App State Field Hockey on the Rise

BOONE, N.C. - When Doug Gillin began his tenure as Appalachian State's director of athletics in February 2015, the Mountaineers' field hockey program was without a coach or a conference. The team played at a beautiful new stadium, but the stadium consisted of only a field and stands (i.e., no bathrooms or team areas).

Fast forward to 2018, and App State field hockey is a program seriously on the rise.

After going 1-15 in 2016, the squad finished the 2017 season with an 8-11 record, its first season with at least eight wins since 2003. 

"I am extremely proud of this group," said head coach Meghan Dawson, who wrapped up her third season at the helm last fall. "The results we had are a combination of the past two years of hard work from the upperclassmen working tirelessly to get better every day, as well as the freshmen coming in and buying into what our upperclassmen have worked to achieve."

On February 22, 2018, a bid will be placed on a new fieldhouse at Brandon & Erica M. Adcock Field with a finished date scheduled for July 15.

The new fieldhouse will feature home and visitor locker rooms with showers, home and visitor team lounges, a coaches locker room, an officials room and dedicated entries for the Mountaineers and visitors. For enhanced fan experience on gamedays, public restrooms will be added.

The Adcocks recently contributed an additional gift to jump-start construction, which expedited construction in order to open the new facility by the 2018 season. They pledged a matching gift to encourage alumni, family and friends to take part in funding the project. A Mountaineer Impact has successfully raised 70 percent toward the match so far.

Through the generosity of the 2017 senior class - Taylor Cimbalist, Rebecca McLean, Savanna Sheridan and Maddie Phillips - and their families, Gillin presented Dawson with a check in the amount of $66,000 to support the new fieldhouse at Brandon & Erica M. Adcock Field. Once completed, the team lounge will be dedicated to the 2017 senior class. Upon approval by the App State Board of Trustees, the scoreboard at Adcock Field will be named in honor of Rebecca McLean for her family's contributions to the program.

"I'm really grateful for the support my parents have had over the last four years," said McLean. "They continually pushed me to be the best that I can be no matter the outcome. Appalachian field hockey has been a big part of my life, and I'm honored to have my name on the scoreboard."

Individuals who wish to make an investment in the field hockey program's future can make a gift in support of A Mountaineer Impact by contacting Suzette Mauney, Assistant Athletics Director for Development, at 828-262-7670 or mauneyss@appstate.edu.

2017 Season Recap
In App State's inaugural season in the Mid-American Conference, the Mountaineers were picked to finish sixth in the preseason rankings, but went 3-3 in conference play to finish fourth and earn a spot in the MAC Championships. Appalachian fell in the first round of the tournament to the top-seeded Miami RedHawks, yet had two players named to the All-Tournament Team: Savanna Sheridan and Veerle Van Heertum.

All three captains - Cimbalist, Sheridan and McLean - were named to the All-MAC Teams. Cimbalist and Sheridan were selected to the first team, while McLean earned second-team honors.

App State opened up the season with a 3-1 road victory at La Salle, its first season-opening win since 2014 and first on the road since 2009. The Mountaineers went 2-6 in their first eight games, being shut out three times and dropping a decision to No. 4 UNC.

The Mountaineers would turn the season around, going 6-2 over their next eights games that included a four-game winning streak. App State claimed its first MAC victory over Ohio, defeated VCU 2-1 in overtime, blanked Central Michigan in back-to-back games, shut out Saint Louis at home and then clinched fourth place in the MAC with a 3-2 victory at Ball State. 

"The best part of that particular stretch of the season was proving to ourselves, over and over, that we have what it takes to win," said goalkeeper Rachel Gaines, who collected three shutouts and made 51 saves in those eight games. "We stuck to our gameplan day-in and day-out and it allowed us to show a slice of what we are capable of. From the forwards to the midfielders to the backs, the entire team did their part, and it enabled us to be successful."

Over a span of eight games, App State scored 21 goals, averaging 2.62 goals per game, and was led by Taylor Cimbalist and Ali Williams on offense, who combined to score 12 goals. Williams was named the MAC Offensive Player of the Week for the week of Oct. 2-8 after scoring a goal in each of App State's three games that week. She became the first Mountaineer to earn a MAC weekly award and the first to receive a weekly conference award since 2013.

Looking toward the future of the program, Dawson said, "We have a great standard now with most of the team returning. Once there is a little bit of success, the group we have wants more and wants to achieve more than what we did this past season. We will absolutely miss our seniors as they have left huge shoes to fill for the underclassmen, but that is an exciting challenge."