Season Preview: Cloud focuses on youth

Nine freshmen join the Penn field hockey team as it tries to better .500. When the Penn field hockey team opens its season a week from today at St. Joseph's, it will feature nine new freshmen. But the newest members of the team will be counted on primarily to push the returning players in practice. "Practice should be competitive among the team," Quakers coach Val Cloud said. The first year for the freshmen will give them time to adjust to the college game, which is faster -- especially on the artificial turf of Franklin Field -- and characterized by stronger athletes. Those recruits who are able to make the jump from the high school game to the college level will be the ones to earn the scarce playing time afforded rookies. "It's just a sound incoming class," Cloud said. "It will be interesting who makes the adjustments the quickest. That's really what it will amount to." Penn, which finished 7-10 overall last year and 3-3 in the Ivy League, returns every player except graduated co-captain Curran Kelly, who played defense for the Quakers. Her absence should not be a problem for Penn, however, since it returns rising senior and returning co-captain Michele Canuso-Bedesem, last year's team MVP, in addition to junior defender Audrey Heinel. At the forward positions, Penn will rely on seniors Tara Childs (26 points in 1996) and Amy Meehan (four points) for leadership. Penn also returns junior goalie Sarah Dunn (.813 save percentage) and sophomore netminder Kari Dennis for the last line of defense. In the midfield, the team's other co-captain, speedy senior Emmy Hansel (three points), anchors a strong returning unit that includes classmate Erica Childs. For most of the rising seniors, last year brought their first significant playing time. Cloud expects more from the seniors now that they understand the rigors of the Ivy season, which Princeton dominated last year with an unblemished 7-0 record. "We're looking forward to the freshman class to push us in practice and give us good competition," Erica Childs said. "With so many experienced players returning, it will be difficult for the incoming freshmen to see significant playing time." "We've had two very good recruiting years, so I'm looking for this freshman class and the sophomore class from last year to contribute and establish themselves," Cloud added. One freshman who is expected to make an immediate impact is Cindy Quinn. She is the younger sister of 1996 graduate Sue Quinn, who was a unanimous first-team All-Ivy performer and an honorable mention All-American in her senior year, during which she served as team captain and defensive leader. Cloud sees a lot of the same potential in the younger Quinn, who will probably see action in the midfield. "She's cool, calm and collected on the field," said Cloud, who has a 17-17 record after two seasons at the helm. "She's very quick and has a lot of speed, which we've been lacking. She sees the game very well, and her skills are very good. She's played a lot of hockey." Overall, Cloud is bringing in nine freshmen -- a class she described as "small, but mighty" -- in hopes that they will develop into the same type of cohesive unit that this year's senior class has become. But this rookie class should have more time to ease into a leadership role, in contrast to the seniors who not only saw their first significant minutes of action as juniors last year, but also were forced to assume the team's leadership roles due to the presence of just one senior. "We're a really close-knit team," Meehan said. "We're hoping the freshmen can contribute to the team. But we have a lot of good sophomores and juniors so there won't be a lot of pressure on them." Much of Cloud's recruiting efforts were geared toward the midfield and defensive positions. Those freshmen expected to play defense are Lauren Cornew, Amna Nawaz, Dominique Pichard and Cabanne Schlafly. The midfielders include Bess Freedlander and Quinn. The two recruits in goal are Alison Friedman and Ryan Matthews. The lone forward recruit is Christy Plower. In the summer, before the beginning of the season, local players readied themselves for the upcoming season by playing pick-up games, in addition to lifting weights and running. On Mondays and Wednesdays, players from the Philadelphia area gathered at Franklin Field to play, and, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, games were held at St. Joe's. "We are going to have a solid team, and there's going to be a lot of intrasquad competition for positions," Meehan said. "[The freshmen] will fit in very nicely," Cloud said. "It's just a matter of how they'll handle the transition and how comfortable they are."

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