2008 Woodie Awards
Field Hockey: Roster Breakdown
Returning players, tranfers expected to lead Minutewomen
Mike Gillmeister, Collegian Staff
Issue date: 9/2/08 Section: Sports
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Another variable to this year's team is the acquisition of two transfer students: Jill Powers from Rhode Island and Jackie Tait from Delaware.
Powers, a junior forward, led the Rams in scoring in two years at URI, before its program was cut. Powers concluded her 2007 season as a Ram with 16 points on seven goals and two assists.
Tait, a sophomore back, registered five points on five assists last season for the Blue Hens. Before college, Tait led her high school team to a 24-0 record, en-route to a Virginia State Championship as a junior. In terms of her skill set, she's a very knowledgeable player who should help the fluid play of the backfield. Her intelligence makes her a very deceptive player.
This season, Tait plays opposite sophomore back Jaime Bourazeris. Bourazeris had a stellar freshman campaign that resulted in a spot on both the Atlantic 10 All-Conference and All-Rookie teams. Her five goals last season tied her for second-most on the team.
Even with Bourazeris coming off a great season, Sowry admits that the back position is the team's biggest weakness. Losing three of last season's four starting backs puts the state of the team in question. One of the reasons that the Minutewomen were so successful in winning the Atlantic 10 Championship was because of their defense.
To help ease the freshmen into college play, Sowry will put junior forward Christine Rodgers on the back line more often. Rodgers filled in sparingly last season as Sowry experimented with the lineup. Sowry said that the line would probably change throughout the year until she finds the kind of continuity on this year's back line that she had in 2007.
"I certainly believe that we're recruiting at a higher level," Sowry said. "Last year we probably had three freshmen that earned starting positions over the course of the year. For this incoming year, I would think that it would be similar if not more, but they have to earn it. It's not a given right."
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