Head Coach - Caroline Gillich
"The Middle Atlantic Conference which we compete in is one of the strongest Division III field hockey conferences in the country. The Juniata program has been a consistent winner in the MAC, and it is our goal to take the next step -- win the conference championship."
- Juniata Field Hockey Coach Caroline Gillich
Caroline Gillich wants her players to perform to their maximum potential, but she also wants them to have fun.
Of course, nothing is more fun than winning, which makes Juniata College’s 2007 campaign all the more special to Coach Gillich.
The Gillich-guided Eagle field hockey squad, ranked in the top 20 throughout the entire season, posted a 21-3 record on its way to the first conference championship in program history.
Juniata made its third appearance in the NCAA championship, hosting Johns Hopkins in a first round contest – the first outdoor NCAA competition hosting by Juniata since the early 1970s. The Eagles knocked off Johns Hopkins, 2-1, and dispatched defending national champion Ursinus College 2-0 in the regional semifinal, the program’s first NCAA tournament victories.
Over her 10 years on College Hill, Gillich has elevated Juniata field hockey to new levels of success, developing a program where competing for conference championships and NCAA tournament berths are the expectation, not the exception. Since taking the reins of the Juniata field hockey program prior to the 1998 season, Gillich’s teams have posted a combined record of 113-85. In three of the last four seasons, her teams have advanced to NCAA Championship play.
Gillich’s 2006 squad finished with a 16-5 mark, eclipsing a school record for wins that had been set three years earlier. In 2004, Gillich guided the team to a 14-5 record, and earned the program’s first-ever berth in the NCAA Division III Championship. Juniata spent most of the season ranked among the top 15 teams in Division III, and went through the regular season with just one conference loss.
Five times under Gillich’s leadership, Juniata has closed the season with a .500 record or better. The 1998 team finished with a mark of 9-9 while the 2002 squad ended the season with a 13-8 record. The Eagles then posted a 15-8 mark in 2003, and qualified for the conference postseason for the first time since 1990.
Gillich came to Juniata from The College of William and Mary, where she worked primarily with the goalkeepers on the field hockey surface.
An All-American in field hockey and lacrosse at Lock Haven, Gillich was the starting field hockey goalie for the Bald Eagles in 1994 and 1995. She helped Lock Haven to the Division II national championship both years. In addition, she captained the 1995 unit, which went 21-0.
She graduated with a B.S. in health and physical education with a concentration in sports administration in 1997. She worked at the Colorado Springs Olympic Training Center during the summer of 1996 as a program specialist. In that capacity, she organized 30 camps involving more than 500 athletes as well as scheduled facilites, housing and transportation for athletes.
In the summers of 1997 and 1998, Gillich assisted with the Nike Sports Leadership Camps, working with the Boys and Girls Clubs of America in Atlanta, Georgia.
Coach Gillich can be reached at gillicc@juniata.edu.
Updated 07/11/2008
