Skip to main content

USA Field Hockey preps for Olympics at Spooky Nook


play
Show Caption

LANDISVILLE – As the U.S. Olympic women’s field hockey team heads to Rio for the 2016 Summer Games, a pair of Lancaster County players are looking forward to representing their country on and off the field.

Warwick grad Alyssa Manley and Penn Manor alum Jill Witmer are part of the 16-member, two-alternate squad that wrapped up its competitive exhibition schedule Tuesday evening at Spooky Nook.

“I am excited for the experience. Some of my teammates tell me to take it all in, take pictures with different athletes,” said Witmer, who scored the first goal in the national team’s 5-0 win over Canada.

“I am so excited to get down there, start playing and soak it all in,” agreed Manley, who played collegiately at Syracuse.

One person that has been there before is teammate Katie Bam, who played in the 2012 games in London. However, Bam isn’t giving tips on what to expect.

“I don’t want to prepare them for it,” she said. “I think it’s something that you have to just take in as your own experience and make it what you want to. I don’t want to make it something it may not be for them.”

“The start of the whistle in the first game of the Olympics is always the special whistle,” added Bam. “Realizing for some people, 'I am an Olympian.' It’s the most exciting, energetic feeling I think that is possible in the world.”

Witmer, a former University of Maryland standout, admitted that she will likely feel some jitters.

“I will definitely be nervous, but I know once I step on the field and touch the ball I will be fine. All my nerves will disappear and it will turn into a lot of energy,” she said.

Playing on its home pitch at Spooky Nook, the U.S. team looked ready for top competition against Canada, scoring twice in the first and adding single goals in each of the next three quarters.

The Americans limited their visitors to only a few shots on goal, all of which were stopped by keeper Jackie Briggs.

After the game each team had five players go against the other goalie in a shootout exhibition and Briggs showed her competitive side by stopping three of those as well.

“When we play in big games like the Olympics we have to be ready for those moments so we try to recreate those moments in training every day,” Briggs said.

In all, the U.S. squad features 11 players from Pennsylvania, including Briggs and Bam, who also graduated from Maryland.

Briggs, who back-stopped North Carolina to two NCAA titles, most looks most forward to spending the time with her teammates, something she finds hard to believe is coming to an end.

“We have a strong bond with one another. We train all the time, full-time so we are together a lot, year-round,” she said. “You work four years for this moment, the best part is we are a team sport and can enjoy it together.

“It’s kind of like the last few days of school before you graduate. You start to soak it all in and want to slow down because it’s almost over.”