HAMILTON, NY (8/24/10) – The Colgate field hockey team will begin its 2010 campaign this Saturday as the Raiders host Robert Morris followed by a Monday matchup against Northwestern.
The Robert Morris contest is set for 1 p.m. , with Monday’s game coming under the lights at 7 p.m. at Tyler’s Field. The Raiders were picked to finish seventh in the conference with 10 points in the Patriot League preseason poll. American was chosen to win the league with 50 points and 10 first-place votes. Lafayette and Bucknell were the other two schools to earn votes as they both earned a single nod.
RETURNERS
The Raiders return 11 players from last season, but the team will be young with seven newcomers and six sophomores taking the field. Senior
Laura Denenga (Harare, Zimbabwe) is the lone all-league performer returning as she earned second team All-Patriot League last season. Denenga was second on the team with 17 points on seven goals and three assists. Her seven goals were tied with graduating senior Katelyn Nerbonne (Bow, N.H.) for the team lead.
KEY LOSSES
Colgate will be without eight players from the 2009 squad, highlighted by Nerbonne, who was selected a first team All-Patriot League performer a year ago.
Mika Ella-Tang (Port-of-Spain, Trinidad) also graduated in the spring and she was a second team honoree in the fall. Nerbonne played and started in all 16 games with a team-high 20 points on seven goals and six assists. Ella-Tang also started all 16 games and ended up tied with Nerbonne for a team-best six assists.
NEWCOMERS
The Raiders have added seven new members to the squad this season. Each player comes from a different state and as far away as Texas.
Halle Biggar (Pepper Pike, Ohio) joins the squad after winning a state title and a three-time state semifinalist at Hathaway Brown School.
Meredith Gibson (Short Hills, N.J.) won two state titles and three conference championships at Oak Knoll School.
Paige Hawley (Bellaire, Texas) was a two-time All-South Zone at St. John’s prior to coming to Colgate.
Kelsey Jensen (Williston, Vt.) comes to Hamilton after being named a two-time Vermont All-State honoree.
The lone New Yorker is
Olivia Nabhan (Rye, N.Y.), who joins the team after 35 goals and 57 assists in four years at Rye High School.
Colleen Oberg (Bethesda, Md.) played her first two years at American School in London and finished her career with 18 goals and 14 assists at Sidwell Friends School.
Caitlin Zolet (Washington, D.C.) is the only goalkeeper of the incoming class. She posted 21 shutouts in four years at Thomas S. Wootton High School.
SCOUTING THE COLONIALS
Robert Morris enters the 2010 season after a 2-13 record a year ago and a 1-7 mark in Northeast Conference action. The Colonials were recently picked to finish eighth in their conference. Head coach Olivia Netzler will be leading Robert Morris for the fourth year and the program’s fifth.
The Colonials return their top scorer from a year ago in Chantele Crow, who was the lone player in double-figures. She finished with four goals and two assists in 15 games played. Robert Morris struggled finding the net with just eight goals in those 15 games. The Colonials were shutout nine times, including its final four games. In addition to Crow, Sam Hayden and Catherine Myrick were the other players to register goals.
In net, Stephanie Seeley did her part with a 3.22 goals against average and a .756 save percentage. She surrendered 47 goals on 193 shots. Opponents average 22 shots per game against Robert Morris last season.
This will be the first meeting between these two schools.
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Northwestern will have played two games prior to Monday’s matchup. The Wildcats head to Syracuse to face the Orange and Northeastern on Friday and Saturday. Northwestern was 12-8 last season and had a 1-5 mark in Big Ten play. The Wildcats are beginning their 30th varsity season and has won a total of 348 games. Tracy Fuches begins her second year at Northwestern after spending time as an associate head coach at Michigan.
The Wildcats welcome back their top scorer in Chelsea Armstrong. She posted 22 goals and 12 assists for 56 points in 20 games. Her 56 points was tops in the Big Ten and she was a first team all-conference honoree. Northwestern graduated two of its three top point-getters, but Kaylee Pohlmeyer is back for her junior year after an 18-point season. The Wildcats scored 67 goals in 2009 and allowed 44 and average over three goals a contest.
In net, senior Katie Lynch returns for her final season after a 5-6 mark in 13 games played. She posted a 2.43 goals against average and a .647 save percentage. Amanda Wirth shared time with Lynch and put together a 6-1 season with a 1.77 goals against average and a .725 save percentage.
This will be only the second meeting between the Raiders and the Wildcats. The teams first met back in 2002 in Evanston, Ill., with Northwestern coming away with a 3-0 win.
For game information, including Colgate All-Access and live stats, fans can visit
Field Hockey Game Central.