STX/NFHCA Division I National Coaches Poll (pdf)
DAVIDSON, N.C. - After closing the season with victories in five of their final seven games, the Davidson field hockey team was awarded by receiving votes in the latest STX/NFHCA Division I National Coaches Poll for the first time in school history. The Wildcats got 16 votes in the poll, which is good for 26th place in the nation.
The Wildcats rounded out their year with a fifth-place finish at the NorPac Tournament last weekend, dropping their opening-round contest to eventual champion Stanford, then winning their final two games by identical 3-2 scores. They took down Appalachian State in double-overtime to advance to the fifth-place game, then scored the game-winning goal with 27 seconds left in regulation to defeat Radford and pick up the fifth-place spot.
“The votes we received for the top 20 definitely reflect our strong tournament play,” said Davidson head coach
Ginny Sutton. “Despite the loss to Stanford in the first round it was a very close game, and we then put together two great games to finish the season strong beating Appalachian State and Radford. We advanced our initial seed in the tournament to finish two places higher, and are one of the few teams who can say they ended the season with a win.”
Four of Davidson’s 2008 opponents also made the poll, including Wake Forest, who was No. 1 when the two teams matched up, and came in at No. 2 in the latest poll. Other than No. 7 North Carolina, fellow NorPac teams California and Stanford also were receiving votes, joining the ‘Cats as the only teams in the conference to make an appearance.
Beginning with their 7-1 win over Bryant University on Oct. 18, the ‘Cats were victorious in five of their final seven games, putting together a season-high three-game winning streak before falling to North Carolina. Their seven victories came by a combined score of 20-7, and they did not allow more than two goals in any of the games.
For the year, Davidson finished with an 8-14 overall mark, including a 6-3 record at Belk Turf Field, their most home victories since they won eight games in the 1994 season and their first winning record on their home turf in five years.
Senior
Britti Himelfarb was named First Team All-NorPac after leading the team with seven goals and 21 points, while also adding seven assists, second-highest on the team. Classmate
Tyler Kirkland, who had six goals, good for second-highest on the squad while also contributing three assists, was given Second-Team All-NorPac honors and was the winner of the conference’s Sheryl Johnson Academic Excellence Award for her academic achievements. They were joined on the All-NorPac team by freshman
Kathelijn van der Ven, who was the only rookie to be named to the honorary squad, and led the team with eight assists, which tied the school record for assists in a single season, a record she now shares with Himelfarb.
Despite the loss of seven seniors off this year’s squad, a group that had a tremendous impact on the program and were the reason for a number of accomplishments that were the first in school history, Sutton knows that the national recognition will motivate the team do achieve even more next year.
“This taste of the top 20 is great incentive for the underclassmen to train hard this spring and be ready for an excellent season next year,” she said. “I know that we will go into next year with high expectations and will be looking to build on this success.”