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U.S. National Field Hockey Team Defeats Ireland
Eagle Head Coach Steve Jennings serves as assistant coach with team

November 26, 2002

AU Head Field Hockey Coach Steve Jennings is currently serving as an assistant with the U.S. Women's National Team at the World Cup in Perth, Australia.

Greetings from the World Cup! The U.S. team arrived in Perth, Australia about a week prior to the start of the competition to get used to the local time zone (13 hours ahead of EST), the accommodations, the food, and of course, the competition venues. The facilities are fantastic; there are two new Astroturf fields both of which are surrounded by stadium seating. Both fields have lights, a sound system and on the main field, and a huge video screen showing the game live and replaying highlights.

Our first match of the World Cup was against the two-time defending world and Olympic champions Australia. Unfortunately, we got off to a rough start and Australia was able to finish several chances in the circle brilliantly. We regrouped and played a very good second half creating three open goal-scoring opportunities and restricting Australia’s ball movement and pattern. In the end the ‘Hockeyroos’, as they are called, prevailed 4-0.

Our second match was against Ireland and we considered it a must win situation. The tournament rules reward wins with three points and a tie with only one so it is critical to beat teams that will finish in the lower to middle places of the tournament. We got off to a great start and scored a textbook goal to take the lead. Ireland struck back on a penalty corner goal and we went into halftime tied a 1-1. In the second half we opened with solid play and put the Irish defense under heavy pressure. This eventually resulted in a bad clear from the Irish defense and Kate Barber made a wonderful interception and scored the game winning goal.

Today is a rest day and we are preparing to face the Japanese tomorrow. They are a very fit and skilled team that has lost a close match to Holland and drawn with Spain. We will have to take another step up in our level of play and we are desperately trying to get three more points! The majority of the day will consist of video analysis of their key tendencies, an edited video breakdown of our play over the past two games and several meetings to digest the last performance and prepare for the next. Too bad we won’t be able to work on our tan on a perfect 84 degree day!

Talk to you later in the week and wish us luck!

Steve