Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Coming Together On and Off the Turf in Preseason
8/19/2008 12:00:00β―AM | Field Hockey
Aug. 19, 2008
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Ready to "Elevate in '08," Northwestern field hockey is in the midst of its preseason training regimen as the team prepares to achieve big things this season. This year's edition of the purple-and-white, which returns its top three scorers from a season ago, has been training hard with a new approach and a hungry attitude.
"Practice has been going great so far and I think we've done a really good job of trying to focus on and build off the fundamentals of the game," said senior forward Alexandra Quinn, a second-team All-Big Ten selection in 2007. "Coming into the preseason, we're in the best shape we've ever been in so everyone did their homework over the summer and we're all really excited to get to work."
Quinn also credits head coach Kelly McCollum with installing a series of drills and off-the-field programs that have helped the Wildcats quickly establish a strong sense of teamwork.
"I think the camaraderie has been great through the preseason," Quinn said. "The coaches have added some fun warm-up drills, and we've all been broken into teams who we stay with for a few drills every practice which has helped us get to know people better than we did before. Just little things like that have really brought our team together."
Joining Quinn in the attack are seniors Alison Bullock and Courtney Plaster-Strange, who combined for 11 goals and 24 points last season.
Anchoring the defense once again will be senior goalkeeper Emily Kyle, who enters 2008 ranked fifth on Northwestern's all-time saves list with 261. Her 93 saves a year ago led the Big Ten. On this day at practice, Kyle and fellow cage-minder Katie Lynch received quite a workout as the Wildcats ran several fast-pace shooting drills.
On Aug. 21, Northwestern will be in Iowa to take on Calgary in a preseason scrimmage at 1 p.m. CT. The Wildcats begin their regular season on the road at Northeastern on Aug. 30 and Boston University on Aug. 31.
