With an all-American packing her bags to fly out to Chile for the FIFA Women’s Under-21 World Cup, an Icelandic national team player out for the season with a torn ACL, two team members leaving to focus on the pre-med track, and an unusually young team, the end of the preseason marks a nervous beginning to what will be a testing season for the Hoyas.

Even though this is Tiffany Marsh’s second season as head coach of the field hockey team, she has just finished her first full preseason with the Hoyas.

In much of this year’s preseason college football coverage, the media focus has been on this season’s talented class of quarterbacks. In a year where the Big 12’s six-best rated quarterback by ESPN was one of three quarterbacks to throw for 2,800 yards and rush for 800 in 2008 (Oklahoma State’s Zac Robinson), there is clearly a lot of talent under center.