HIGH SCHOOL FIELD HOCKEY
AUGUST 20, 2007
District Two Preview: Valkyries primed for title run
Defending champion Sacred Heart reloads; Christian Academy the best of the rest
By
NATHAN CHAMBERS
BeyondTheDerby.com
Sacred Heart is not only the team to beat in the district but also the team to beat in the state.
The Valkyries, who won their fourth straight Apple Tournament title on Saturday, are the defending state champions and have won 32 games in a row since a loss to archrival Assumption in the 2005 state semifinals.
Christian Academy, a program on the rise under first-year coach Andrea Roussel, looks like the only team that could give Sacred Heart as much as a minor scuffle in this five-team district and is the frontrunner for the second spot in the state tournament. The winner and runner-up from each district tournament advances.
Roussel, who recently finished a four-year playing career at the University of Louisville, inherited eight regular starters, including senior Ellen West, a very skilled midfielder; junior forward Haley Jurich and junior midfielder Lacey Jurich, the talented twin daughters of Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich; and junior goalie Paige Neat, who is one of four Kentuckians who were selected to play in the USA Field Hockey AAU Junior Olympic Games this summer.
“I think they underestimate themselves,” Roussel said. “They don’t realize how, player for player, they compare to other teams around the city.”
One of Roussel’s Louisville teammates, former Eastern star Carrie Jackson, is the new coach at Seneca. Jackson has 12 returning players, including senior midfielders Allie Alford and Anne Fowler, senior goalie Emily Milby, and senior defender Lindsey Wilhelmi.
Like Roussel’s players at Christian Academy, the RedHawks should benefit from Jackson’s tutelage.
“Seneca has had a hard time keeping coaches and even getting coaches with much field hockey experience,” she said. “I think they realize that I do have a knowledge and a passion for the game and that I want to teach them as much as I can.”
Jackson’s old high school team is rebuilding after reaching the state quarterfinals last season. Graduation claimed 10 starters at Eastern and left coach Monnie Elzy with one senior, midfielder Tori Bates. The Eagles will rely heavily upon junior goalie Emerald Kern to keep them in games.
Fern Creek is a new varsity team, joining the district a year after coach Ashley Freeman resurrected field hockey as a club sport at the school. The Tigers had just two scrimmages and subsequently lost all but four players to graduation, leaving Freeman to recruit almost an entire team. Most of her players are new to the sport. Amber Huff, Stacy Kelien, Katie Timberlake, and Jessica Wells are the only returnees.
Sacred Heart is simply on another level, even after seven starters and seven reserves graduated from the state championship team.
Coach Liz Lewis has an embarrassment of offensive riches, with such legitimate scoring threats as senior forwards Taylor Collins (pictured) and Whitney Ising, junior forwards Jessica Lindner and Olivia Miller, and junior midfielder Kristen Henn. Senior midfielder Hannah English is another option.
Lindner, Miller, and Henn were the three other local players - in addition to Neat - who were picked for the AAU Junior Olympic Games, and each one scored at least a goal there. Lindner and Henn also are two of five locals who advanced to USA Field Hockey Futures Elite status this summer.
Sacred Heart’s defense has been completely overhauled but doesn’t appear any worse for it with senior goalie Meredith Golden - who replaces All-American Brittany Miller - and senior backs Jennifer Bohnert and Kristen Lococo.
So Lewis thinks she might have even more talent than she did last season.
“The question is: Can they come together as a unit?” she wondered. “That’s what made last year’s team so special.”
