Only 16 student-athletes from across the nation are chosen annually to represent the United States on the Under-21 Junior National Field Hockey team.
Penn sophomore goalie Elizabeth Schlossberg is one of them.
Schlossberg will join the 15 other selected athletes this winter break, when the team will participate in the Pan American Junior Championships in Chile. There, the team will face teams from Chile, Argentina and Canada.
Following the December tournament, the United States Field Hockey Association may again select Schlossberg for the U-21 team set to participate in the 2005 Junior World Championships in Puerto Rico this March.
For Schlossberg, the road to this national honor began freshman year of high school in Chevy Chase, Md. There, her friends opened her eyes to the field hockey team and its coach.
Though she had yet to hold a hockey stick, she decided to give the sport a try.
"I had never played before" freshman year, Schlossberg said. "I guess I started playing because of my friends, and because of the coach."
For such a humble beginning, Schlossberg's field hockey career has taken flight.
She was selected last year for the Under-20 Junior National Field Hockey team and is continuing her rise to the top with this year's honor.
According to the U.S. Field Hockey Association, the junior national teams are designed to train the country's elite field hockey players for the ultimate goal of playing on the U.S. National team.
Are the Olympics on the horizon for the sophomore goalie?
The national team "is definitely something to keep in mind," Schlossberg said. "I'd love to keep playing and maybe one day try out for the national team and go to the Olympics."
Regardless of Olympic prospects, Schlossberg is thrilled to be participating in this winter's competition.
"Last year I was a member of the under-20 team, but this is the first year that we get to travel and play out of the country," said Schlossberg, who attributes the new international play to program changes.
The junior national program "is trying to get more competitive to better prepare players for the Junior Olympics," she said.
Though unaware of the skill level to be expected from this December's opponents, Schlossberg is confident working with her future teammates, with whom she trained this past summer. Presumably, this confidence goes both ways.
That is also the case within the 2004 Penn field hockey squad, which could not express more confidence in their goalie.
And with good reason.
This season, Schlossberg has made countless contributions to the Quakers' success; teammates point specifically to her outstanding performance against Villanova late last month.
Although the Quakers might prefer to forget their 1-0 loss to the Wildcats, they are quick to remember Schlossberg's efforts that night.
The goalie saved two penalty corners in a 10-minute span.
Three days after the 'Nova game, Schlossberg led the Quakers (10-4, 3-1 Ivy) to a 3-2 win against Dartmouth(5-8, 2-2) in overtime.
"She definitely saved the Dartmouth game for us," Penn senior tri-captain Kate Murphy said.
Since the Dartmouth match, Schlossberg has not allowed a single goal, and is leading the Red and Blue in their current four-game shutout streak.
And the Quakers can feel confident their net is secure as they travel to New Haven, Conn., tomorrow for an Ivy League matchup with Yale (5-7, 1-3).
"She is a sound keeper," said Penn assistant coach Gwen Alexander, who works specifically with goalies. "She is steady first and then spectacular, so you can really count on her."
"She makes it look so easy," Penn senior Liz Lorelli said. "She does all the little things perfectly."
To raw talent, Schlossberg adds drive and work ethic that impresses teammates and coaches alike.
"She doesn't have a know-it-all attitude," Alexander said. "She always wants to improve."
"She works as hard as she can during practice but also out of practice -- she goes to the gym or goes running," Murphy said.
"Elizabeth is a student of the game," Alexander said. "She is putting a lot of effort into understanding the game and communicating with the defense."
To their lists of praises, Schlossberg's teammates are quick to add modesty.
"She is always the first one to give someone else credit," Murphy said.
On Franklin Field, Schlossberg is known to fight with heart on behalf of her fellow Quakers. "She is driven by the team," Alexander said.
In any country, across any ocean, speaking any language, that devotion is not bound to change.
