Although she is only a freshman back, Judith van Haeringen is making her presence felt on the MSU women’s field hockey team.
And the Big Ten is noticing. Van Haeringen - a native of the Netherlands - was named the Big Ten’s Offensive Player of the Week for field hockey on Monday.
Head coach Michele Madison said the award was well-deserved and said van Haeringen brings more than just offense to the team.
“I call her ‘Hoover the vacuum cleaner’ in the backfield, though I don’t think she knows what that means,” Madison said. “She’s a good person to organize the backfield and then pick up the garbage.”
Her teammates reiterate van Haeringen’s commitment to teamwork.
“She’s confident with everyone on that field, which is a huge thing because if you’re not confident with someone you’re not going to pass them the ball and that breaks the team,” senior forward Bridget Cooper said.
But van Haeringen’s confidence isn’t only in her teammates. In the past few games, she has proven that she can score as well.
She posted the game-winning goal in MSU’s win against Penn State on Friday and tallied two goals in the team’s win against Cornell on Sunday.
These performances are added to a list of promising performances from her years playing in The Hague, Holland. Her club team, Little Swiss, won three national championships during her career.
After nine fruitful seasons playing in Holland, van Haeringen’s coach, who knew Madison, suggested playing for MSU. After numerous phone calls, Madison decided to travel to Holland and watch her play.
“I went to see her play and she could command the backfield,” Madison said. “That’s what we missed last year was someone with the ability to bring the ball out of the back, that was probably the only team vulnerability.”
Recognizing that fit, Madison persuaded her to come play for MSU, though van Haeringen said she was already interested.
The process of transferring to MSU required her to adjust to a different style of field hockey.
“It’s more physical here,” van Haeringen said. “In Holland, it’s more concentrated on skills. When I came here, it was the first time I ever lifted (weights). I didn’t even know lifting was a part of field hockey.”
And she attributes her quick adaptation to her solid relationships with her teammates.
“I talk a lot with my players so there’s communication in the back,” she said. “And I can see situations and I can talk from the back and tell them where to position themselves.”
Regardless, being named the Big Ten’s Offensive Player of the Week came as a shock to van Haeringen.
“It’s weird, because in Holland, if you score a goal, it’s not that special, but here if you score a goal it’s like, ‘Wow!’” she said.
For all of her modesty, her teammates said van Haeringen deserves the award even if she won’t accept their praise.
“It wasn’t ‘Oh, I got it,’” it was ‘Maureen, you helped me get it,’ or ‘Bridget, you helped me get it, you helped me bring out the defense,’” senior forward Maureen Halstead said.
And van Haeringen has proven that she doesn’t have to be the leading scorer on the team to be important.
“It just shows that it’s not how many goals you score, it’s whether the goal you score was a big impact on the win or loss,” Halstead said.
