SELINSGROVE, (Pa.) - Last season, Susquehanna University head field hockey coach Connie Harnum’s goal was a .500 season. Fifteen wins later, her team found themselves one goal short of advancing to the third round of the NCAA Division III Tournament.
That team, which finished with a 15-4 record and second in the Commonwealth Conference, lost only two starters to graduation and returns three conference first-team All-Stars. Harnum returns for her 26th season at the helm of the Crusaders and believes that last year's success helped to increase the intensity of the squad as camp opened.
"I won't say that we are working any harder, but I will say that we started out our preseason on a higher level," Harnum said. "They definitely raised the bar from where we started out last year’s preseason."
The 1999 Crusaders opened the season with a school-record seven straight victories and fashioned a 14-2 regular-season record before losing to Wilkes in overtime in the Middle Atlantic Conference semifinals. Susquehanna earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III Field Hockey Championship - just the second NCAA bid in school history - and defeated Gwynedd-Mercy 6-1 in an opening-round game before losing 3-2 at Skidmore in the second round.
Helping to raise the bar was the fact that the returning players were more productive in the offseason than any other season that Harnum can remember. Despite frequently playing without any substitutions, the Crusaders advanced to the championship round of both spring tournaments in which the team was entered.
Headlining the group of returning letterwinners are the team’s tri-captains - senior left wing Ali Hughes (Reading, Pa./Muhlenberg H.S.), senior midfielder Dani Wenger (Mohrsville, Pa./Hamburg H.S.) and junior goalkeeper Kylie Cook (Huntingdon, Pa./Huntingdon H.S.).
Harnum places significance on the role of her captains since Susquehanna has a two-person coaching staff, while many of their chief rivals in the Commonwealth Conference have four or five coaches.
"We are really fortunate because we have one captain on the offense, one in the midfield and one on the defense," she said, adding that every player needs to be a leader while on the field.
THE DEFENSE
Even without a significant amount of starting experience, the backfield saw a good deal of playing time during the Crusaders’ run to the NCAA Tournament in 1999.
Junior Sara Fuller (Mountaintop, Pa./Crestwood H.S.) is the veteran of the group at left back, as she started 13 games last season and reported to camp in outstanding shape to secure her spot. She will be joined in the middle by sophomore Lauren Maglietta (Voorhees, N.J./Eastern Regional H.S.) and on the right side by sophomore Lauren Barcaro (King of Prussia, Pa./Upper Merion H.S.). Freshman Jodie Dagle (Selinsgrove, Pa./Selinsgrove H.S.) played sweeper in high school and will see significant time at center back as she adjusts to the Crusader system.
The strength of the Susquehanna defense, however, lies squarely in the cage where Cook will look to build on a 1999 season in which she was named a Commonwealth Conference first-team All-Star after leading the conference in both goals against average (0.81) and save percentage (.863). Cook, who had not played goal at any level until she arrived at Susquehanna, has a 1.10 career goals against average in 32 games.
"Kylie has two years of experience behind her, and being named a first-team All-Star last year has given her so much confidence," said Harnum.
THE MIDFIELDERS
Harnum is comfortable with a veteran group led by three-year starter and returning Commonwealth Conference second-team All-Star Wenger, who started last season at center midfielder for the first time and scored a goal with six assists.
She will be flanked by a pair of sophomores in Megan Patrono (West Milford, N.J./West Milford Township H.S.) on the left and Lindsey Barr (Emmaus, Pa./Emmaus H.S.) on the right. Both players started every game as freshmen and Harnum is excited by the skills that each brings to the field.
"Megan is extremely fast on the left flank, while Lindsay is a very shrewd player - she isn’t flashy but she executes," Harnum said.
Also competing for playing time at midfield will be freshmen Jodi Dottery (Zionville, Pa./Emmaus H.S.) and Amy Eyster (Dornsife, Pa./Line Mountain H.S.) along with junior Lisa Palladino (Jamison, Pa./Central Bucks East H.S.).
THE FORWARDS
With 43 of last season’s school-record 44 goals scored by players on the 2000 roster, offense should be the least of the Crusaders’ concerns.
The team will be led up front by sophomore inner and third-team National Field Hockey Coaches Association Division III All-American Leah Bailor (Richfield, Pa./Middleburg H.S.). In her rookie season, Bailor started all 19 games and scored 12 goals and nine assists for 33 points (1.74 points per game), ranking second on the Susquehanna single-season list in both points and assists and fourth in goals. She placed second in the Commonwealth Conference in assists per game (0.44), third in points per game (1.69) and fourth in goals per game (0.63) en route to earning conference Rookie of the Year honors.
She will be joined on the attack by Hughes, a 1999 Commonwealth Conference first-team All-Star who will start at left wing after scoring five goals with seven assists for 17 points last season. She notched a hat trick and added an assist against Gwynedd-Mercy in the NCAA Tournament opener last November. Hughes enters her senior season as the career assist leader at Susquehanna (15) and tied for third in points with 49.
Starting at right inner for the third straight year will be junior Jeannie Yarrow (West Amwell, N.J./South Hunterdon Regional H.S.), who twice scored the only goal in 1-0 Crusader wins and scored in four straight games from October 16-23 and in six of the last seven matches overall.
Sophomore Katie McKeever (Norristown, Pa./Methacton H.S.) rounds out the starting lineup at right wing, where she tallied 11 goals and three assists for 25 points as a freshman to place second on the squad in both goals and points. In her second career game, McKeever scored a hat trick as the Crusaders downed Elizabethtown by a 5-1 final.
Palladino, Eyster and sophomore Susan Spieker (Stroudsburg, Pa./Pocono Mountain H.S.) are expected to be the top forward reserves.
