Dana's Diary

Day 18 Game vs. Spain

dsensenig — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 15:05:36 +0000

Today ended our Olympic competition. We played in the 7th-8th place classification game against Spain. Following our trend of the tournament we ended regulation in a 2-2 tie. Surprise surprise! We actually came out in this game rather slow again from the start and found ourselves down 1-0 pretty quick. As half time approached we got a corner. I was rushing in as a rebounder and what do you know the ball rebounded right to me. My first thought was oh my goodness I am wide open near the goal line with the ball on my stick. My second thought was Dana hurry up and do something with it. I was able to spin on my defender and push the ball into the goal, just over the goalie’s stick. I was sooooooo excited that I scored! It was an amazing feeling scoring in the Olympics. It is something I will never forget and one of my most rewarding accomplishments. I was also very excited because I had help my team tie up the score. During the second half it was a battle. Spain got 4 cards and we got 1. Three of the four were Yellow cards which means the player has to sit out for about 5-7 mins. The game kept going back and forth with both teams showing some signs of fatigue so late in the tournament. We finally got the go ahead goal at 2-1 only to see it slip away with less than 3 mins left in the game on a goal by Spain. We went to overtime for 7.5 mins and still we were tie. In the second overtime we had chances but couldn’t convert. With only a little over a minute before we would have gone to penalty strokes, Spain got a corner and scored! Game over!

It was definitely a day filled with mixed emotions. We learned so much from being at our first Olympics. First lesson was that winning at this level is not easy. We played so well and so hard every game but just didn’t finish off the games. No matter what level of hockey you are playing if you can’t score goals you very rarely come off with the result you are looking for. We are disappointed in our 8th place finish. But in the grand scheme of things we just played in the OLYMPICS and improved our world ranking but 3 or 4 spots.

The experience of these past few weeks is something that will always stay with me. The people that I’ve met, things and events I’ve witnessed and the games I’ve played are all very special to me. I am glad that I could share my experiences with you over the past two weeks. I hope you have enjoyed keeping tabs on USA field hockey and the happenings in Beijing. I hope you all have a great rest of the summer. Thanks so much for reading!

Dana

p.s. A huge thank you goes out to Keith Schweigert and Chris Maurer and all the people at lancasteronline.com who helped make this possible. It was a great idea and I really had a lot of fun! Thanks!

Day 17

dsensenig — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 12:39:52 +0000

Today has been a pretty busy rest day. We had a swim recovery and then lunch and then a few hours to visit with our families. I spent my family time today watching the Olympic events on TV. We actually got to watch a sailor who is a fellow ODU alum win a silver medal in her race. That was pretty cool to watch a person I went to college with win an olympic medal.

Tomorrow we play Spain in the 7th-8th place game at 11am. I am not sure if or when it will be played on TV. Hopefully it will at a reasonable time for everyone to watch.

Today I’d like to thank my Aunt Lois and cousin Scott for their continued support and encouragement throughout this whole Olympic dream.

Day 16 Game #5 vs. Great Britain

dsensenig — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 05:24:12 +0000

Tonight was our last pool play game. And once again we played great. Probably our best game of the tournament. Both us and GB needed to win this game in order for a chance to make it to the semis. Unfortunately, we tied 0-0. This was extremely tough to take because we definitely played one of our best games and completely dominated the other team. We had over twice as many goal shots and corners, but just could not get the ball in the net. We are all very disappointed because we now finished 4th in our pool, which places us in the 7th- 8th game on Wednesday morning at 11am. We know we need to be proud of our efforts however it is hard because we had expectations to get better results. Our play over this Olympics has been great! We are ready to finish the tournament strong and with a win.

Today I’d like to thank my friend and past college teammate and roommate Sami McLenegan and her family. Sami, and her parents, have been huge supporters of me and my career. Sami has been a great friend and I am so glad to have all of her support.

Day 15

dsensenig — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 12:41:30 +0000

Well today was fairly exciting for an off day, at least the second half of the day. We had about 5 hours of free time until practice this afternoon. I spent most of the time watching some events on TV and reading my second book of the tour. Then we went to practice. While we were warming up, Tiki Barber, former New York Giants running back, shows up with a camera crew. He is now working with The Today Show and is in Beijing to do interviews with athletes. This morning, our own “Tiki” Barber (Kate Barber our captain), got interviewed by Tiki. So it was Tiki Barber interviewing “Tiki” Barber. Pretty crazy. Our “Tiki” got her nickname, after the running back Tiki Barber because they were in college around the same time. So we got to meet the original Tiki Barber. The interview and clips from our practice and him interacting with us after practice (playing a quick game of football) will be aired on NBC’s The Today Show on Tuesday morning. That was our excitement for the day. I was really excited because in our little bit of football we played at the end of practice, I got to be the quarterback and threw a pass to Tiki Barber. That was definitely the highlight of the day!

Now on to the important stuff. We have one more game left in pool play! We play Great Britain tomorrow evening at 6pm. We need a win if we stand any chance of making the medal rounds. We also need Argentina to lose to New Zealand. We know we need to focus on our game and not worry about the other game, but if you all wouldn’t mind saying an extra pray for some good fortune in the Argentina New Zealand game that would be much appreciated. I believe the game will be aired live at 6am East Coast Time on the USA network.

Today I’d like to thank all my little supporters out there. They are pictured below and they are the cute little ones that give me tons of laughs! From L to R: my nephew Benjamin, my niece Olivia, my friend Tara’s little boy Ethan, and my high school coach’s newborn Kate.

Day 14- Game #4 vs. New Zealand

dsensenig — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 12:49:36 +0000

We got our first win!!!!! We are so excited. We beat New Zealand this morning 4-1. Just like against Germany we played great. We scored on a goal by Keli Smith 40 seconds into the game. We were leading 2-0 at half time. We came out the second half a bit slow and they got a goal on a quick penalty corner. We came right back and scored on a penalty corner of our own. We played great and it was a complete relief to finally get a win for our hard work. Thanks to everyone who watched it at home!

Since our game was so early, we had a lot of the day left to relax. We had designated family time today for about 2 hours. For this we were allowed to leave the village and meet our families where ever we chose and spend some time with them. I, and a few others, took cabs to the USA House and the Bank of America Hospitality Tent where are parents are allowed to go and hang out. This was the easiest way to find a place where we can all get in and its fairly quiet. I spent the afternoon with my family shopping in the cool USA store and then we ate some food at the grill. Which was amazing because the village food is getting slightly old! I took a taxi back to the village with my family and then I spent the rest of the evening watching live Olympic events on TV.

Below are a few pictures from my “Family Time.” (L to R)- Me and Tim at lunch, Carrie and my mom and me in the cab on the way home.

Today I’d like to thank my cousin Jennifer Brown and her husband Adam. They both have been great fans over the years of my hockey career. I am very thankful for their support. Below is a picture of Jen and Adam.

Day 13

dsensenig — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 13:42:43 +0000

Hello everyone,
I am getting ready to end day thirteen here in Beijing. Today was an off day and we had practice in the morning and a pool recovery work out. The pool recovery was fun because the men’s water polo team was practicing in the other half the pool! Other than that not much going on for us. We did get to watch Michael Phelps win his 6th gold medal and we watched a lot of the track events live on TV. Hopefully, tomorrow we will be able to go watch the medal games of tennis in the afternoon after our game.

Tomorrow morning we play New Zealand at 8:30am. According to www.usafieldhockey.com the game will be played on the east coast at 10:30am saturday morning. This may a bit more fun to watch than the 2am game a lot of you watched the last time.

Today I’d like to thank my two neighbors Bill and Dottie Leid. They have been so supportive and interested in my life and field hockey career. They have kept me supplied with candy and Ephrata Rec Guest passes! I greatly appreciate all their support.

Day 12- Game #3 vs. Germany

dsensenig — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 09:09:59 +0000

This morning we played Germany. Unfortunately we lost 4-2. Today was hard to swallow because we had a lead of 1-0 and gave it up. We played really really well. This makes it even harder to take the loss because we played really great but still came up short. It was a hot and humid morning and we came out firing on all cylinders. We had great pressure on their backfield and again had a good amount of chances and final scored first. They got a great breakaway right before halftime and scored on an amazing reverse shot. After half time we sensed they were getting tired and turned up the pressure again. They held strong and got a couple breaks and got some corners. To their credit they really executed their corners well; they scored all three goals in the second half off of penalty corners. So we are now tied for third in our pool but the remaining teams in our pool all play tonight. We are praying for some ties and getting ready for our next game against New Zealand.

On a positive note, today was my 50th career international game. I was presented with an etched mug and a beautiful card from my team. Below is a picture of our team after the game celebrating this milestone, me and my mom, Denise, with the mug, and a picture of me and Tim and Carrie yesterday at Bank of America with our face paint.

Today in honor of my 50th cap, I’d like to recognize how my career all started: with Cocalico Field Hockey. Mrs. Audrey Stoner was my first coach to get me into field hockey at the middle school level and then Lisa Gensemer continued to help me develop my first two years in high school. My junior year Krista Page took over and really got our high school program rolling. She, along with my previous coaches, recognized my ability in field hockey. Coach Page was the one who really pushed me to get into hockey at the college level and got me started in the direction of hockey at the elite level. I’d like to thank Coach Page for all her support and recognizing my potential. I’d also like to the thank all the many people at Cocalico who helped me succeed in athletics as well as academics. There are so many talented teachers and coaches at Cocalico who deserve a lot of credit for helping me get to this point in my life. Below is a picture of the current Cocalico Field Hockey team. Good luck girls in your season. I hope to get to a few games. Thanks for the support!!!!

Day 11

dsensenig — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 12:12:30 +0000

Today was an off day. I spent the morning checking emails and getting some much needed rest for my legs. In the afternoon we took cabs as a team to the Bank of America Hospitality house in downtown Beijing where we met our families and friends for lunch. When we arrived the fans had whistles and noise makers to welcome us. I spent about 2.5 visiting with my mom and brother and sister. We ate some chinese food with chopsticks, painted our faces for USA spirit, and watched some Olympic events on TV. It was really nice to be able to visit with them.

Tomorrow morning we have our third game. It is against Germany who is currently ahead of us in our pool. We are looking forward to playing and hopefully coming away with a win. According to www.usafieldhockey.com the game will be aired on tape delay at 2am E.S.T. on USA network on Thursday 8/14. So set those VCRs and TiVos unless you enjoy getting up in the middle of the night to watch field hockey.

Today I’d like to thank my Aunt Lil and her mother Kathryn (who just turned 102). I greatly appreciate your support and encouragement.

Day 10- Game #2 vs. Japan

dsensenig — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 01:55:35 +0000

We came away with another point tonight. We tied Japan 1-1 after a long hard fought game. Again, we are slightly disappointed with a tie, but it is a point rather than zero. We actually dominated the majority of the game, we just couldn’t score! I have to give some credit of course to the Japanese defense. They were very effective with their tight circle defense and limiting our goal shots to less dangerous angles. It was a little frustrating for our team because we were playing great but we just didn’t finish inside the circle. However, we are still right in the thick of things and we control our own destiny for the rest of the tournament. Tomorrow is an off day and we are going to the Bank of America Hospitality USA House to meet our families for lunch. We are all looking forward to this opportunity to visit and relax with our families.

Today I’d like to thank two of my closest friends from Denver, Courtney Hall and Tara Merrill. It has been hard being away from two great friends like these two. They have been such great friends and supporters of me and my field hockey career. Below is a picture of Courtney, Tara and Tara’s little boy Ethan!

Day 9

dsensenig — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 10:48:29 +0000

Not much excitement going on today for us. It was an off day so we didn’t have a game. We had a late breakfast then headed over to Beijing Normal University for a recovery swim as a team. This is a local university that has opened its arms to the USOC and USA team to practice, recover and eat. We were there for a few hours and then headed to practice. We play Japan tomorrow. I believe it will be shown live on the east coast again at 6am. But you might want to check the local listings!

Today I’d like to thank my good friend Lynn Farquhar for all her support over the years. Lynn and I played together at ODU for a few years. Lynn now coaches at Syracuse. I’d also like to thank the NY Futures for their support. Below is a picture of the NY Futures girls. Thanks!