And Another Surprise

THE late-blooming Dartmouth field hockey team boarded a plane in November and flew to California to participate in the A.I.A.W. national championship at Berkeley. "It was an amazing season," said coach Mary Corrigan. "We had eight new people and started five freshmen, which is a bit unusual, so it took us a while to get going. I think some people had counted us out because of our slow start." The 15-member team won five of its last seven games to finish the season with a 6-6-1 record before winning the northeastern regional championship and a berth in the national playoff. It was the team's first trip to the nationals since 1978.

In the regional tournament, the Big Green, seeded second, defeated Harvard, 20, and advanced to the final game, beating Providence College, 1-0. The lone goal was scored by Katey McCormack, a sophomore. McCormack was the team's leading scorer with six goals and two assists despite the fact that she plays defense. "Katey has the most incredible drive you have ever seen," said junior captain Joanne Taplin.

"We hadn't played together as a team because we had a lot of new people in the beginning," said Taplin. "I think we surprised a lot of people. I feel the team played very well against the University of Vermont and really came together in that game." McCormack, named the team's most valuable player, said she thought the turning point in the season came in the Yale game, when Dartmouth defeated the visiting Elis, 2-1, with a goal in the final two minutes of the game.

Sophomore Carol Trask was the team's second leading scorer with six goals and one assist, and Paula Joyce, another sophomore, had six assists during the season. Freshman Sharon Matthews scored four goals and one assist. Goalie Tory Parrott recorded eight saves in the 1-0 shutout of Providence. Parrott had a save percentage of .875 while fellow goalie Fran O'Donoghue had a save percentage of .778.

Dartmouth was scheduled to meet Penn State, ranked second in the country, in the nationals.