Physical play dominates Big Ten tourney

Though field hockey is not supposed to be a contact sport, Michigan's matches versus Penn State and Iowa this weekend in the Big Ten tournament were as physical as they come, leaving the field hockey players susceptible to possible injuries.

The women wear no protective padding other than shin guards, meaning that if a ball or stick goes high, a player could find themselves on the sideline hurt.

The season was on the line for the Wolverines against Penn State and Iowa, which made each game more intense.

Though only a freshman, forward Jessica Rose got a hearty taste of the Big Ten's physical play-she had to leave the game twice against Penn State due to injury and was taken off the field again against Iowa because of an injury as well.

ALEX WOLK/Daily After sitting out their upset victory over Penn State, Ali Balmer was key to the Wolverines finals victory over Iowa.

"I remember being told when I was younger that those girls (playing Big Ten field hockey) were monsters," Rose said. "I think I'm getting better at being pushed around.

I remember (Michigan coach Marcia Pankratz) told me before the game, 'Don't let them push you off the ball.' Sometimes we get pushed but sometimes it goes our way."

Freshman Molly Powers, like Rose, wasn't welcomed into the Big Ten with outstretched arms but with poking sticks, pushing and shoving.

"It's something to step up to every time you go out," Powers said. "It is something that pushes you to the next level and pushes you to fight back harder."

Senior forward Jocelyn LaFace was also in the heat of battle.

"It was definitely physical," LaFace said. "Everyone wanted the ball. Any (ball) that came open, everyone went after it."

Junior Courtney Reid explained that during warm-ups, the Wolverines did a bit of trash talking with each other to prepare themselves for the intensity of the Penn State game.

"We knew it was going to be a physical battle," Courtney Reid said. "We played around mentally with each other during warm-ups. We just came out and we were the tougher team."

Jeanne Shin, whose job was to cover Penn State midfielder and Big Ten Player of the Year Tracey Larson and Iowa star Quan Nim, had the toughest assignment of any Wolverine. She had to step up physically. But Shin said that the game was so intense, she didn't even think about how physical the game was.

"When I was around the ball," Shin said, "I didn't even think about (the game's intensity.) I think we were more into (the game) because it was Penn State and we knew that we were that much closer to winning (the Big Ten Tournament.) "The coaches said to tackle (Quan Nim) hard any time she got the ball."

Midfielder Ali Balmer, who did not play against Penn State, showed up in a major way for the championship game. Balmer, who started against the Hawkeyes, was physically engaged all game, and played extremely tough when it counted most.

"When I came out today, I was really determined and wanted to make my presence known," Balmer said. "I was really fired up and wanted to prove that I wanted to be out there."

Catherine Foreman played physically throughout the tournament and single-handedly sparked her teammates with her intensity.

"Last week in practice one of our coach told us not to get pushed off the ball," Foreman said. "I tried to really bring that to this weekend because if one player on our team does it, it usually works pretty well in firing up the rest of the team. You take a few (hits) but hopefully you give enough back. I'm sure it's going to hurt tomorrow, but I'm feeling pretty good now."

The Wolverines played relentless field hockey, and for the first time ever, brought the Big Ten Tournament Championship trophy to Ann Arbor.

11-09-99