Scholastic Notes
Midwest region
Ohio
CLOCKWORK ORANGE FOR COLUMBUS SCHOOL FOR GIRLS?
After seeing the intricate overlapping on the part of Dutch sides during the Sydney Olympics, you can't help but be interested to see what the Columbus (Ohio) School for Girls is up to.
Why? The Columbus Dispatch reports that the Unicorns may have the most versatile team in the state.
"Each player can play in different positions," Linda Strapp, the head coach, tells the Dispatch. "They have the talent to play in different positions and we told them to be open to that and that means adjusting. We want to be able to find our strengths and move people around. But what we really need to focus on transition defense. We always tell the team, 'Everybody moves up on offense,' but at the same time, we need to be good in transition defense."
WESTERN RESERVE ON EARLY TEAR
Perhaps it's the Field Turf. Perhaps it's the confidence gained from last year's late wins against Canadian competition in an invitationl in St. Catherine's, Ontario.
But Marie Fiedler, in her 33rd year at the helm of Hudson Western Reserve Academy (Ohio), has gotten some of her best results ever.
The Pioneers won the 2004 Hudson derby with a 5-0 win over Hudson (Ohio), then bested Rocky Ridge Magnificat 2-0.
``Because we get so much of a later start than most teams, the only practice we get is against our JV team,'' longtime WRA coach Marie Fiedler tells The Akron Beacon-Journal. ``So we started this season unsure of how good we were. I think (the Magnificat) win shows that our win over Hudson was no mistake -- we have a very unselfish and talented team.''
``When we lost to WRA I think the girls couldn't believe it,'' Hudson head coach Jen Haney told The Beacon-Journal. ``I mean, I've been here seven years, and we've never even lost 5-0 before.''
WATTERSON WANTS TO PROVE IT BELONGS
The road to the district finals for Columbus Bishop Watterson (Ohio) was filled with enterprising play, but with a little controversy.
Watterson, the fifth seed in its district, had lost on the field to Worthington Thomas Worthington (Ohio), but had walked off the field as winners because the umpiring crew missed out on the fact that the third and fourth overtime periods were not to be played all the way through; Watterson struck back twice against Worthington late in the extra time sessions to win.
But the Eagles want it to be known that they can earn their way to the elite level of Ohio field hockey again.
"Our girls are hungry to try to make it back to the state tournament, and they really worked their butts off in the offseason," coach Janet Baird tells The Columbus Dispatch. "They're in great shape and they're focused on having the best season they're capable of having."
Michigan
ONE GOAL IS ALL GROSSE POINTE SOUTH NEEDS
A scant two blocks from Lake St. Clair, one school made one good decision in 2004, and it sent a major shockwave throughout the state of Michigan.
Grosse Pointe (Mich.) South had been relegated to Pierce Middle School's uneven grass pitch until the school moved the team to the football stadium which has a carpet of artificial grass.
For a school which has a championship-caliber ice hockey program, that move was all the field hockey team needed.
The Blue Devils got by Ann Arbor Huron (Mich.) 1-0 in the state final on an Ali Morawski goal.
The title was the first for a team outside of Ann Arbor and the first for a program that got started in the 1990s with a club team that enveloped both the North and South campuses of the Grosse Pointe District. It got to the point where the co-op team had to split.
"I was amazed," head coach Monica Dennis tells The Detroit News. "We even got great athletes from other programs to come out for field hockey."
The program split in 2003, South moved to the football stadium shortly thereafter, and the team responded with a 15-1-2 record in 2004. It could start a trend.
PIONEER MAKES A MAJOR STATEMENT
Ann Arbor Pioneer (Mich.) has won six out of the last seven state championships for a state whose number of teams is only about a dozen.
Against Toledo Ottawa Hills (Ohio), however, the opportunity arose to show how well Pioneer (and by extension, Michigan) stacks up nationwide.
Well, after a Zoe Almquist goal in the 54th minute, the Pioneers can say they belong in the elite of Midwestern hockey.
"They definitely challenged us," Pioneer coach Jane Nixon tells The Ann Arbor News. "It was a defensive gut-check. We just tried to play strong defense and take advantage of our opportunities on attack."
CO-OP CLUB TEAM BEGINS IN SUBURBAN ANN ARBOR
Twenty years ago, Roxy Block was the head field hockey coach at Ann Arbor Greenhills (Mich.).
She didn't know how long the field hockey bug lay dormant until her daughter, who attends nearby Chelsea (Mich.) got to the age where she might have thought about playing varsity field hockey.
So, Block is back at the helm of a field hockey team, but a rather unusual one. A group of players from non-hockey playing schools has formed a varsity club team called the Washtenau Whippets, and will play a Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) schedule of 13 matches.
"We're trying to provide an opportunity to play field hockey for girls who wouldn't ordinarily get a chance," Block tells The Ann Arbor News. "This is the first step. (We hope) to build some interest so people know about it."
Illinois
HOAGLAND, GUZIEC MAKE LAKE FOREST PERFECT
It was Leah Hoagland's day.
Her goals in the 38th and 46th minutes gave Lake Forest (Ill.) a 2-1 win over Oak Park-River Forest (Ill.). It was the Scouts' fourth state championship in five years.
It also might have been the best. After making a big showing in a tough pool at the Gateway Classic, Lake Forest and its defense started making opposing teams look silly at times. The defense of Maggie Condon, Allison Neuenschwander, Lisa Landoe and Lindsay Howard played extremely strong in front of goalkeeper Marisa Guziec, who actually sat out an entire year after toiling in the subvarsity system.
But the team coaxed her out of her exile, a gamble which paid off big.
"All summer we were like, 'Marisa, you have to try out,'" Hoagland tells The Lake Forester. "She really stepped up big for us. I don't know what we would've done without her."
The Scouts had Oak Park's veteran head coach Barb Liles changing her defense before the game, and she wisely crossed up the opposition with zone marking.
"The kids were a little nervous about it," Liles tells The Oak Park Oak Leaves. "We worked on it the entire postseason. I knew it was a risk. It could have been disruptive because we were not familiar with it."
But a rush up the field on the part of Tess Standa forced a penalty stroke, which Hoagland buried.
EDWARDSVILLE WINS ONE FOR THE AGES
Sharon Petty has seen it all for three decades coaching at Edwardsville (Ill.), from the time the state had an actual sanctioned postseason tournament to the dwindling that has seen her Tigers join up with St. Louis-area schools for their main competition.
As the only downstate team in Illinois, having to play across the river is an often daunting physical and mental task.
But in 2004, the Tigers made a major statement in a 4-3 overtime win over St. Louis Villa Duchesne (Mo.)
"We have never, ever beaten Villa before and I know we've never scored multiple goals on them." Petty tells The Edwardsville Intelligencer.
It happened this time, though. Three times, the Saints took the lead in the match, and three times, Edwardsville drew level.
This set up the third-shortest overtime National Federation history; a mere 27 seconds into the golden-goal period, a neat three-way passing play set up Kaity Kurilla for the finish.
"They didn't know what hit them," Petty told The Intelligencer. "They were stunned. We wanted to give them a good run and did."
For last year's notes, click here.