Nitka Wants Nothing Less Than A Spot In The NCAAs
9/28/1999 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Sept. 28, 1999
By Jay Reddick
In three-plus years at Wake Forest, Meaghan Nitka has accomplished nearly all of her goals.
The Deacons' field hockey goalkeeper has gotten a good education in her major of Health and Exercise Science, she's made plenty of good friends, and she has made a big contribution to a budding powerhouse in collegiate field hockey.
The only problem comes with that word "budding." Nitka wanted to be a part of building the Deacon program, but she also would like to see a few more of the fruits of her labor.
"I looked at a few powerhouse schools when I was choosing my college," said the ACC's returning all-conference goalie, "but I chose against the powerhouses. This team is going to be incredible, but we'd better make the NCAAs this year or I'm going to be jealous of the underclassmen, who'll get to go for many years to come."
This may well be the year Nitka gets her chance. The Deacs won their first seven games and rose to No. 9 in the national rankings, both team records.
And Nitka has been a big part of that. Wake Forest has scored its share of goals but has also played outstanding defense with Nitka as the backbone of that line. WFU allowed only two goals to its first seven opponents.
"We're getting better and better as we go," Nitka said. "We're confident, we inspire each other, and the team just has fun when we play."
It's a good thing that field hockey is fun for Nitka, because she hasn't had an extended break from it in a few months. Over the summer, she participated in an elite summer league that included many top skill players, most of them beyond college age. Nitka was the goalie on what turned out to be the best team, and it helped her skills and her confidence immensely.
"It was pretty amazing," Nitka said. "We were coached by Karen Shelton, the coach at North Carolina, and our team included Duke's coach, Michigan's coach, and a couple of current U.S. team players. We were a powerhouse.
"The way the team played was much different from college, but it made it easier to figure game tactics and watch the way plays developed," Nitka said. "When I came back to school, it was easy to step up and fill in the spots (in the defense) that were filled in for me during the summer."
Two other former national team players who were Nitka's teammates this summer were Jennifer Averill and Amy Robertson, now the Deacons' head coach and assistant coach.
"Her summer experience was great for her," Averill said. "What makes the difference for Meaghan is, she's shown she can lead a great team, but can she bring her collegiate team to that level? When you have inexperience in front of you, can you still shine? She's showing that she can."
Four years of starting for Wake Forest, along with two summers of even higher-level competition, have helped Nitka with the one thing she has had a few struggles with: her confidence.
"I've gotten over the mental hurdles I used to have," Nitka said. "I've gotten so much more confidence that I don't even worry about being scored on anymore. My big thing used to be second-guessing myself in goal, but if I do that, then I don't make a decision on a ball and I'd get scored on. Now, there's nothing left except to physically get better."
That, and lead the Deacons to more victories. Nitka has a unique perspective on the entire team's play, and she says skills and especially communication have played a major role in the team's resurgence.
"Communication has really been emphasized a lot this season," Nitka said. "I help set up the defense, and the defense tells the front lines what's behind them. Because of that, we're playing better in the back, and the attack is much more of a threat. It's more organized, and it looks nice, and it's translating into more goals."
Once Nitka leads the Deacons far into the NCAA tournament, she has the next few years pretty well planned out. She will try out (for the second time) for the U.S. field hockey team this winter, then either go to Australia to train and play hockey (for either the Olympic team or a reserve national team) for a year, or stay in the States and go into coaching on the collegiate level.
"A few of the goalies in front of me on the national level have either gotten hurt or dropped out of the running," Nitka said. "I don't know what my chances are, but even if I don't make it, I'm looking forward to coaching for a few years."