Founding player improves

Sometimes things just turn out for the best. And senior field hockey player Erica Nilsson can certainly vouch for that as she is tied for the team lead with seven points on three goals and an assist this season. But Nilsson did not begin her Hoosier career playing for coach Amy Robertson's squad. When Nilsson was a freshman there was no squad, and she spent the year playing for the club field hockey team.\nDespite being recruited by many different schools coming out of high school, Nilsson chose IU because she says she loved the school, but she also knew there was a good chance IU would soon have a program.\n"I knew that we were getting a program my second year," Nilsson said. "So I participated in the club team and had a blast."\nFollowing her season on the club team, Nilsson was told that a new varsity program would be starting the next fall. The Lake Forest, Ill, product was then faced with a difficult decision: to play, or not to play. For Nilsson, the choice was simple.\n"I knew that I wanted to play," Nilsson said. "I knew that after being active for so long I was missing it. I needed to play again."\nNilsson credits the hiring of Robertson as one of the main reasons for accepting the challenge of a varsity program.\n"The spring of my freshman year we met Coach Robertson, and I knew that I definitely wanted to play again," said Nilsson. "She knows the game better than anyone I have ever met, but she also has the ability to connect with players on a personal level."\nRobertson said she thinks their relationship has blossomed nicely over the years.\n"Erica and I have gotten to know each other very well, and I think we've actually helped each other grow in many ways," Robertson said. "She's been with me since the very beginning, and I'm always trying to push her and challenge her to get better as the team's gotten better. She's done the same for me."\nRobertson said she believes Nilsson has been a natural leader since she joined the team her sophomore year and that leadership has developed into Nilsson being named team captain for her senior season. But her improvement over the past three years has caused her to be a force to be reckoned with this season. Nilsson has increased her tally of goals from one in 2000 to three in 2001 to having three in 2002 through only 11 games. Robertson credits her speed, attacking ability and an overall improvement in talent as key contributions to her success.\n"Her skills have gotten better and better, and she's learned to maximize her strengths, which are quickness and speed," Robertson said. "Now that we have other players that complement her we have more opportunities on the attack which has helped her game improve."\nOne of the other players contributing to the offensive attack is sophomore forward Kim Nash. Nash attended the same high school as Nilsson, and the senior has provided a positive example for the younger Nash.\n"As a sophomore (in high school) looking up to Erica when she was a senior she was always a key player on the attack," Nash said. "She was captain, and she was one of those players that everyone wanted to watch because she was so enthusiastic when she played."\nNilsson said her move from playing midfield to playing forward this season has truly helped her game.\n"Forward is where I am comfortable and where I know I belong," Nilsson said. "I think that because of our strength in the midfield I was needed elsewhere, and it just happened to be where I was most comfortable."\nRobertson agrees that Nilsson's switch has definitely helped her team have more opportunities to score. And the results are clearly evident in the Hoosier's much improved offensive output in 2002. \n"She's not playing as much defense," Robertson said, "and she is great in break away opportunities because of her strength and speed. Defenders cannot stay with her." \nWins or losses aside, Nilsson said she is excited about the future of IU field hockey. She said she feels proud she has been a key contributor since the beginning. Oct. 5, the Hoosiers climbed another mountain by winning their first Big Ten game over Ohio State, 3-2. \n"It has been an amazing growth experience for me to develop this team," Nilsson said. "I can't wait to look back in a couple of years and see that IU is ranked in the top 20 and know that I helped start that tradition"