EAHS field hockey preview

(Abby Curtin, left, and Hannah Olnick are E-town’s captains this season.)

Head Coach: Andrew Derr, second season.

2007 record: 7-10-1 overall; 5-6-1 Section Two.

Key Returners: Abby Curtin, senior co-captain, back/midfield; Becca Bigler, senior, goalkeeper; Anna Libby, senior, forward/midfield; Kyle McKain, senior, midfield/forward; Kayla Koser, senior, back; Leah Hayward, senior, back; Mandi Shearer, junior, midfield/back; Abby Fuhrman, junior, midfield/forward; Paige Strayer, junior, midfield/forward; Carley Rosenberger, junior, forward/midfield; Jamie Ahern, junior, forward/midfield.

E-town, hit hard by graduation two years ago, welcomes its deepest class of returning starters since the 2005 season, which was also the last time the Bears tasted the postseason. The returners are spearheaded by Curtin, Bigler and Libby, who were all all-section players at their positions last year.

The defense will be led by Curtin, Koser, Hayward and Shearer – all athletic, experienced players. And if opponents manage to get off a shot, it’ll be tough to get it by Bigler, who recorded six total shutouts last year. In fact, except for three hiccups – six goals by Lower Dauphin and four each by Hershey and Exeter Township – E-town’s defense held opponents to two goals or less in every game. Except for the Lower Dauphin, Hershey and Exeter Township losses a year ago, the Bears allowed just 14 goals in their other 15 games.

At midfield, E-town is loaded with skilled players capable of scoring and setting up goals. Many of the returners will see time at either midfield and forward, or midfield and back. Libby was an all-section honorable mention midfielder last year, but will likely see some time up top. McKain, Ahern, Fuhrman, Rosenberger and Strayer will all see time at midfield and are all aggressive and run well. While depth in general is a strength for the Bears, they have the most of it at midfield, which is a luxury.

Libby, McKain, Fuhrman, Strayer, Rosenberger and Ahern will also see the majority of the time at forward and are E-town’s best scoring threats. The Bears have the potential to have a lot of weapons around the goal mouth, and E-town needs to increase its scoring output this year, especially moving back to Section One. The Bears scored only 18 goals in 18 games last year and were shut out seven times, numbers that they must improve if they are going to be in the section title hunt.

As a whole, Derr is very pleased with the nucleus. He said they give the Bears depth and experienced and, just as important, great leadership.

Key Losses: Jenna Stine, graduation; Megan Moir, graduation; Hannah Olnick, senior co-captain, injury.

It’s been a few years since the Bears didn’t have to rebuild in the preseason. E-town wasn’t hit particularly hard by graduation, but it did lose two good players in Stine and Moir.

“Jenna and Megan were great team players and their work ethic will be missed,” Derr said.

Although they didn’t lose a lot of players to graduation, E-town will be without one of their most talented girls this season – senior co-captain Hannah Olnick. Olnick, arguably the team’s best offensive player, suffered a season-ended knee injury during a preseason scrimmage. And while E-town will miss her putting balls in the back of the cage, they’ll also miss her leadership on the field. But while she won’t be lacing up her cleats, she won’t be far from her teammates.

“Her leadership on the field will be missed and her skills and abilities will also be missed,” Derr said of his senior co-captain. “She is a valuable part of the team, a great leader and captain, has solid work ethic and great personality for this team. Although she will not be on the field, she will be fighting with the team from the sidelines through every single second of every game and every practice. She loves this team and believes in them very much.”

With the loss of Olnick, E-town’s offensive players must step in to catapult the Bears’ goal-scoring numbers.

Key Newcomers: Erin Miller, junior, forward; Jenna Rosenberry, sophomore, forward/midfield; Brittany Walker, sophomore, goalkeeper; Caryn Bailey, freshman, forward.

Miller, Rosenberry and Walker all saw some time at the varsity level last year, but will return for more expansive roles this season. Along with Bailey, they are solid players who have embraced Derr’s philosophy.

“They have good work ethic and are tough players,” he said.

Strengths: Depth, defense.

The luxury of having so many returning players is that Derr will be able to rotate fresh players in through all areas of the field throughout the game, which will keep the Bears in close contests late in the second half.

E-town will also be led by its stingy defense, and that will be important as they make the jump to compete with Section One teams like Warwick, Hempfield, Penn Manor and company. With the level of competition in Section One, E-town can’t afford many defensive lapses. Conversely, the Bears will need to capitalize on the scoring opportunities they get.

Bigler and company will be a tough unit to crack, and could carry the Bears back to the postseason.

Weaknesses: Offense.

With the amount of returning potential on offense, it’s tough to call this a weakness for the Bears. But any way you slice it, E-town only averaged one goal per game in 2007 and are playing the season without Olnick, who could be their most dangerous weapon. That said, this year’s group does have the benefit of a year or two of varsity experience, so the offensive unit should be able to hang some more tallies on the board this year. They have the confidence of their head coach.

“We do not feel we are weak in any specific area. We are ready to compete,” Derr said.

Outlook: Things are definitely looking up in E-town. They have a boat-load of talented players coming back, but talent alone doesn’t always translate to wins. What the Bears do have that could make them even better than their talent is a great attitude and cohesiveness, and that will serve them well.

“I expect that these girls will compete very hard in every game. They have great team chemistry and they are a hungry group,” said Derr.

Having such depth will serve the Bears well in the difficult jump back to Section One this year. Every game for the Bears will be difficult, especially starting with Exeter Township and Central Dauphin on back-to-back days to begin the year. But E-town has confidence that they are ready to compete with anyone and get back to where they were in 2005 – the league and district playoffs.

“Moving up from Section Two to Section One will be a challenge, but I feel the girls are up for it,” Derr said. “We will compete hard in every game and be ready for whatever challenge comes our way.”

If the offense can catch up to where the defense was last year, E-town could make a triumphant return to Section One and knock off some of the section’s best teams.