1 0 — 1
PENNA-NJ 1 5 — 6
SCORING
M: April Fronzoni, fg, third minute
PNJ: Angie Loy (Katie Evans), pc, 22nd
PNJ: Sarah Dawson, fg, 45th
PNJ: Katie O’Donnell, fg, 56th
PNJ: Loy, fg, 60th
PNJ: Dawson, fg, 61st
PNJ: Kat Sharkey, fg, 62nd
Shots: M: 10; PNJ: 15.
Saves: M: Barb Weinberg 9; PNJ: Linz Markwart 9.
AWARDS
Outstanding Young Player: Katie O’Donnell, Pennsylvania-New Jersey HPC
Outstanding Goalkeeper: Amy Tran, New England HPC
Leading Goal Scorer: Katie O’Donnell, Pennsylvania-New Jersey HPC
Championship Final Outstanding Player: Angie Loy, Pennsylvania-New Jersey HPC
Championship Tournament Outstanding Player: Kayla Bashore, Midwest HPC
June 24, 2007 (bulletin) — US Pan Am Team, plus bonus info
The U.S. team is in for a tough assignment in beating 2002 World Cup champion Argentina at this summer’s Pan American Games, and the Beijing Olympic berth that goes along with it.
The selections that head coach Lee Bodimeade and the rest of the U.S. selectors made were probably even tougher.
The Pan Am team roster declaration is exactly 16 players — not an expanded squad from which 16 players can be declared before each match.
Here’s the team as announced today:
Kate Barber, F, North Carolina
Kayla Bashore, M, Indiana
Lauren Crandall, D, Wake Forest
Rachel Dawson, D, North Carolina
Kelly Doton, D, Wake Forest
Katelyn Falgowski, M, Wilmington St. Mark’s (Del.)
Michelle Kasold, F, Wake Forest
Melissa Leonetti, D, Old Dominion
Carrie Lingo, M, North Carolina
Angie Loy, F, Old Dominion
Lauren Powley, M, Maryland
Dina Rizzo, F, Maryland
Dana Sensenig, M, Old Dominion
Keli Smith, F, Maryland
Tiffany Snow, F, Old Dominion
Amy Tran, G, North Carolina
There are, however, a number of changes that can be made before the team leaves for Brazil sometime around July 8th. Here are the alternates from which choices can be made:
Sarah Dawson, Iowa
Jill Dedman, Boston College
April Fronzoni, Michigan
Claire Laubach, Wake Forest
Natalie Martirosian, Princeton
Caroline Nichols, Old Dominion
Katie O’Donnell, Wissahickon (Pa.)
Sara Silvetti, Maryland
Barb Weinberg, Iowa
A handful of people are being kept as part of a 2007 developmental squad, which could help fill out a practice team, train with the senior national team, or be part of the five-match Test series this October against Japan:
Vianney Campos, Pacific
Katie Evans, Delaware
Maren Ford, Princeton
Jesse Gey, North Carolina
Jessica Javelet, Louisville
Mia Link, Virginia
Katie Reinprecht, Flourtown Mount St. Joseph’s (Pa.)
Laura Suchoski, Duke
The selections are notable for the fact that three high-school students are amongst the 32 players selected for the elite pool, continuing the trend of outstanding development of players through Futures and advanced coaching at the high-school varsity level.
In addition, the rapid improvement of Dana Sensenig and Michelle Kasold continues; Sensenig only got her first cap May 1, while Kasold had earned her first cap last August against Argentina in the March to Madrid.
As mentioned above, the 16-woman roster is not final; as you might have inferred from box scores at the ATA Champions Challenge, Dina Rizzo (91 caps) was held out because of an injury. Her inclusion in the side assumes she can get to full fitness in just two weeks.
Even so, Bodimeade and the U.S. selectors now have a good talent pool available — perhaps one as deep as the U.S. men’s soccer team. The evidence? A U.S. side featuring unknowns like Benny Feilhaber and Frankie Simek went out and beat Mexico today to earn the lone North American berth to the FIFA Confederations’ Cup.
If you have one of those digital broadcasting services like a dish or FIOS, you might want to go ahead and order ESPN Deportes — the lone U.S. broadcaster who will be carrying the Pan American Games on television. You might see something truly special.
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