Energy, offensive skill, and athleticism — that’s what true freshmen Sarah Drake, Geena Lesiak, and Jessica Barnett bring to Tracey Griesbaum’s Iowa field-hockey team.
These attributes, among others, earned the trio spots in the starting lineup in last weekend’s Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
Despite having no prior collegiate experience, the performances by the three justified Griesbaum’s decision to put them on the field.
“Sarah Drake doesn’t back down from anything,” Griesbaum said. “She plays like it’s 0-0 every single play — in practice, too — which is really incredible.”
Griesbaum calls Barnett, a 5-8 back from Canadia, an “amazing athlete.” Lesiak, who scored one of the Hawkeyes’ only two goals during the weekend — a 15-yarder in the second period against Wake Forest on Aug. 29 — is described by her coach as “a great shooter who can pull the trigger really fast.”
Griesbaum saw the potential in the three before they arrived on campus. Watching them compete in high school, she noticed each possessed unique skills that could serve as valuable assets to her team.
Barnett described the increased speed of the college level as a personal wake-up call for her. But with the instruction of Griesbaum and her staff, it has been easy for the freshmen to manage the adjustment.
“I wasn’t really that nervous,” said Drake, who at a scrappy 5-5 has been converted into a forward since becoming a Hawkeye. “I think that our coaches have really prepared us for the level of play, and I think that our practices are just as hard if not harder than games. Of course it’s a little nerve-racking to play against UNC and Wake Forest, because you hear about them all the time, but I think I have been more nervous taking tests than I have been playing.”
The 0-2 record Iowa possessed with following the weekend challenge wasn’t what the Hawkeyes were looking for. But the poise demonstrated by the young trio managed to impress even their most experienced teammates, such as senior captain Tricia Dean. Thinking back to her own first game, Dean said, she wasn’t nearly as poised or as confident in her first game as Drake, Barnett, and Lesiak were last weekend.
“They did awesome,” Dean said. “They tried their hardest to learn as much as possible in the two weeks that we had before opening day, and they did a really good job.”
Obviously, all three still have plenty of room to improve — and all three have specific goals in mind. For Lesiak, it’s her movement off the ball. She wants to make better cuts for the person who has the ball and also to open up space for the team’s transition offense.
Barnett, who plays in the backfield, wants to become a threat off the dribble. Still learning her new position, Drake hopes to become a “sick shooter” from the frontline.
With almost four full seasons still remaining in their careers, there will be plenty of time for these young Hawkeyes to realize these aspirations — and maybe more.
“All three of them have a lot of great tools,” Griesbaum said. “They’re good hockey players.”