Boston College Athletics
Field Hockey Picked To Win BIG EAST Title
July 29, 2003 | Field Hockey
July 29, 2003
Providence, R.I. - Boston College and Connecticut were jointly selected as the favorites to win the regular season title in the 2003 BIG EAST Preseason Field Hockey Poll, as picked by the coaches. Both teams received three first-place votes.
Boston College veteran coach Sherren Granese returns 14 starters from last year's 15-6 squad. The Eagles compiled a 3-2 conference record one year ago. The defending BIG EAST champion Connecticut Huskies lost only two starters from a year ago.
Senior Kim French (Shrewsbury, Mass.) got the nod as the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year while she and five teammates found a spot on the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team. French, the 2002 BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year and unanimous first team selection, is the team's leading scorer from last year, netting 12 goals and two assists for 26 points.
Virginia Drozd (Richmond, Va.), Lauren Hill (Bethesda, Md.), Bronwen Kelly (Mississauga, Ontario), Kristen Madden (Concord, N.H.), and Sarah York, (Watertown, Mass.) are also selections to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team.
Drozd (second team), Kelly (first team), and Madden (second team) were all All-BIG EAST selections for the 2002 season. Hill and York are first-time honorees. York will join the Eagles as a sophomore, transferring from the University of Virginia.
In 2002, Boston College finished with a 15-6 overall mark (3-2 BIG EAST).
2003 FIELD HOCKEY PRESEASON POLL 2002 Record 2002 Finish Points BIG EAST Overall Regular Season 1. Boston College (3) 23 3-2-0 15-6-0 3rd Connecticut (3) 23 5-0-0 15-8-0 1st 3. Villanova 16 4-1-0 11-9-0 2nd 4 Syracuse 14 2-3-0 10-11-0 4th 5. Providence 7 1-4-0 8-12-0 5th 6. Rutgers 7 0-5-0 3-16-0 6th First-place votes in parentheses
2003 FIELD HOCKEY PRESEASON AWARDS Offensive Player of the Year: Kim French, Sr., Boston College
Defensive Player of the Year: Maureen Butler, Sr., Connecticut
All-BIG EAST Team: Virginia Drozd, Sr., Boston College* Kim French, Sr., Boston College* Becky Helwig, So., Connecticut Lauren Hill, Sr., Boston College Bronwen Kelly, So., Boston College Kristen Madden, So., Boston College Sara York, So., Boston College Maureen Butler, Sr., Connecticut Lauren Henderson, Jr., Connecticut* Stefanie Suehnholz, Sr., Providence Christina Lugones, Sr., Villanova Vanessa Pizzulli, Villanova *unanimous selections
