The Virginia field hockey team began its 2004 season with just three seniors on its roster. Yet, game after game, this trio of Cavalier elder stateswomen has created an output far greater than expected. With a concentration on the squad's youth early in the year, it would have been difficult to predict how important these three would be.
Seniors Julianne Bojanic, Logan Carr and Katie Jo Gerfen have held a multitude of influential roles for the Cavaliers this season.
Bojanic has been both a back and midfielder for the Cavaliers this year, thriving in a role of shutdown defender. She currently is tied for the team lead in defensive saves with two and set the pace for Virginia in this category in 2003 with three saves. The Lancaster, Pa., native has not made headlines with game-winning goals because that has never been her function for the Cavaliers. Instead, Bojanic is never far from the ball on defense, gaining possession and sending it up field to set up the offense.
Carr, a goalkeeper, began the season splitting time with sophomore Katherine Blair, but in the last three games has started and played every minute of each contest. Several times during the year, notably in narrow losses the last two weeks against No. 2 North Carolina and No. 1 Wake Forest, Carr has succeeded in keeping Virginia in the game. She notched one shutout this season and a team-high 81 saves to bring her career total to 246.
Gerfen, a back, added a collegiate All-American honor in 2003 to a long list of career accomplishments. In 2004, her final season at Virginia, she has continued standout play on both sides of the field. Gerfen has notched two goals and two assists on the year, frequently leading the Cavalier penalty corner attack and defense. Though her contributions as an on-field leader cannot be generated into a statistic, Gerfen's six career game-winning goals show who the team looks to as the clock winds down.
Most importantly, however, these three are the role models for a group of 10 freshmen currently on the roster. Through their actions, possibly unknowingly, Bojanic, Carr and Gerfen are shaping the future of Virginia field hockey.
"There are 10 [freshmen]," freshman midfielder Megan Ponessa said. "We have just tried to push the seniors and learn from them, and that has really helped our team."
Last weekend against Wake Forest, these three seniors played in their final home game for Virginia. In an emotional afternoon, the Cavaliers played tough against the top-ranked team in the country and then congregated to acknowledge Bojanic, Carr and Gerfen for their career accomplishments.
"There is a lot of emotion," Gerfen said after the game. "We went out with a bang in our last home game of the season, and everybody came together."
Heading into tomorrow's contest at No. 3 Duke (14-3, 1-2 ACC), Virginia is still looking for its first 2004 ACC victory. As the regular season expires and the postseason begins, the No. 16 Cavaliers (10-8, 0-3), will once again look to their seniors to lead an underdog team. Whether they are successful or not, the coming years of Virginia field hockey have been set by the example of hard work and dedication from a small but essential trio of seniors.
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