The Triangle

Issue date: 10/30/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Olivia Garrity

Any collegiate sports team can look into its past and point to a specific chapter in its history that helped to redefine its program. For the 10th-ranked Drexel field hockey team (15-2 overall, 5-1 Colonial Athletic Association), that chapter is right now as its current group of seniors provided the stability that has been the reason for the team's remarkable success.

The improvement the Dragons have shown over the past four seasons has been staggering. This should come as no surprise to those who follow the Dragons-they have broken some of their own records over the past four seasons due in large part to their current group of seniors.

"I think if you look at the [past] four years, just the records overall is the best," Drexel head coach Denise Zelenak said. "The numbers don't lie; [The seniors] have been doing it for a long time. They have worked and they have groomed themselves and have pushed to get the team where they are."

Seniors Sarah Heller, Jennifer Bolger, Carolina Gibernau, and Jordan Freese have not only been contributors to their team's success this season, but one of the main reasons why the field hockey team has had enormous success throughout their time as Dragons.

In 2007, the Dragons reached the CAA Tournament, but were knocked out in the second round by eventual champion James Madison. In 2008, they were on the brink of making it to the NCAA Tournament after having a program-best 16 overall wins and seven conference wins. This season, for the first time in program history, the Dragons are ranked in the Top-10, according to the National Field Hockey Coaches Association poll.

"I think the reason we're doing so well is because of this group of seniors," Zelenak said. "I know we talk a lot about our talent in the junior class, but these are the ones that set the tempo and the pace for the team and they are the ones that show the work ethic to get the team into the top 10."

The experience that the Dragons seniors have has allowed them to be the backbone for their team. Nevertheless, the seniors feel that past seniors have been a major aspect as to why they play the way they do today.

"I know when you get to senior year, coming from freshman [year], you get to know your teammates and especially your senior classmates," Gibernau, a senior midfielder, said. "You get to know how they play, how they move on the field, and I think from freshman year you get to really know each other and from past seniors we learned how to push ourselves more and more."

Continued...

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