University of Massachusets Athletics
Sowry To Act As Assistant Coach for USA Under-21 Field Hockey Team
March 11, 2008 | Field Hockey
March 11, 2008
AMHERST, Mass. - UMass Field Hockey Coach Justine Sowry will be traveling to Argentina to act as the assistant coach for the USA Under-21 field hockey team. The team will play four games between March 12th and 16th in Buenos Aries, Argentina against the Argentina Under-21 team. The tour is in preparation for the Junior World Cup to be held in Boston in August of 2009. The team is lead by head coach Andrew Griffiths of Lafayette and Tracey Fuchs.
Back in 2005, Sowry worked with Coach Griffiths and Coach Fuchs where they were all part of the Junior World Cup Staff where their team ended up in 7th place, which was the best finish ever.
The Minutewomen, under the guidance of first-year head coach Sowry, returned to national prominence in 2007. UMass finished tied with Temple for the regular season Atlantic 10 title at 7-1, and then went on to defeat five-time defending champion Richmond and then Saint Joseph's to win its 10th A-10 Championship. The Minutewomen went on to defeat No. 17 Princeton on the road in an NCAA play-in game before falling to No. 4 Connecticut in the NCAA round of 16.
In addition to Sowry, Alesha Widdall of UMass will also be participating as a member of the USA U-21 team. Last week, Sowry announced the addition of Widdall to next year's team. Widdall is a goalkeeper from Whitney Point, N.Y. and is regarded as one of the top goalkeeping recruits in the country. She was named NFHCA first team High School All-American in 2007 in addition to two-straight years as first team All-State. The U.S. Field Hockey Association selected her for the U-21 National Team, which will be her second year as a member of the U-21 team. In addition, she was also a member of the USFHA U-19 National Team in 2007. Widdall has been involved in the Futures program since 2004 and was an Olympic Development selection in 2007-08, as well as the High Performance Training Camp Northeast Region.
"We are very fortunate to get one of the best goalkeepers in the country," Sowry said. "Alesha will make an immediate impact. She has the ability to change this program and take it to another level. She is big, strong, athletic, and not a lot of goals get past her. She will not only elevate the team to the next level but in the practice environment every day she will challenge our entire team to get better."
