BOONE, N.C. – As the closing minutes counted off the clock in the 2018 season, the Appalachian State field hockey team had accomplished a major milestone, securing its first two victories at the Mid-American Conference Tournament in program history.
After falling behind within the first 10 minutes in the opening round, the Black and Gold used three second-half goals to power past Central Michigan 5-2. One day later, the Mountaineers then stifled No. 3 seed Longwood 2-0 to advance to the semifinals. The win over the Lancers was Appalachian's first since 2014 and second in program history.
With senior leadership and a competitive freshman class, the Black and Gold are prepared to build on this past season's postseason success in the 2019 campaign.
"This is our first season having 28 players, and that's made a big difference because most of our players are healthy and ready to go," head coach Meghan Dawson said. "Everyone is competing every single day to earn some playing time this fall, so that's been a big game changer for us early on. I'm excited to see how some of our returners react to a freshman class that's pushing the envelope. I'm looking forward to seeing the team start gelling, compete and get stronger through every single day."
Who Returns
The Mountaineers return 21 student-athletes from this past year's squad, including 12 upperclassmen. App State's pair of All-MAC selections from 2018, Veerle Van Heertum and Annette Jarosz, both return to bolster the App State starting lineup.
In 2018, Van Heertum became the first player since 2003 to be named to the NFHCA South Region Second Team, joining former Mountaineers Emily Walls and Nara Brooks. The Valkenswaard, Netherlands native led the Mountaineers in goals (11), points (27), shots (50) while finishing third on the team with five assists.
Jarosz, App State's first student-athlete to win MAC Field Hockey Defensive Player of the Week, served as the conference leader in defensive saves, tallying six defensive saves while playing a team-high 1,434 minutes. Jarosz's 11 defensive saves in her career ranks second in program history, trailing former Mountaineer Casey Lammando by just a single stop.
Overall, App State's 2019 roster features every goal scorer from a year ago. Seniors Ali Williams and Melissa Nobile combined to notch 12 goals and four assists, while juniors Meghan Smart and Chloe Bell combined to record five goals and 10 assists, respectively. With 19 goals in three seasons, Williams needs just six scores this season to tie for tenth in program history in career goals.
Sophomore Friederike Stegen burst onto the scene as a freshman in 2018, pacing the Black and Gold with a team-high nine assists. Three of Stegen's seven goals were game-winning scores, which also led the team a season ago.
In goal, senior goalkeeper Rachel Gaines returns after starting 14 games this past season. Gaines recorded two shutouts and made 77 saves in 2018, making a season-high 13 saves against Longwood on Sept. 20 before shutting out the Lancers in the postseason. Gaines also was named to the USA Field Hockey Women's Development Team Selection Camp in June after excelling at the 2019 Young Women's National Championship.
Newcomers
Along with 21 returners, App State adds seven freshman to the program. In November, Dawson announced the addition of six future Mountaineers -- goalkeeper Addie Clark, midfielder Allison Corey, forward Rachel Fleig, midfielder Madison Miles, forward Sarah Farrell and forward Carli Ciocco. These six newcomers represent five states, including Maryland, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Virginia and New Jersey.
The Mountaineers also welcomed Pauline Mangold from Germany. Mangold attended the Bismarck School, which is the same school as her German teammate, Stegen.
Up Ahead
The Mountaineers open preseason competition against Davidson at Adcock Field on Sunday at 11 a.m. App State then closes out its preseason schedule with an away matchup against Liberty on Aug. 24 in Lynchburg, Va.
Appalachian opens the regular season with a 3 p.m. tilt at Towson on Aug. 30. The Black and Gold blanked Towson 2-0 at home to open the season in 2018.
Quotes:
(Gaines on the first week of practice)
"We've started off really strong on our first week of practice. Everyone came in fit, and we were ready to go. We've been working a lot on our hockey stuff and our team building. We're really looking forward to getting into these two scrimmages we have before we get into actual season competition. We've got a great schedule this year. We're going to face a lot of really good teams and a lot of high-level play. We're really looking forward to getting out there and hitting the ground running."
(Gaines on the importance of senior leadership)
"We've done a lot of work on our leadership and our chemistry this past spring, and we had everyone come in early. Everyone has been working really hard all summer. We've been checking in on each other and having girls come back early for summer session. We tried to build a culture of care while also holding each other to the highest standards. That's something our senior class has ingrained in us since we started here, and it's something we've continued to pass down the line. We're really stepping into that leadership role in that sense."
(Gaines on expectations in Mid-American Conference play)
"Our regular season success is going to be critical going into our conference championship. Everybody makes the conference tournament, so the regular season is really important in terms of seeding. Last year we had a bit of a rough go and had to play five games in seven days, so it was difficult, but we learned a lot about ourselves and our character through that and how much we can push through when we have each other. This year we're looking to make a statement in conference as early on as possible as well as carrying that success on to the tournament."
(Dawson on Mid-American Conference expectations)
"Ending last year was a positive with winning two matches in the MAC Tournament. It has propelled us to want to do better in our regular season conference schedule and prepare us for the tournament. We want to always strive to win the MAC Championship. That's our goal. We need to use that momentum coming back from last season and putting a solid front out there and continue to push to be stronger by the end of the year."
(Dawson on the nonconference schedule)
"I'm really looking forward to our nonconference schedule. It has a lot of different opponents on it that are going to prepare us for our conference schedule, whether it's different styles, different structures, different strengths and weaknesses. That's going to help build us so that we will be prepared for our conference schedule."
