Pitch Session

Andrew and Kirstin begin this episode with a look at some conference changes that will effect field hockey, including UMass moving to the MAC.  Then Kirstin is joined by USA women's national team head coach David Passmore and the two discuss qualifying for the Olympics in India, preparations for this summer's Olympics, what David would choose to compete in the normal person Olympics, and more.

Andrew and Kirstin are joined today by a pair of two-time Olympians, Yale Head Coach Melissa Gonzalez and Temple Head Coach Michelle Vittese.  The two share their experiences in the run-up to both the 2012 London Games and the 2016 Rio Games, what they remember from their time during the Olympics, and how their Olympic runs affect their current head coaching roles.  They also share what it is like finding out that they made the Olympic roster, the feeling when their Olympic careers ended in a quarterfinal loss to Germany in 2016 and begin to prepare as their two teams face each other in October in New Haven.

Andrew and Kirstin are joined by US National Team GK Kelsey Bing following her and her teammates qualifying for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.  Kelsey discusses her experience during the qualifying tournament, what she and her teammates have done since qualifying (spoiler: they're still in India) and how they will begin to prepare for the Olympic Games.

We also briefly breakdown the two pools for the Olympic Tournament and look at the Hockey5's World Cup that's underway in Oman.

Andrew and Kirstin bring warmth to the harsh winter by looking at Team USA's run through the Olympic Qualifier in Ranchi, India en route to an Olympic berth in Paris this summer.  They look back at the USA's dominant run through pool play and their gripping 2-1 win over Japan to qualify for the Olympic Games on Thursday morning.

They're also joined by the head coach at Kutztown University Marci Scheuing.  Marcie and Kutztown were just awarded the NFHCA's Division II Coaching Staff of the Year award on the heels of their Division II national championship -- the first in both program and school history.

Andrew and Kirstin are joined by Allison Keefe from Graphing the Game to discuss her involvement in field hockey and what exactly it is she does for teams that have retained her consulting services.  We also briefly discuss the Junior World Cup in Santiago, Lindenwood ending its field hockey program, and an update on our GoFundMe to get to Paris for the Olympics.  (Spoiler: it's still about $10,000 short of the $10,000 goal).

Andrew and Kirstin reminisce about the epic national championship game between North Carolina and Northwestern, while attempting to highlight all the standout performance and moments from the game.

Then they're joined by several guests including the Pitch Session Bracket Spectacular champion* Caitlin Fredericks, 2023 National Champions Charly Bruder, Katie Dixon, and Maddie Kahn, and North Carolina head coach Erin Matson.

They also throw some love to the D2 and D3 national champs and look ahead to the offseason.

Andrew and Kirstin look forward to this weekend's Division I Final Four by looking back and the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament and speaking to three of the four head coaches participating in the national semifinals.  Joining the show this week is Northwestern's Trach Fuchs (16:22), Virginia's Ole Keusgen (24:12), and Duke's Pam Bustin (43:12).

Kirstin also shares her chutes and ladders from last weekend and we look at the wacky world that is Division III conferences.

Andrew and Kirstin discuss the William & Mary and Miami's wins in the Opening Round of the NCAA Tournament, and then discuss each of Friday's eight First Round games.

They then breakdown penalty corner data as a callback to Sunday night's episode with data courtesy of Allison Keefe.  You can find Allison's amazing work online on Twitter and on the Gram.  The link to Allison's data-breakdown as a read-only Google Sheet is here.

A reminder that there's still time to enter the Bracket Spectacular, with entries remaining open until 10 a.m. Eastern on Friday. 

Sign up for the Pitch Session Bracket Spectacular by clicking here.

The URL is: https://officepoolstop.com/Players-Only/JoinLeague.aspx…

The League ID for our pool is: 59342

The password for our pool is: fhockey

Andrew and Kirstin are joined by former Quinnipiac head coach Becca Main to break down the Field of 18.  They first look back to Championship Weekend and discuss the 10 conference champions who secured autobids before looking at the eight at-large teams and those who just missed the cut.

Sign up for the Pitch Session Bracket Spectacular by clicking here.

The URL is: https://officepoolstop.com/Players-Only/JoinLeague.aspx…

The League ID for our pool is: 59342

The password for our pool is: fhockey

Good luck!

Andrew and Kirstin gear up for Conference Tournament weekend with Cornell Head Coach Andy Smith.  Andrew, Kirstin, and Andy discuss this weekends Ivy League Tournament, the inaugural edition of the tournament and what having a conference tournament means for the eight teams in the Ivy League and how it changes their mentality all season long.  Andy shares great memories of Kirstin's time as an umpire and what his preferred rule change for the sport would be.

Andrew and Kirstin look back at the final weekend of the regular season, take a look at the Pan Am Games including a live look-in from a tight battle between Chile and Canada, and predict the winner of each of the 10 conference tournaments.

Spoiler alert:  Chile won 3-2 in the shootout to advance.