F. Hockey psychologically prepared for '99

A team psychologist has helped the Quakers get ready for the 1999 season. The story of the 1999 Quakers begins with the coach. Val Cloud is entering her fifth season as head coach of the field hockey program. Previously, she served as the assistant field hockey and lacrosse coach at Penn for 15 years. As a head coach, Cloud has amassed a record of 35-34, including an 8-9 overall mark last year (4-3 Ivy League). One of the dominant factors in the 1998 team's success was assistant coach Donna Mulhern, who brings a wealth of defensive expertise to the Quakers. Mulhern has been an assistant for the Red and Blue for the past eight years and was a two-sport standout in both field hockey and lacrosse at Penn prior to coaching. In addition to Mulhern, a new face will join the coaching staff. Goalkeeper coach Gwen Alexander, a former member of the U.S. National team, begins her first season coaching for the Quakers. However, she is no stranger to the profession. Alexander left Penn Charter High School after five years as the school's head coach. She also served as goalie coach for the U.S. National Team from 1989 to 1993 and as head coach at Temple from 1979 to 1988. Alexander faced one of the most daunting tasks of her long coaching career this preseason, when she had to train a first-time goaltender, Gerianne Kauffman, to compete at the Division I level in just two weeks. Although Cloud claims that this is the "strongest freshman class in the 20 years that I have ever seen," the new group still lacked one key ingredient. There was no new goaltender joining the Red and Blue for the 1999 season. Junior goaltender Alison Friedman, who compiled a .826 save percentage in four games last season, will be the starter, but it is always important in field hockey to have a backup goalie. As of early August, though, there was no other keeper. In early August, however, Cloud received a phone call from College sophomore Kauffman, who had planned on trying out for the team in '98 but decided against it. This season, she had a change of heart and called Cloud. Cloud had one response to the high school field player. "Gerianne, I have a proposition for you," Cloud said. "Would you consider playing goalie?" Without hesitation, Kauffman accepted the new role. Throughout the team's two-a-day preseason workouts, Alexander molded the former soccer player into a goaltender. Alexander's coaching served Kauffman well when a nagging quad injury took Friedman out of the game midway through the team's first scrimmage against Rutgers. Kauffman rose to the occasion, allowing Rutgers to net just one goal. With a settled goaltender situation, three experienced and energetic coaches, a solid freshman class and a slew of experienced returnees -- six of whom are seniors -- the Penn team needed only one final piece to solidify its preseason puzzle. His name is Keith Waldman and his purpose was to strengthen the team -- not the athletes' physical state, but their mental state. He is the team psychologist. "Keith helped us bring everything to the table and I think the big word now is to be in the present. Don't think about the end of the half or the end of the game or the end of the season. You have to live in the present. You can't forget the past but you have to grow from it. The only thing you can control is the present you can't control the future and you can't change the past," Cloud said. While every member of the team can run a timed mile under seven minutes, the athletes are now also ready mentally. Today's matchup at 4 p.m. on St. Joseph's turf will be the first test of the team's strength. The backbone of team, the six seniors, will set the tone of the opening game. Tri-captains Leah Bills and Maureen Flynn are expected to dominate the midfield. Seniors Courtney Martin and Katie McCuen should provide scoring punch, while senior Jen Murray will control the defensive end of the field. The remaining senior defender, tri-captain Brooke Jenkins, was cleared to play only two days ago. Jenkins underwent surgery this spring after tearing her ACL for the second time while playing for the Penn women's lacrosse team. Flynn earned first team All-Ivy and first team Mid-Atlantic Regional All-America honors for the second consecutive year last season. Bills, who scored three goals last season, brings vocal leadership to the lineup. Murray has started all 34 games in the past two seasons. Martin led the Quakers with nine goals, five assists and 23 points last season and earned second team All-Ivy honors. Despite Jenkins' hard luck with her knees, she still provides defensive leadership, having started 15 games last season and earning Most Improved Player honors in '97. In addition to the six seniors, the team is traveling with six freshmen and starting three juniors and two sophomores. "We have great foundations to start on," Cloud said. "There has been a great work ethic and a lot of enthusiasm during every practice." In its first matchup of the season Penn will prove just how strongly its foundations have been laid. The team, instead of predicting what the future may bring, plans on focusing on the present. The Quakers are going to focus on each game and depend on that focus to help compile a winning record.