Pitch Session

Episode 18, Bada-Bing!

Andrew and Kirstin are joined by US National Team GK Kelsey Bing following her and her teammates qualifying for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.  Kelsey discusses her experience during the qualifying tournament, what she and her teammates have done since qualifying (spoiler: they're still in India) and how they will begin to prepare for the Olympic Games.
We also briefly breakdown the two pools for the Olympic Tournament and look at the Hockey5's World Cup that's underway in Oman.

Pitch Session Episode 17: Olympic Bound

Andrew and Kirstin bring warmth to the harsh winter by looking at Team USA's run through the Olympic Qualifier in Ranchi, India en route to an Olympic berth in Paris this summer.  They look back at the USA's dominant run through pool play and their gripping 2-1 win over Japan to qualify for the Olympic Games on Thursday morning.
 
They're also joined by the head coach at Kutztown University Marci Scheuing.  Marcie and Kutztown were just awarded the NFHCA's Division II Coaching Staff of the Year award on the heels of their Division II national championship -- the first in both program and school history.

Pitch Session Episode 16: Analytics

Andrew and Kirstin are joined by Allison Keefe from Graphing the Game to discuss her involvement in field hockey and what exactly it is she does for teams that have retained her consulting services.  We also briefly discuss the Junior World Cup in Santiago, Lindenwood ending its field hockey program, and an update on our GoFundMe to get to Paris for the Olympics.  (Spoiler: it's still about $10,000 short of the $10,000 goal).

Pitch Session Episode 15: The National Championship

Andrew and Kirstin reminisce about the epic national championship game between North Carolina and Northwestern, while attempting to highlight all the standout performance and moments from the game.
Then they're joined by several guests including the Pitch Session Bracket Spectacular champion* Caitlin Fredericks, 2023 National Champions Charly Bruder, Katie Dixon, and Maddie Kahn, and North Carolina head coach Erin Matson.
They also throw some love to the D2 and D3 national champs and look ahead to the offseason.

Pitch Session Episode 14, The Final Four Spectacular

Andrew and Kirstin look forward to this weekend's Division I Final Four by looking back and the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament and speaking to three of the four head coaches participating in the national semifinals.  Joining the show this week is Northwestern's Trach Fuchs (16:22), Virginia's Ole Keusgen (24:12), and Duke's Pam Bustin (43:12).
 
Kirstin also shares her chutes and ladders from last weekend and we look at the wacky world that is Division III conferences.

Pitch Session Episode 13, NCAA Tournament Edition

Andrew and Kirstin discuss the William & Mary and Miami's wins in the Opening Round of the NCAA Tournament, and then discuss each of Friday's eight First Round games.
They then breakdown penalty corner data as a callback to Sunday night's episode with data courtesy of Allison Keefe.  You can find Allison's amazing work online on Twitter and on the Gram.  The link to Allison's data-breakdown as a read-only Google Sheet is here.
 
A reminder that there's still time to enter the Bracket Spectacular, with entries remaining open until 10 a.m. Eastern on Friday. 
Sign up for the Pitch Session Bracket Spectacular by clicking here.
The URL is: https://officepoolstop.com/Players-Only/JoinLeague.aspx…
The League ID for our pool is: 59342
The password for our pool is: fhockey

Pitch Session Episode 12, Selection Sunday Special

Andrew and Kirstin are joined by former Quinnipiac head coach Becca Main to break down the Field of 18.  They first look back to Championship Weekend and discuss the 10 conference champions who secured autobids before looking at the eight at-large teams and those who just missed the cut.
 
Sign up for the Pitch Session Bracket Spectacular by clicking here.
The URL is: https://officepoolstop.com/Players-Only/JoinLeague.aspx…
The League ID for our pool is: 59342
The password for our pool is: fhockey
 
Good luck!
 

Pitch Session Week 11, Episode 11

Andrew and Kirstin gear up for Conference Tournament weekend with Cornell Head Coach Andy Smith.  Andrew, Kirstin, and Andy discuss this weekends Ivy League Tournament, the inaugural edition of the tournament and what having a conference tournament means for the eight teams in the Ivy League and how it changes their mentality all season long.  Andy shares great memories of Kirstin's time as an umpire and what his preferred rule change for the sport would be.
Andrew and Kirstin look back at the final weekend of the regular season, take a look at the Pan Am Games including a live look-in from a tight battle between Chile and Canada, and predict the winner of each of the 10 conference tournaments.
 
Spoiler alert:  Chile won 3-2 in the shootout to advance.

Pitch Session Week 10, Episode X

To celebrate having made it to double digits, Andrew and Kirstin welcome Duke Head Coach Pam Bustin to the podcast.  They discuss the success the #2 ranked Blue Devils have had this year, and look ahead to Duke's season-ending showdown with their rival and #4 ranked North Carolina this weekend with the ACC outright title and #1 seed for the ACC tournament on the line.
 
Andrew and Kirstin also look back at the ending of Rutgers undefeated dream, the sketchy status of some of the knowledge of some field hockey commentators, and who's flying under the radar.  They assess the situation of each conference as we head to the final weekend of conference play, discuss the year-ending UNC-Duke showdown, give a vital update on the fat bear contest, and make a pick for the World Series.

Pitch Session Week 9, Episode 9

It's Week 9 of the season and as the NCAA Tournament draws closer, Andrew and Kirstin are joined by Caitlyn Prandato from Harvard, the Chair of the Division I Field Hockey Committee.  They discuss how the process of how the eight at-large teams for the NCAA Tournament are selected, what goes in to selecting the four regional hosts and whether or not Andrew should have a say in who makes the tournament.
 
Andrew and Kirstin also break down last week's action, including a rough weekend for Louisville, a big round number for one coach and Rutgers win over Ohio State.  A look at this weekend's games includes Rutgers vs. Northwestern in the Game of the Week, the surging New Hampshire Wildcats, and other Games to Watch (tm).  Oh, and a shout out to the Netherlands.