Samie Martin is a junior forward on Swarthmore Field Hockey from Chester Springs, PA. She majors in Psychology while also captaining the team. Martin led the Garnet past McDaniel College last Saturday with two goals and one assist in Swarthmore’s 4-1 conference victory. Martin and the Garnet are back in action at 7:00 pm on Saturday, October 5th vs. Franklin and Marshall at Clothier Field.
Joe Barile: When did you start playing field hockey, and how did you get recruited to Swarthmore?
Samie Martin: I started playing field hockey for my middle school seventh grade team because my twin sister decided to try the sport out and she convinced me to join. I really fell in love with Swarthmore when I came on a campus tour my junior year of high school. That summer, I attended a field hockey camp unaffiliated with Swarthmore but held on campus, and one of the councilors was a current member of the team. I expressed my interest in the program to her and she introduced me to the coach. I was completely sold by everything the school and the program had to offer, and I knew I didn’t want to be anywhere else.
JB: What was it like to be named captain as a sophomore last season?
SM: I was surprised last season to be named a designated leader of my team, but the title didn’t really change the way I approached my role. I have always hoped to be someone my teammates and coaches can rely on to lead by example and set the tone in terms of attitude and effort. I think the experience last year of being one of our captains helped prepare me for continuing in such a role this year as I continue to learn how to best serve my team.
JB: How does it feel to bounce back after two tough conference games with a win over McDaniel?
SM: Getting the win over McDaniel was a must for us, and it was rewarding to be able to make this first step towards moving up in the conference. We have been continuing to get better throughout our season, but in order to prove that to the rest of our conference, we need to keep scoring goals and winning games.
JB: What was going right for you on Saturday to score two goals and assist another?
SM: Quite frankly, my teammates did all of the hard work allowing me to score both of my goals and come up with the assist on Saturday. In the early seconds of the game Marion [Carr ’22] dodged a couple of defenders and had a great shot in towards the post. I was there playing just where I was supposed to be. It’s a drill we’ve done over and over again in practices. Similarly, for my second goal, Andie [Tappenden ’23] dribbled the ball from the 25 yard line, down to the baseline, and once again, I was there on post waiting for her to send a cross. Those two are the ones who made my goals possible. On the assist, all three of us got to work together as I deflected a ball from Marion at the baseline and Andie picked it up across cage to execute the play. What was going right for me was that our offense was connecting well in the circle.
JB: Do you expect the team to use this game as a momentum boost for the rest of the season?
SM: I expect this game to be a jumping off point for us moving forward in conference play. We should be confident because we’ve had the opportunity to play some challenging teams this season, and going into the rest of our season with the experiences of both our losses and our wins — this one over McDaniel included — is only making us better and more prepared to exceed expectations.
