April 27, 2008
KAZAN, Russia -- The USA Field Hockey Women's National Team, featuring five former Lady Monarchs, earned a spot in the 2008 Olympic Games with a 3-1 defeat of Belgium in the final game of the World Hockey Olympic Qualifiers in Kazan, Russia. Former Lady Monarchs Tiffany Snow (Escondido, Calif.), Angie Loy (Loysville, Pa.), Melissa Leonetti (Erdenheim, Pa.), Dana Sensenig (Denver, Pa.), and Caroline Nichols (Va. Beach, Va.) helped the national team secure an appearance in Beijing this summer and return the squad to the Olympic Games after a 12 year absence.
Honda Award winner Tiffany Snow redirected a pass from Lauren Crandall across the scoring zone for the game-winning goal in the game's 26th minute. Snow was named Top Scorer in the tournament with six goals.
The U.S. never trailed in any game and routed three opponents in shutout victories. The USA outscored the field 27-4.
Field hockey at the Olympic games will begin on Sunday, August 10th concluding with the medal matches on Friday, August 22nd and Saturday, August 23rd.
The Old Dominion field hockey team has strong ties to the Olympic games. Eleven former Lady Monarchs have gone on to participate in the Olympic games, five of them having earned medals. Willimien Aardenburg ('84), Carina Benninga ('80), and Ingrid Wolf ('83) helped the Dutch team to the bronze medal in 1984, while Maacha van der Vaart ('90) also helped the Netherlands to bronze in 2000 and the silver in 2004. NCAA leading scorer Marina DiGiacomo was a member of Argentina's national squad which captured bronze in 2004.
The U.S.'s last appearance in the Olympic Games was during the 1996 Atlanta games where Kelli James ('92), recent Virginia Hall of Fame inductee, and Jill Reeve ('92) finished in fifth place.
Old Dominion student-athletes are not the only ones with strong ties to the Olympic Games. Head coach Beth Anders and assistant coach Gwen Alexander were members of the 1984 bronze medal team. Anders set an Olympic scoring record in 1984 that still stands today. The U.S. team scored nine goals, with eight coming from the stick of Anders.
LADY MONARCH FIELD HOCKEY OLYMPIANS
1980 - Moscow, USSR:
Beth Anders - USA
Gwen Alexanders - USA
1984 - Los Angeles, USA
Beth Anders - USA - BRONZE
Gwen Alexander - USA - BRONZE
1988 - Seoul, South Korea
Yogi Hightower - USA
Christy Morgan - USA
Diane Bracalente - USA
Cheryl Van Kuren - USA
Willemien Aardenburg - Netherlands - BRONZE
Carina Benninga - Netherlands - BRONZE
Ingrid Wolf - Netherlands - BRONZE
1992 - Barcelona, Spain
Carina Benninga - Netherlands
Ingrid Wolf - Netherlands
1995 - Atlanta, USA
Kelli James - USA
Jill Reeve - USA
2000 - Sydney, Australia
Maacha van der Vaart - Netherlands - BRONZE
2004 - Athens, Greece
Marina DiGiacomo - Argentina - BRONZE
Maacha van der Vaart - Netherlands - SILVER