2008 Woodie Awards
Field Hockey: Season Preview
Sowry hoping to duplicate strong first season at helm
Nicholas O'Malley, Collegian Staff
Issue date: 9/2/08 Section: Sports
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It brought new coach Justine Sowry to Amherst, who looked to lay the groundwork for the team's future success. With Sowry came a dramatic shift in the team's fortunes, culminating in the team's first Atlantic 10 regular-season championship since 2001.
The team's turnaround from a record of 6-14 (3-4 A-10), to an impressive 14-9 (6-1 A-10) came to a surprise to everyone, including Sowry.
"To be perfectly truthful, it was beyond our wildest dreams that we had the season that we did," said Sowry. "We certainly put in the effort and we were relentless and persistent with our endeavor and at the end of the day we came out with some positive results."
When Sowry was hired to replace Patty Shea at the helm, there were expectations of a transition period while the players acclimated themselves to Sowry and her system. It didn't take long, but Sowry made it clear from the get-go that success was not going to come easily.
"They understood that there weren't going to be any guarantees, that maybe, down the line a few years later we would get the rewards," she said.
Now in 2008, the players have already begun to reap the rewards of success. The question for this year is: Will they be able to continue their success?
That question will be answered when the Minutewomen open up their season against Boston College in Chestnut Hill on Aug. 29. The question of whether or not the team has improved will hinge greatly upon how well they play against Connecticut in the second week of September. The Minutewomen lost to UConn twice last season, with the second defeat ending their season in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Until then, Sowry has her players focusing on preparing for the upcoming season in the same way that worked so well for them a year ago.
"We're still preparing the same in the sense that we're working hard and the expectation is that we're going to be the fittest team," Sowry said. "Each team we play against, we want to be fitter than them."
Meanwhile, the team's coach has begun to adjust to her long-term role as head coach after her time as an assistant with Team USA. It is a major change for Sowry to have a large turnover annually and to have a lot of new faces every year.
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