D1 Field Hockey championship match on
CBSC -CBS College Sports, DirecTV 613-
between undefeated, # 1 and defending champion
Maryland and #3 19-2 North Carolina in what
looks to be a really exciting match from Winston-Salem.
http://www.ncaa.com/sports/w-
http://www.ncaa.com/brackets/
http://www.ncaa.com/sports/w-
http://wakeforestsports.cstv.com/sports/w-fieldh/spec-rel/09-wake-fieldh-final-four.html
In my opinion, the handful of matches televised
this past season on The BigTen Network were
much better than in the past, though Michigan
State naturally got the lion's share of the games,
befitting their national reputation and consistent
Top 15 ranking.
Last year's Big Ten tourney in Bloomington
was played under some cold, wet and windy
conditions on the field just off of 17th Street
between Fee Lane and N. Jordan.
The weather sometimes seemed to affect play,
which is always a possibility in early November
in Bloomington.
This year's tourney up in East Lansing,
thankfully, seemed blessed with much nicer
weather that allowed all the teams to flash
their skills.
I was very pleased to see IU make it to
the finals against the Spartans on Nov. 8th,
and to be able to watch the match from
beginning to end.
Though they ultimately lost 3-2 to an
excellent Spartan squad, whom I knew
fairly well from watching their earlier matches
on TV over the past few months,
the closeness of the match and the
gritty spirit and character the Hoosiers
displayed in hanging-tough with a top
national team on the road, clearly
demonstrated to all who are paying
close attention to the sport, that IU's
growing positive national reputation
is well-deserved.
Kudos to Hoosier Head Coach
Amy Robertson and her assistants
for getting the most out of the team
and making it to the NCAA Sweet 16
this year, before losing to a tough
Wake Forest squad, which is always
well-coached and full of very talented
international players.
http://iuhoosiers.cstv.com/sports/w-fieldh/ind-w-fieldh-body.html
Efforts like those will only increase the
positive word-of-mouth about the
Hoosier's FH program's upward direction
and increase the flow of high-quality
recruits from field hockey hot-spots
on the East Coast and in the Midwest
to Bloomington.
Not that it wouldn't be great to get
some silly-talented girls from
The Netherlands or Great Britain,
though!
http://www.knhb.nl/
Thru fortuitous timing, that same day,
I was also able to watch the ACC
tourney final and watch the Terps
stage an amazing comeback in
overtime against a scrappy and
ultimately somewhat heart-broken
#2 UVA squad at Charlottesville,
one of my favorite places.
http://www.virginiasports.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=17800&SPID=10593&SPSID=92022
The talented Cavaliers regrouped
and later eliminated Michigan State
from the NCAA tourney 3-2 and
made it to the Final Four where they
lost 3-2 on Friday to UNC .
http://www.ncaa.com/splash/2009fhockeysplash.htmldefault.aspx?id=188
The sheer talent and ability of the
Terps in that game demonstrated
once again that no matter what the
score is, no matter how well you're
playing, you can NEVER EVER
take your foot off the accelerator
when you play Maryland.
They will not quit, no matter how
close to the end of the match it gets.
They are relentless!
The Terps tradition of winning NCAA
titles and playing tough matches even
when they are not at their best, is a
valuable lesson that ought to be more
widely-known and appreciated than it
currently is.
http://www.umterps.com/sports/w-fieldh/archive/090809aab.html
http://www.umterps.com/sports/w-fieldh/md-w-fieldh-body-main.html
http://www.umterps.com/view.gal?id=58544
I like them to win 4-2 over a talented
Tar Heels squad.
http://tarheelblue.cstv.com/sports/w-fieldh/unc-w-fieldh-body.html
