Oct. 30, 2010

WASHINGTON - When the Georgetown University field hockey team takes the field for its season-finale against Providence College on Saturday afternoon, senior defender and two-year captain Annika Bannon (Hopkinton, Mass./Notre Dame Academy) will make her 73rd consecutive start, each game since arriving on the Hilltop, moments after being the only senior to be honored during the team's Senior Day ceremonies.

For Bannon, it is quite a show of dedication, considering she is the only player remaining from the eight-player freshman class she arrived on campus with in the summer of 2007, the summer Head Coach Tiffany Marsh took over as the program's interim coach, weeks before the start of the season.

"Annika is someone who gives one hundred percent in all facets of her life," said Marsh, who has not coached a game at GU that did not feature Bannon in the starting lineup. "She is a hard working field hockey player, a dedicated student and a loyal friend. I think Annika is the epitome of a Georgetown student-athlete."

The words from Marsh are strong, in speaking of the first player she has coached through her entire four-year career at Georgetown, but Bannon's teammates are quick to echo their coaches' sentiments.

"Annika has really stepped up this season as a captain and as the lone senior," junior midfielder and co-captain Kalli Krumpos said. "The whole team can rely on her, because we know she will push us. She's very dedicated and hard working and when she says she is going to do something; she is going to do it."

"She is not the type of person to quit anything and she has an amazing work ethic," said sophomore defender Sophia Pifer, who has started next to Bannon for two seasons. "Every practice, every game she is working hard and no one ever needs to ask her for more."

No one would have faulted Bannon in giving up. By 2008, her sophomore season, she was one of just six players on the roster with any collegiate field hockey experience. The young, undermanned Hoyas' squad played one of the toughest schedules in the country, including the previous season's national champion and runner-up, not to mention a BIG EAST schedule, featuring three ranked opponents.

Bannon would not relent.

It could have been that field hockey was a part of growing up a Bannon, with her Mother playing college field hockey as well as her older sister. Annika now has two younger sisters playing their freshman seasons at American and Cornell, respectively. But for Bannon, the opportunity to lead a group that has been among the youngest teams in the conference and build an identity for a program was too much to pass up.

"To be put in the spotlight as a leader has been a fun experience, because everyone is looking at you to make some big decisions," Bannon said. "You're listening to your teammates' opinions and being the person on task all the time, making sure your teammates are always working hard and showing the team what Georgetown field hockey is all about."

The current Hoyas do not have a rich storied history with which to build an identity for the program. What it has had in helping win its first two BIG EAST games in the past two seasons and six victories in 2010, the most by a GU field hockey team since 2003, has been to follow their leader's example of intensity and focus.

"Annika is not the loudest girl on the team, but she is definitely one of the most intense," said junior defender Ai Nishino, who has played alongside Bannon on the backline for three seasons. "Whether it is practice or a game her intensity level never goes down."

"There is no doubt in anyone's mind that Annika is not our leader," Pifer said. "For the most part our team is pretty focused, but when we get distracted or off track she knows how to get us focused again."

In taking a leadership role early in her career, Bannon, who was named a team captain before her junior season, has relied on other methods beyond intensity and focus to get her point across. She has also been a calming influence for a young roster and even provided comic relief when necessary.

"She has this awesome ability to always remain calm," Pifer said. "No matter what is going on her facial expression never changes and her voice never sounds panicked. She's also unbelievably funny and has some of the wittiest comments. She is a wonderful supportive person who I can go to with anything."

"Annika is almost like a parent on the team," Krumpos said. "She just stays so composed."

Serving has a leader has also provided a tremendous learning experience for Bannon, who adjusted from being a junior tri-captain to the lone senior serving as a captain with Krumpos.

"This experience has taught me a lot of life lessons that can be applicable in the real world and school," Bannon said. "The camaraderie and leadership working with this team has been great and it has been a unique opportunity to be the liaison from teammates to Coach as well."

Statistically, 2010 has been Bannon's best year on the field, as well. Bannon is tied for sixth in the BIG EAST with seven assists, she is also tied for eighth in the conference with one defensive save and has been a big part of the Hoyas ability to manufacture goals from penalty corners. Bannon has also received recognition from the conference, being named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll twice during the season.

On Senior Day, Bannon will receive the type of individual recognition that the humble four-year starter has not seeked out during her career on the Hilltop. Against Providence College the team has an opportunity to do something it has not done in program history, by winning two BIG EAST Conference games in a season.

"Being a member of the field hockey team for four years, I've been a part of a building system," Bannon said. "We struggled to see the direction that Coach Marsh was taking us, but it's been nice to be a part of that transition under Coach Marsh and into the BIG EAST. It's nice to see things coming together and to be a part of it. I'm so excited that our last game is a BIG EAST game, it's definitely going to be a battle, but I'm sad that it's going to be my last game."

It will be a bittersweet end to a career, but far from the end of Bannon's excitement for what she has helped build and hopes to see grow in the future.

"I know the girls will do well next season," Bannon remarked. "I'm excited to see what happens, because the team only loses one senior,"