Junior midfield/back Becky Stiles fights for control of the ball with Miami (Ohio) midfield/forward Valentina Neira on Nov. 13, 2013, at Ralph Young Field. The Spartans defeated the Redhawks, 3-0, during the first round of the NCAA tournament. Danyelle Morrow/The State News
Glancing at the postseason finishes, 2009 and 2013 seem very similar for the field hockey team. Both teams were Big Ten champions. Both teams had postseason runs cut short by falling in the Elite Eight.
However, the events leading up to the postseason this year were different. The 2013 team, coming off two consecutive years that ended in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament, was an underdog that overachieved. The 2009 team, fresh off an Elite Eight exit in 2008, had greater expectations.
Three seniors, goalkeeper Molly Cassidy, midfielder Kristen Henn and midfielder Adelle Lever, were redshirted freshmen on the 2009 squad. With an 18-4 overall record, the 2009 team was a favorite entering the NCAA Tournament. From day one, a tournament run was expected.
“In 2009, I don’t want to say we were expected to do well, but I think that was the atmosphere,” Cassidy said. “Everyone looked at us on paper and saw that this team is gonna be great.”
After a disappointing 3-6 start to the season, it seemed possible that missing the NCAA Tournament for a third straight year this year was reality. However, Cassidy, Lever and Henn set a goal at the beginning of this year. They wanted to exit the same way they entered — as Big Ten Champions.
The team’s fortune changed once Big Ten season started, toppling Ohio State and Indiana, and then winning a pivotal double-overtime game against Michigan for the first time since 2009 to jumpstart a 4-2 finish in conference play.
“The Michigan win was a turning point for us,” Henn said. “Winning in double-overtime was exciting, and we hadn’t beat them since 2009. So I think it was the turning point for us for the rest of our season.”
The team caught fire from there. En route to a Big Ten Championship and trip to the Elite Eight, the team closed the season on an 11-4 run.
Along the way, they came back from a 2-0 halftime deficit against Iowa to clinch the tournament win and upset No. 2 Syracuse in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, snapping a 45-home-game winning streak for the Orange.
They didn’t enter the season with the same fanfare of four years ago. But Cassidy, Lever and Henn all agree — this year was more satisfying.
“Coming in as the underdog is fun, and maybe Syracuse didn’t expect us to play the way that we did,” Henn said. “Who knows. Being the underdog, it’s fun to have those big upsets and stuff. When you don’t have that target on your back, it’s easier to get those wins.”
It’s coincidental that the three seniors will finish their collegiate careers the way they started, but two rebuilding years in 2011 and 2012 taught them the difficulty of attaining success.
“The end of the season — looking back now to the start of the tournament — was absolutely amazing,” Lever said. “We all decided as a team that it is now or never. Each game we got closer and closer and started peaking towards the end. It was a really cool thing to see.”
Sustaining success
Head coach Helen Knull hopes 2013 is just the beginning. Knull took the reigns of the field hockey program in 2011. Her first two seasons ended in the first round of the Big Ten. Year three represents a huge leap forward in what she envisions for the program’s future.
“From a confidence standpoint for the returners coming back in January, they know what they’ve done, they know the process (and) how we got there,” Knull said.
Junior forward Abby Barker was a freshman when Knull was promoted from assistant to head coach. Her class had never experienced an NCAA Tournament until this year. With tournament experience, she looks forward to what next year entails.
“I think getting a taste of these wins this year helps us as a junior class to help the girls below us (to) be able to share our experiences with them,” Barker said. “It’ll help us to work hard throughout the year because we know what it feels like to play at that level.”
The five graduating seniors of this class, Lever, Cassidy, Henn, midfielder Katherine Jamieson and midfielder Mallory McDonagh used their postseason experience to guide the late-season run. Now, Barker’s class will be expected to do the same next year.
“We’re losing five great leaders and members of this team,” Knull said. “Some players have had some significant, key roles for this program. But I think we’ve got a lot of strength coming through. Next year’s senior class is going to be really strong.”
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The scoring punch of Barker and Ahern, who combined to account for 31 of the 63 goals scored this year, will return. Five other juniors also will return to help anchor a defense that steadily improved as the year progressed.
“Abby and I coming back next year will be a great help, but I also think we’ll come together as a team and remember how hard it is, and how hard we have to work to get to where we got this year,” Ahern said.
Knull has confidence that 2013 won’t be a flash in the pan. The tools for sustained success are there. The key is in the players rising, once again, to the occasion.
“The returners will have that experience next year; they know what it takes,” Knull said. “And that’s how you start building a program and start building success year-in and year-out. So for me, this is the first step in that direction.”
