Needing only two recruits the defending Patriot League Champion returns a very strong group of veterans including All American Noor Coenen. She scored 18 goals of the 50 goals American tallied in 2019. She did it on 91 shots while the defense held opponents to 26 goals. One of the more noteworthy items in American’s statistics is the 58 percent save percentage by American’s returning goal keeper. It is no surprise then, that Head Coach Steve Jennings would be looking to create some additional competition in that spot.
Oddly he may have found two outstanding recruits from the same High School. An all state defender in Emily Horace and Gk Bryn Underwood. Both come from Wilson High School who won the PIAA 3A Championship. Both players played key roles in the championship game.
Emily Horace scored the winning goal in the shootout and Bryn Underwood of course was the GK that held their opponent in the end. This was Wilson’s first championship
Emily Horace
Emily played her club hockey at X Caliber and was named All State, All County, All conference as well as academic all American. The future defender for American aspires to be a chemistry major.She was also an excellent softball player while at Wilson. Her season ending heroics were not limited to one game as she was a constant key contributor all year.
Bryn Underwood
Bryn is an all American, all State and all Conference selectee. She plays three sports and is an accomplished musician and singer. Her times in track demonstrate her athletic ability. I have seen several tapes on her and she is everything they say she is. She also played her club hockey at X-Caliber
Bryn is a big time player who plays a high pressure position. She wishes to major in Business and Entertainment. It would not surprise me to see her in the cage at Rappolt Field, when American arrives next season. Perfect fit for a real need by Jennings!!
Tragic News From The Holy Cross Rowing Team.
In the early morning on January 15 the Holy Cross rowing team was traveling to a practice session in Vero Beach. Sadly, the team van was hit by a truck and a member of the team died as a result. She had just set a world record in her sport. Her name was Grace Rett and she was only 20 years old. As a parent, I can only imagine the pain suffered by her parents. There are several other student who suffered serious injuries but are expected to recover given surgical and other treatment in Florida.
My prayers and thoughts go to those families affected by this tragedy and to the Holy Cross Community.
Colgate University will only be graduating two seniors and as of today they have commitments from two for the incoming class of 2020. The coaching staff has traveled to Pennsylvania and Massachusetts to add to their, what will be a veteran squad. Colgate won three games last year and only scored 20 goals, so coach Cornell will be looking for her squad to improve their goal production next year. She has two commitments both of whom come from winning programs and both midfield/forwards.
Aaliyah Linfoot
Aaliyah is from Exeter Township in Pa. and was schooled at WC Eagles. She expects to be a Biology major while playing forward for the Raiders. According to reports she was an all county selection and showed her athletic diversity by playing gymnastics and basketball. In 2018 she scored 11 goals and had 3 assists.
Ella Corbett
Ella hails from Massachusetts. and the Bromfield School. She played her club hockey at North East Elite. In 2018 she scored 22 goals and is going to help Colgate at the midfield or forward position.
There are no other commitments announced for Colgate but we will keep alert for more as the spring commences.
After having a down season and not making the PL playoff for the first time since joining, Sally Starr is replacing two seniors with four recruits for the 2020 season so far. She will have a veteran team highlighted by all league and all region selections in Alia and Jodie Conolly ( no relation) who together accounted for nearly half of the 35 goals scored last year. The recruits are spread close to home in Massachusetts and as far away as New Zealand.
It was thought that last year’s class was among the best in the Patriot League and I am sure Coach Starr is hoping that potential shows itself next year.
Kate Thomas
Kate is a goalkeeper who last year played for Samuel Marsden Collegiat in New Zealand. She was selected for the U 18 capital squad after playing in the first 11 at Marsden. After that I had to do a little digging. Kate moved her Junior year to New Zealand and was playing for Windy City in Illinois where she was on the travel squad. She will now be returning to the states to Boston. It looks like Coach Starr is creating competition for her freshman starter from last year.
Brooklyn Lamb
Brook looks like a great “get” for Boston. If the name sounds familiar around Boston it should be. Ainslee Lamb was the former Head Coach for Boston College and her Dad is the Asst Coach of Harvard’s Football team. The 5’6″ midfielder was lauded by her coach at Natick High School as a once in a lifetime athlete. She cited her stick skills and devotion and hard work. Brook was a Bay State all star four year running in addition to being named MVP for her division. Brook also played for Northeast Elite Club team. She is her team’s captain and a consistent honor roll student. She looks like an ultimate impact player for Boston University
Tess Csejka
Tess played 3 sports at Amity High School in Connecticut, Field Hockey, Ice Hockey and Golf and excelled in all three. She was got MVP for her conference tournament in light of her outstanding play at forward. Her club hockey is with HTC. She will no doubt compete for playing time at the forward position at Boston.
Madison DiPietro
Another Bay State native played her field hockey at Central Catholic and the North East Elite Club. She was selected as the MVP for her conference by the Eagle Tribune and was identified in the Top 50 by Max Field Hockey. The 5’4″ M/F has been active in the USA Field Hockey pipeline.
Holy Cross will be graduating five seniors this spring but none more important that Marcia LaPlante their excellent goalkeeper. Coach Lindsey Jackson seems to have a strategy to go to very successful programs to pick recruits that know how to win. To do that there are reported commitments from Maryland, New Jersey and Massachusetts. She will also need to improve her goal production since they only scored 29 goals last season. The Crusaders have not yer reported their NLI signings yet, which indicates to me there may be more coming. There big goal scorer is junior Micke Kooman from the Netherlands who scored 1/3 of the goals all season. Jackson has tabbed another GK who hails from the Boston area which means she again will carry three GK.
Ryleigh McComas
Ryleigh hails from the very successful Garrison Forest School in Maryland and also played for the Freedom Hockey Club. Garrison plays a very tough schedule even going out of state from time to time. They always seem to be in the hunt for the IAAM championship which they won this past season. They were ranked 24 in the nation by Max and 4th regionally.
Aside from Field Hockey Ryleigh runs the 800 meter in track during the spring. But Field Hockey is where she excels. The midfielder was the team captain of these champs, and was second team all metro selected by the Baltimore Sun. She started every game for Garrison.
Haley Davis
Haley is another midfield defender from Maryland. She was first team all conference and a Maryland all state selectiion. She will graduate this spring Severn High School and played for the Sparks Field Hockey Club. She is a two sport athlete playing Lacrosse as well.
Brooke Ross
Brook will be a freshman Goalkeeper. She went to Winchester High School in the Boston area. She was also Captain of her team and a League all star. She highly competitive and has play field hockey even before high school. She says she likes the GK position because she likes to be in middle of important plays.
Kylie Hampton
Kylie is a New Jersey native who played for the Oak Knoll School, another very successful program. She hails from Summit New Jersey and will be a midfielder or defender at Holy Cross. I was unable to find more stats on her but I am sure the coaching staff in Worchester will be providing details soon
Having taken a huge class last year I have only been able to find two commitments for Lehigh to date, Abagail Brown M/F from Ridgeway Regional in New Jersey and Jujia Gatelein M/F from Bishop Eustace also in New Jersey. Although only two have shown up it is not beyond comprehension that Lehigh could add several more before the class is closed out. However, Lehigh is returning a veteran squad who will only graduate one senior this spring. The highlight last year was the upset of Boston University in the last game of the season! Lafayette was able to beat the Mountain Hawks at their place in a 1-0 night game earlier in the season.
Abagail Brown
Abagail hails from New Jersey and will graduate from Kingsway Regional High School. She is a 5’4″ M/F all conference player who scored 22 goals last season and 22 assists. She was also a third team all state mention. She was also team captain. She was with the Uprise field hockey club.
Julia Gatelein
Julia M/F also come from New Jersey will graduate from Bishop Eutace was also team captain and first team all conference as well as all south jersey. She scored 31 goals last year and 20 assists. She is also a player for WC Eagles.
The Bucknell coaching staff actually announced their class of 2024 recruits on December 10th. They will be adding 5 new recruits, forward Rachael Apa, Reanne Burgess a defender, Olivia Bush a forward, Mia Fields a defender and Kari Melberger a Midfielder. The five will be replacing a senior class of six that led the Bison to another appearance in the Patriot League tournament. Games between the Bison and Leopards have usually been competitive affairs. Last season Lafayette played Bucknell twice, both times winning by one goal.
Coach Jeremy Cook is getting a very geographically diverse class with an incoming freshmen class from Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Missouri. One big issue will be the replacement of Gk Olivia Harris, however Cook looks like he will stick with his two underclassman he had last season. In addition, he will be returning his two highest goal scorers. Despite that he will be looking to improve on the 37 goals they scored all last season. No doubt with the addition of this class he hopes to improve his goal production.
In alphabetical order here is some more information on each new player.
Rachael Apa
Rachael will be traveling the 90 miles from Lewisburry to Lewisburg,Pa. The 5’4″ forward from Red Land High School played field hockey and lacrosse. She was a first team all conference and a second team 2018 all state selection. She scored 37 goals in her career and also played club field hockey for Central Penn. Cook sees her as super competitive, with great tenacity and benefit to his team culture
Reanne Burgess
The Holden, Massachusetts native went to the Governor’s Academy and played defense. She also played lacrosse and was a three time all league selection and a two time captain. Even as a defender she scored 24 goals. Cook remarks, ” We’ve had fun watching Reanne’s development as an attacking defender. Her club team has prepared her well.”
Olivia Bush
Olivia is a 5’3″ forward from Providence R.I and the Wheeler School. She is a two time RI Interscholastic League Division 2 Player of the Year. She scored 48 goals and 49 assists in High School. Cook describes her as fast and has “grit.” He thinks she will grow quickly in the Bison system.
Mia Fields
Mia played for Nerins Hall School in St. Louis Mo. The 5′ 4″ forward was a four time all conference selection. Her team had two state championships.semi final appearances. She scored 28 goals and also played for Aim Field Hockey Club. Cook says her skills match his system perfectly.
Kari Melberger
The 5′ 3′ midfielder is from West Pittston, Pa. and Wyoming Area High School. She was a three year team captain and four year starter. A two time all state selection she led her team to two district championships and was a state semifinalist. She had 39 goals and 37 assists. She played for Electric Surge Field Hockey Club. Cook describes her as having a “big hit,” which the Bison can use on their offensive corners.
8 corners eventually lead to victory in playoff game
Coach Stone chose to announce the names of recruits who have signed for the class entering this fall by instagram. I have previously published the names of the recruits who had committed before, and revealed by Max Sports. They were Emma Garvey, Ariel Schumacher, Kelly Baitenger, Alden Bocella and Alexandra Conway. The sixth name was included in the instagram report is Carly Kreytak, from Massachusetts. Her club team claimed she was a late signee ( December 15). All apparently have returned their NLI’s since the College is revealing their names.
They will be replacing the excellent senior class which will graduate six this spring. This will not necessarily end the building of a final class, as often time Coach Stone could reveal more later this spring. One might think that the impact of a first year player would not be that significant, but the season could be 20 games long and often times, as happened this year, first year players provide significant depth and occasionally some could even be an impact player. Two players last year found their way to start and others played significant roles in important games as the season progressed.
I have tried to get handle on this class’ accomplishments and they look impressive . There is one goal keeper who in film looks very athletic, a midfielder that astoundingly has scored more than 100 goals in her career. Most have played multiple sports attesting to their athletic ability and versatility. All are excellent students or they would not have gotten past the Lafayette Admissions Team.
In no particular order here is what I have been able to glean about individuals.
Emma Garvey
Emma Garvey blocks a shot at Spooky Nook
Emma is a GK from Buckingham, Brown and Nichols school in Massachusetts and lives in Peabody, Mass. She is 5’4” and 120 pound of athletic ability. I have seen several tapes of her and she moves well and has quick reflexes. She played for Northeast Elite club team and was a selectee for the 2017 AAU Junior Olympics. She was also an all league selectee. She will provide needed depth at goal keeper and I will be looking forward to her arrival in August.
Ariel Schumacher
Ariel is a M/F from Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart in Texas. She was named a Top 40 player by Max Sports for the mid West and West region. She was one of four named in Texas for that honor. She was a key player for Duchesne, who won the state title two years in a row. This year Ariel set up the winning overtime goal in the championship. She played in the Under 16 and Under 19 tournaments at Spook Nook.
Her videos shows an accomplished athlete who shows great promise. She is a welcome addition for the Leopards.
Kelly Baitinger
Kelly comes via Perkiomen Valley in Pennsylvania and is a M/F. She is a well rounded student athlete with field hockey honors that include NIT appearances and significant contributions to her successful high school team. Kelly is particularly impressive in the classroom and sports a 4.62 GPA. This future biology major has many academic awards including excellence in French, Honor Roll, and an “Emerging Genius Award.”
She is also an excellent Lacrosse player. I had the pleasure of inadvertently running into her asst Coach at a Christmas concert, and she had high praise for her. She is excited for this next step and I can’t wait to see her on the turf.
Alden Boccella
Alden comes to Lafayette from Gwymead Mercy Academy. If the school sounds familiar to recent alumni, it is the same school that Emily Valeo came from. Emily was an all league record setter during our back to back league championships and NCAA appearances. Alden is a record setter already in High School having scored more than 100 goals in her career at Gwymead. Not unexpectedly, she was named to the top 50 by Max Sports list. She also plays for WC Eagles. Her field hockey accomplishments include Junior Olympics, all state, and nominations for all American. Her field hockey awards would tax my computer memory.
She is an accomplished student having been named to the distinguished honor roll every semester. She also received the top math award at her high school. The 5’5″ athlete will be a math major at Lafayette.
Alexandra Conway
.Alex joins the Lafayette family via at the Hill School , where she was an important contributor to their success. She is another forward that will add to the Leopard scoring punch. She is an all around athlete having also played basketball. She is an all league and all state nominee for field hockey. and also a WC Eagles player. She played in various indoor tournaments leading her team to numerous championships.
Like her future teammates, she is a strong student. She received honors in the national latin exam and was a consistent high honor roll student.
Carly Kreytak
Carly comes to Lafayette from Phillips Academy in Andover. It is a storied program who won its state division title again this year. It was led by their team captain Carly Kreytak. Carly had transferred from Middlesex but quickly found her way to a leadership position at Andover. Her coach notes that Carly ” Leads by example and brings positive energy on and off the field.” ” She brings a high level of play every time she steps on the field.” She is a center back and as we know at Lafayette it can be the central position on the team. Her Coach ( Martha Fenton), praises her level of skill and knowledge of the game. ” She is really skilled . Her stick skills are phenomenal and has in the last 3 or 4 years gained a real understanding of the game.” Her teammates say, ” Carly brings a lot positivity and really pumps everyone up before every practice and every game. She keep us going and keep the team motivated.”
She sounds like just the type of athlete that Coach Stone would like!!
I am sure there will be more information put out by Lafayette later on, but this is what I can glean at the moment. I am sure the new Leopards will be joining their teammates at Kirby for a basketball game soon, and they will have a chance to mix and bond as a new team at that time.
This will not preclude some later additions to the team, but it is an impressive mix and I can’t wait to see them on the field in August. Meanwhile spring practice is around the corner which will bring it’s own excitement to Rappolt Field!!
Lafayette College Field Hockey 