Remaining members of original team play out final year

In 2000, the IU athletics department decided to restart the women's field hockey program. After only four years, the team has made a complete 180 degree turnaround and has gone from a basic expansion team to a team that now contends on a regular basis with the best in the country. \nFifth-year seniors Molly Pulkrabek and Erica Nilsson are two of the original members. Pulkrabek originally came to IU to play soccer, but after some convincing by IU coach Amy Robertson Pulkrabek turned her sights toward the field hockey team.\n"Basically, first semester I quit the soccer team," Pulkrabek said. "(The soccer coaches) gave my name to Amy because she was looking for possible players. She e-mailed me telling me about the field hockey team, and I decided to try it out." \nSince joining the team, Pulkrabek has been a constant in the Hoosier defense. She has played in over 50 games in her IU career. Robertson said she is extremely pleased with Pulkrabek's improvement over the years.\n"Molly came into the program never playing the sport before," Robertson said. "She was completely raw, but her great athleticism and great reaction time helped her so much. She has just improved by leaps every single year."\nNilsson, on the other hand, had a lot of experience with field hockey. She was a three-year field hockey letter winner in high school. However, it was Nilsson's senior year of high school when she really got noticed. She was named "Illinois High School Field Hockey Player of the Year." Although she was recruited by many other schools, Nilsson elected to come to IU. \n"I was recruited in high school, and I came to IU knowing that they were starting a program here," Nilsson said. "I definitely missed playing field hockey freshman year, and I decided I missed it too much and I wanted to play." \nAlthough Nilsson had the chance to play at many other established programs, she is very happy with her decision to come to IU and start this program. \n"I often wonder what it would have been like to go to an established program, but looking back on it now, I still would have made the same decision," she said.\nRobertson said she believes Nilsson has played a key role in jump-starting the program. \n"Erica has been a leader since she began playing for us," Robertson said. "She has been voted captain of the team every season, and she has had a very positive influence and has shown others how to stay focused and relaxed during a game."\n-- Contact staff writer Andrew Rosen at ajrosen@indiana.edu.