June 25, 2007
VIRGINIA BEACH, VA. -- USA Field Hockey and women's coach Lee Bodimeade announced the selections of five former Lady Monarch standouts to the 2007-08 U.S. National Squad following a week of play at the USA National Championships.
The selections of the squad include former Honda Award winner Tiffany Snow (Escondido, Calif.) and All-Americans Melissa Leonetti (Erdenheim, Pa.), Angie Loy (Loysville, Pa.), Dana Sensenig (Denver, Pa.), and Caroline Nichols (Va. Beach, Va.).
In addition to the 25-member national team, Snow, Leonetti, Loy, and Sensenig have been selected to the 16-member women's roster for the Pan American Games and will compete for the United States at the XV Pan American Games, July 15-29, in Rio de Janeiro. It will be the team's first opportunity to qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Selections to the team are subject to approval by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).
"We selected the team we thought could bring home the (Pan Am Games) win," said U.S. coach Lee Bodimeade on the selection of a team that combines veteran experience with the talents of some promising young players. "We've had a good build up with our trip to Holland, the tournament we won in Chile and the Champions Challenge in Azerbaijan. Using the National Championships to finalize some of the final spots has been great and I think we've put together a really good team."
The winner of the Pan Am Games earns the continent's automatic berth in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. In addition, teams placing 2-6 in the women's tournament will earn spots in one of three Olympic Qualifying Tournaments in early 2008. The winners of the three qualifying tournaments will earn the final three berths in the 2008 Olympic Games.
The USA enters the Pan American Games as the No. 2 seed and will begin play in Pool B with Canada, Cuba and the Netherlands Antilles. Pool A features defending champion Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and host Brazil. The USA women open play on July 17 against Netherlands Antilles.
The USA women have won medals in each Pan Am Games since the women's tournament was added to the quadrennial event in 1987. The U.S. women won silver medals in 1987, 1995, 1999 and 2003 and a bronze medal in 1991. Argentina has won all five previous women's Pan Am Games tournaments.
Following the Pan Am Games, the USA will continue international competition in October when the team hosts Japan in a five game series, Oct. 7-13 at the Univ. of Maryland. Japan edged the USA for fifth place in a 1-0 classification match at the 2006 World Cup and has already qualified for the 2008 Olympic Games.