Pitch Session

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.

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.

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

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!
 

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.

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.

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.

There's a new #1 team in the country, which means Andrew and Kirstin have a new head coach to talk to.  Northwestern coach Tracey Fuchs rolls the dice with the Pitch Session curse to discuss her #1 Wildcats season to this point, what's gone right during their current 12-game winning streak, and a look ahead to the final weeks of the regular season.  Andrew and Kirstin also discuss Liberty's upset of then #1 North Carolina, preview the week ahead and discuss a wonderful afternoon at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens.

Andrew and Kirstin are joined by Erin Matson, the head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels, the newest #1 team in the country.  They discuss her first year as a head coach, what she's found challenging, and Erin shares her very clever rule proposal for field hockey.  Andrew and Kirstin also discuss the past week as teams reach the halfway mark of the regular season and look ahead to another weekend of conference games, top-25 matchups, and games to watch.

Andrew and Kirstin welcome the coach of the #1 ranked Iowa Hawkeyes, Lisa Cellucci to discuss what's gone right for the top-ranked team this year, what it's like playing in the rough and tumble Big Ten, if the corn sweats provide a home field advantage for the Hawkeyes, and what to do about overtime.
 
Andrew and Kirstin also take a look at the most recent coaches poll, compare it to the RPI and look at who's up, who's down, and the Games of the Week (TM).