Nina Klein enters her second year as Quinnipiac’s field hockey head coach, looking to improve on a mediocre 2023 season. The Bobcats finished sixth in the Big East with an overall record of 6-11. They had a conference record of 2-5 which was just two spots below the last team in the conference tournament. This included a 2-7 record in the final month of October, ending the season on a four-game losing streak. The Bobcats have failed to qualify for the Big East Tournament since joining the conference in 2016 and their only NCAA Tournament appearance was the play-in round in 2012. The Big East Preseason Coaches’ Poll has Quinnipiac seventh out of eight. If Klein hopes to get her team to the postseason in 2024, she must rely on returning veterans and some new faces.
Returning veterans
The biggest shoes the Bobcats will have to fill are those of All-Big East and reigning Big East Midfielder of the Year Stella Tegtmeier. Tegtmeier led the team in points, assists, and shots on goal in 2023 and had six goals on the season. Also gone are forwards Emilia Massarelli, Julianna Cappello, and Sophia Pompeo, midfielders Micaela Grajales and Bevan Gebhardt, defender Olivia Howard and goalkeeper Nina Santore.
Sophia’s younger sister and senior forward Lucia Pompeo will be most looked upon to step up for Quinnipiac. The Gorham, Maine native was selected for the All-Big East Preseason Team. She registered six goals on the year along with 26 shots, four assists, and 16 points, earning a spot on the All-Big East Second Team.
Goalkeeper Cristina Torres is also looking to build off a sophomore year in which she started all 17 games for the Bobcats, registering a 2.34 goals against average and a .709 save percentage. Torres finished with a 6-10 record including a shutout. She also helped lead the U18 Spanish National Team to second place at the U21 European Championship over the summer.
New faces
The Bobcats bring eight recruits to the program, seven being first years with one transfer. Five of the recruits are international players. Ava Bleier, a forward/midfielder transferred from St. Louis University and is joining the Bobcats as a sophomore. The Pittsford, New York native appeared in ten games for the Billikens, registering one goal and one assist. A five-year varsity standout, she holds two Pittsford Sutherland High School records with 109 goals and 49 assists and was a 2021 All-New York State Selection.
Midfielder Emma Nelson and defender Zoe Bjelac are the Bobcats’ stateside recruits. Nelson, a Yardley, Pennsylvania native, was First-Team All-Prep in 2023 and received first-team honors for the Mid-Atlantic Prep League. Bjelac comes to Quinnipiac from Arnold, Maryland. She led Broadneck Night School to an undefeated Maryland 4A State Championship and a No. 1 national ranking. She was a 2023 All-County selection and played in the 2022 USA Field Hockey National Indoor Tournament.
Lucia Donati and Martina Calveira join the Bobcats from Argentina. Donati, the Cordoba native, captained her U16 team to a 2022 State Tournament Championship and was named the best player in the tournament. She then helped the senior team win the State Tournament in 2023. Calveira helped her provincial team to a runner-up finish in the Regional Tournament and was a standout player in the Entre Ríos province.
Jule Hoefer comes to Quinnipiac from Hamburg, Germany. She helped UHC Hamburg win the 2023 Hamburg Indoor Championship. In 2020, she also helped lead her team to a fourth-place finish at the Indoor German Championship and a sixth-place finish at the Outdoor German Championship.
Francisca Eschoyez hails from Turin, Italy. She captained the U18 Italian Indoor National Team to the 2023 Eurohockey Youth Championship and was named the best player in the 2024 Italian Indoor Tournament.
Maaike Van Wensen joins the Bobcats from Apeldoorn, Netherlands. She has played on the Netherlands National Team and was MVP of the U16 Regional Tournament. She was also captain of the AMHC Apeldoorn U18 team while also playing on the first team.
What can be fixed
The Bobcats come in seventh out of eight teams in the preseason Big East coaches’ poll and are looking to improve upon several elements of their game.
One example is goal scoring, as the Bobcats came in fifth in the conference in goals with 31, 13 goals behind fourth-place Providence, and 23 goals behind conference leader Old Dominion. If Quinnipiac can increase their offensive presence by creating more goal opportunities, that could be enough to put themselves into the playoff picture.
The Bobcats can improve in the assists department as well. Quinnipiac had 23 assists on the year, 32 assists behind leader Villanova. Assists come from passing, which can lead to better and more frequent scoring opportunities.
Another area the Bobcats can improve is in penalty corners. Quinnipiac only scored four times out of 104 chances last season. Improvements could give the team the extra goals needed to close out games.
Schedule preview
The Bobcats have 18 games on the slate this year, including 10 home games. Quinnipiac begins the season on Aug. 30 against LIU, the first of six non-conference games. The team will also play Stonehill on Sep. 8, where it will celebrate its 30th year as a program. These non-conference matchups will allow the Bobcats to start strong and prepare for conference play.
The first Big East game of the year comes on Sep. 20 against Providence, followed by an away matchup on Sep. 29 against Villanova in Philadelphia. The Battle of Whitney Avenue will take place at Johnson Field this year as Quinnipiac travels to Yale on Sep. 29. The Bobcats will then take on Georgetown in Hamden on Oct. 4, and then go up the road to Storrs to take on UConn on Oct. 11.
After a visit by Brown on Oct. 14 the Bobcats will play consecutive games against last year’s conference finalists, playing at Liberty on Oct. 18, and against defending conference champion Old Dominion on Oct. 25. Quinnipiac will travel back to Philadelphia to finish the regular season against Temple on Nov. 1.
