Even though this is Tiffany Marsh’s second season as head coach of the field hockey team, she has just finished her first full preseason with the Hoyas.

Last year, 11-year Head Coach Laurie Carroll stepped down just two weeks before the start of the preseason. Marsh was named interim head coach, but it was difficult for the team and Marsh to adjust with the season so close. This year, having Marsh as coach for the entire offseason has made a big difference for the team.

“[The coaches] were ready for what they had planned,” senior forward Maggie Farrand said. “And we had some expectations of what our season and preseason were going to be. We walked in blind last year.”

This year, both Farrand and Marsh said that the team is closer both on and off the field than they have been in past years.

“We have a young group, and it was nice to get everyone on campus and together,” Marsh said. “Our big goal for preseason was getting all the freshmen and upperclassmen united as one as quickly as possible since we have such a young group coming in.”

Farrand noted that since the roster is small this year, the freshmen will get a lot of playing time.

The Hoyas hope the large number of freshmen – eight of the squad’s 15 players are first-year students – will help turn around the losses from last year. Georgetown finished 2-15 last season and ended the season on a nine-game losing streak.

“[The freshmen] all come out of high schools where they were used to winning, and they came out of competitive high schools where they just go out and play every game to win,” Marsh said. “That’s the attitude that we’re looking to develop here and spread it across the board to everyone.”

The top returning scorer for Georgetown is Farrand, who netted seven goals and three assists last year. Not returning is last year’s leading goal-scorer, senior Katie Lachman (10 goals, two assists), and junior Lindsay Moramarco (seven goals, one assist).

arsh said that sophomore Micaela O’Toole (four goals, one assist) and junior Kristen Volpe (one goal, one assist) will join Farrand on the front line this year.

The Hoyas also return senior goalkeeper Deirdre Crovo, who started in 14 games between the pipes last year. Crovo had a goals-against average of 5.29 and made 98 saves on the campaign. Crovo was responsible for one of Georgetown’s two wins when she shut out Brown 1-0 on Sept. 16. Crovo made seven saves and held the one-goal margin for nearly 60 minutes.

“Dee has worked really hard over the spring and has had a lot of one-on-one coaching, so she’s developed a lot,” Marsh said. “We’ve seen a ton of improvement out of her.”

Just a sophomore, Annika Bannon will be the experienced veteran for a defense made up of mostly freshmen.

“Annika filled a big role as a freshman, so we’re excited to have her with a year of experience,” Marsh said.

The Hoyas were overmatched for much of the season. Opponents racked up 86 goals to Georgetown’s 30 and took almost double the number of shots that the Hoyas did. In the tough Big East, Georgetown was outscored 45-7 en route to a winless conference record.

“I don’t know that we have talked about overall goals for the season, but we’re taking it game by game – doing as well as we can each game and building our level of play every week,” Marsh said of the team’s goals.

Georgetown plays eight home games at the Lacrosse and Field Hockey Complex in College Park, Md., though they still practice on Kehoe Field. The Big East promises to be a tough conference again this year.

“We have a big schedule on our hands, but we’re really excited for the challenge,” Marsh said.

This weekend, Georgetown will travel to Athens, Ohio, for two games.

“We’re excited to get off campus and play other competition,” Marsh said. “Since we have such small numbers, we’re eager to get out and play 11 v. 11.”

The Hoyas play Ohio tomorrow and St. Louis Sunday. Both games are at noon.

Farrand said, “I’m excited to get out there . and working on connecting with how everyone is playing so we can build up from the back.”

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