Junior World Cup Finale, Exhibition Games Await Terps in Boston
8/14/2009 8:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Aug. 14, 2009
BOSTON - The United States has one game remaining in the 2009 BDO Women's Junior World Cup and will take on China on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. in the 7th-8th place game at Harvard University's Jordan Field. Three University of Maryland field hockey players are representing the U.S. at the international event featuring 16 of the world's best junior teams.
The remainder of the Maryland program is also in Boston and will play a pair of exhibition games on Saturday and Monday.
Since advancing to crossover play last week after going 2-1 in pool play, Team USA dropped a pair of games with one win versus defending champion Korea (L, 2-1), England (L, 3-2) and Chile (W, 4-0).
The Terrapins feature three members of the 2008 national championship team on Team USA, including seniors Brianna Davies (Annville, Pa.) and Alexis Pappas (Mount Joy, Pa.) and junior Katie O'Donnell (Blue Bell, Pa.).
O'Donnell, a two-time first team All-American, is playing in her second Junior World Cup. In 2005, she helped the U.S. to a seventh-place finish in Santiago, Chile, the best finish ever for the Americans at the event. The Terrapins' co-captain was hoping for an improvement this time around in the Junior World Cup, but knows that there is still much to play for in Saturday's match versus China.
"We definitely want to leave the tournament with a win, that's really important to each of us," O'Donnell said. "To not be able to improve (from 2005) is disappointing. We played so much better (than 2005) but we just couldn't put the ball in the net, which disappoints me more being a forward.
"USA field hockey in general has improved, however. You can tell by the way we performed and by the way teams prepare for us."
The weekend brings plenty of field hockey action to the Terrapin program. On Saturday, Maryland will open exhibition play in Boston versus Northeastern at 9 a.m., minus the services of Davies, O'Donnell and Pappas. The Terps will then cheer on their three teammates at the USA-China contest at 4:30 p.m.
Maryland will remain in Boston until Monday when it faces conference foe Boston College in the final exhibition match of the preseason. The Terps-Eagles game will begin at 11 a.m.
