Alexa Hoover Rewriting Penn Field Hockey Record Book
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- One of the most impressive careers in recent Philadelphia area college field hockey history is unfolding these days at the University of Pennsylvania.
Forward Alexa Hoover is a Collegeville native who recently broke the Penn record for career points (103) and tied the program record for career goals (44).
That's incredibly impressive in its own right, but then when you consider these records had stood for more than three decades and that Hoover is just five games into her JUNIOR season, you really understand how special what she's doing really is.
Hoover says she has been playing field hockey since she was four years old and she started on the road to Penn not that long after she fell in love with the sport.
"When I was seven years old," Hoover tells KYW Newsradio, "my first collegiate field hockey game I went to was at Penn when they still played at Franklin Field. I was like, 'Mom, Dad, I really want to go here when I'm older!' And they were like, 'Okay . . ' and then . . here I am. I've always wanted to come here. I feel like it was a nice distance from home but also so close where my family can come watch and I get to watch my sister play because she is in high school right now. I love the team, the coaches, the campus and I think it just felt like the perfect fit for me."
Listen to the entire interview with Penn's Alexa Hoover:
Hoover set the single-season program record for goals (27) and points (63) last year as a sophomore and one can only guess how many times her name will be in the record books once her time at Penn is over.
"I mean it's an unreal feeling to be able to see my name on the list of record holders and say that, 'That that's my name,'" Hoover says. "And I still have a season and a half, over a season and a half, to do it and continue on representing Penn that way and our team that way. It's just amazing. Because our team deserves it all, we work so hard and I'm glad I can help bring attention to our team to hopefully get more fans to our games."
Hoover has three goals and three assists through the season's first five games and she has helped the Quakers, under head coach Colleen Fink, get out to a strong 4-1 start (only loss came to the #5 team in the country, North Carolina). But Hoover is quick to point out that she isn't the only reason the Quakers are rolling.
"As you can see in all of our games," Hoover says, "like everyone has scored, it's not just me. What people need to realize is you just don't have to watch one player because it's a team sport and you need to worry about all of our forwards and midfielders and defenders."
The stats back up Hoover, as she is one of five Quakers to have already scored multiple goals this season.
On Saturday, Penn will open up Ivy League play by visiting Cornell and Hoover will be looking to keep a special campaign going.
"I was so excited for this season to start," Hoover says. "I was saying during preseason, during the whole summer, I've never been this excited for any of my seasons to start, whether it was high school or college. I don't why, just this year . . I just feel good about it."
Penn and Cornell get underway at noon on Saturday in Ithaca, NY. Then on Sunday, Penn visits the #1 team in the nation, Syracuse.
