Behind Enemy Lines: La Salle coach Michelle Marks

Last year, Penn field hockey needed a late goal from Elizabeth Hitti to best La Salle, 4-3. The teams will face off this Wednesday at Vagelos Field. With the Quakers (4-1, 1-0 Ivy) surging early this season and the Explorers (2-6) looking to grab a big road win, we catch up with La Salle coach Michelle Marks.

Daily Pennsylvanian: Your team has given up its fair share of goals this season, yet Lisa Shaffer ranks near the top of the Atlantic 10 in saves (66). What do you think your defense needs to do in order to slow down your opponents, and keep the pressure off Shaffer?

Michelle Marks: Lisa is doing a great job, as she is leading in the A-10 — she is also ranked nationally. We do have a little bit of inexperience in front of her. I think [the defense] can organize earlier and make sure they are marking up their opponents a bit quicker to alleviate some shots getting on to Lisa.

DP: Your team’s two wins have both come at home. How are you trying to improve your performance on the road?

MM: Obviously we’re trying to improve our performance overall anywhere we go. Being on the road, it is a little more taxing on the players, but I think that with this win against Liberty (a 2-1 win on Sunday) we’ve seen a lot of improvement. With us traveling the next couple of weekends, I think we can see a lot of adjustments being made compared to the last few weeks.

DP: Junior Maddy Tettelbach leads your team in shot percentage (.571) and has already surpassed her point total from last season (she currently has 10). Can you touch on her emergence this season and her value to the team?

MM: We’ve put her in a different position. Last year she was one of our outside midfielders, and this year, with her experience and knowledge of the game, we’ve moved her to the center-mid position. She’s doing a really good job of distributing the ball to her teammates. She’s really brought a presence in the middle of the field and I think she’s playing the best she has her entire career. We’re continuing to expect big things coming from her.

DP: Looking ahead to Wednesday’s game, what do you expect to see from Penn? Particularly, how do you plan to slow down the Quakers’ offensive attack?

MM: They’re off to a great start. We can expect them to come out hard against us. They’re a very well coached team and they are very determined. If we continue playing team defense and team offense I think it will be a good test. Our individual defense needs to shut their attack.

-by Seamus Powers