Senior defender Mollie Getzfread has been contributing for IU in a variety of ways. In four seasons playing for IU, she has 12 assists and plays an important role on offensive penalty corners as a stopper.
Last year she contributed when the Hoosiers defeated nationally ranked teams like Iowa and Northwestern.
Getzfread scored her first career goal this season against New Hampshire on Sept. 11 and now is looking to seal her cycle here at IU by having her best season.
“She is a work horse,” IU Coach Amanda Janney said. “She is always running up and down the field. She just runs the whole field and really works hard to set up other people so I think for her to finally have her name in the scorebooks is fantastic.”
During her high school years Getzfread was elected the team Most Valuable Player during her junior and senior years and received the Hustle Award as a sophomore.
Back then she did not know what IU or the Big Ten was until she received a letter in the mail during a national tournament with information about the school. Later, a friend would recommend the school to her.
She ultimately decided to come to IU because of the atmosphere in Bloomington and the way the field hockey program treated its players.
“Just coming out here and seeing how close the team was,” Getzfread said. “It was like a family. The coaches and just in campus being part of the Big Ten and everything.”
Since that moment, Getzfread has become an important member of the Hoosiers’ side not only in scorebooks but also inside of the locker room. Her senior year became her second year in a row elected as a team captain.
Getzfread said being elected as one of the team’s captains is very exciting but at the same time she is humbled that her teammates think of her as a leader.
“I think just really trying to do what I can for the team is what I do,” Getzfread said. “Leading comes along with it. I try to put the team first in a lot of situations.”
Getzfread always benefits the team when he’s on the field, not because she scores often but by the way her movements generate plays for other players and the Hoosier attack.
She also always plays important roles in executing penalty corners on offense and assisting teammates when goals are much needed.
“Mollie is like an ultimate team player,” Janney said. “She is always going to be an assist woman and she probably would be more happy setting up plays than finishing them off and getting her name in the newspaper. That is something she is not concerned with.”
But her assist-only streak came to an end last weekend when she found the back of the net in the 5-3 victory over the Wildcats where she scored the fifth goal for the Hoosiers at home.
As her time in Bloomington comes to an end, Getzfread said she looks back at her time in Bloomington and can only feel thankful for the memories she has acquired on and off the field.
“It has been amazing,” Getzfread said. “It is the best five years of my life. The school and the program have just given me so much opportunities.”
Now her goal is to ultimately win the Big Ten Championship with the Hoosiers to end her career in, but if the team can go further she will not conform. She intends to keep fighting to finish having her best season.
