University of Massachusets Athletics
Field Hockey Opens Season With Split
September 06, 1999 | Field Hockey
Sept. 6, 1999
LAST WEEK?S ACTION: The Minutewomen kicked off the 1999 campaign with a pair of games at home. UMass downed Colgate in the season opener, 4-0, behind a pair of goals by sophomore Anke Bruemmer (Koeln, Germany) on Wednesday night. The Minutewomen dropped a tough overtime decision to ACC powerhouse Virginia on Saturday, falling 2-1 in the extra session after junior transfer Tamra Geryk (Hatfield, Mass.) forced the overtime with a goal in the waning moments of regulation.
THE WEEK AHEAD: UMass continues its tough early season schedule this week with a pair of 1998 NCAA Tournament teams. First up is Boston College on Wednesday evening, followed by Maryland on Sunday afternoon.
BRUEMMER AND GERYK LEAD SCORING: Sophomore Anke Bruemmer and junior Tamra Geryk are tied for the team lead in scoring after two games with a pair of goals apiece. Bruemmer was UMass? leading scorer last season, while Geryk was the third leading scorer fir the University of Michigan last year.
DEFENSE OFF TO STRONG START: The UMass defense has picked up just where it left off last season. After blanking Colgate and holding the Red Raiders to just five shots, the team held a strong Virginia squad to two goals. Even more impressive in the Virginia contest was that UMass allowed the Cavaliers just four penalty corners in the contest while forcing six of their own. Junior goaltender Zowie Tucker (Neath, South Wales) has been the backbone of the defense so far and recorded the 10th shutout of her collegiate career in the win vs. Colgate.
A HELPING HAND: Junior backs Patty Robinson (Norwood, Mass.) and Lucy Koch (Ipswich, Mass.) have helped on the offense as well as the defense so far this season. Robinson has a team-high three assists, while Koch, a team co-captain, has recorded two assists already, doubling her career total entering the season. The pair has also served as the team?s last line of defense in front of the goal as well as starting the transition to offense.
NO POLL YET: The first NFCHA poll of the 1999 season will be released next week.
HEAD COACH PATTY SHEA: Patty Shea is in her third season as head coach of the Minutewomen. Posting a 29-18 record in her time at UMass, including a pair of NCAA appearance and Atlantic 10 Championships, she had previously served as an assistant coach at Harvard and Iowa and was a member of the 1988 and 1996 U.S. Olympic teams. Shea graduated from UMass in 1984 where she was a two-time, first-team All-American goalie for Pam Hixon.
