Issue link: http://catalog.e-digitaleditions.com/i/579145
113 W hen it comes to speed and power, few collegiate field hockey players compare to University of Iowa junior Stephanie Norlander. She also beats most student-athletes when it comes to frequent flyer miles. Quickness and brawn have made Norlander one of the best field hockey players in the country -- that goes for her homeland of Canada as well as the United States of America. Now she brings added experience into her third season as a Hawkeye af- ter participating in a six-month international tour that took her to New Zealand, Ireland, Spain, and ended at the Pan-American Games in Toronto. In order to facilitate such an intense travel sched- ule, Norlander took online courses while she was away from Iowa for eight months from December 2014 to August 2015. "I'm excited to be back. It's different playing inter- nationally and then coming back here," Norlander said. "It's a bit of an adjustment, but I think it will be a good season and we'll be able to achieve the goals we have set." e travel began for Norlander once she made the Canadian Senior Team. A highlight was when Canada opened the Pan-Am Games on July 13 with a 12-1 victory against the Dominican Repub- lic and Norlander scored three goals. She started at forward 11 days later in the bronze medal match -- a 1-0 win for Canada over Chile. "Individually I grew on that team as my role changed," Norlander said. "I became a starter and that was cool. I felt more confident at the national level." She brought that confidence back to Grant Field. Aer the first 11 games of 2015, Norlander leads the Hawkeyes with 13 goals and 29 points. In a three-game stretch from Sept. 12-18, she scored six goals: a hat trick against St. Louis, two against Kent State, and the final goal of a 4-3 win against Rutgers in the Big Ten Conference opener. In 47 career matches, Norlander has 37 goals and nine assists for 83 points. And in the past three seasons, the Hawkeyes are 31-19. "She is a die-hard competitor and cannot stand to lose in anything she does," UI head coach Lisa Cel- lucci said. "She carries herself in a great manner and is very poised. She communicates when nec- essary, but otherwise has a lot of quiet confidence about her." Norlander attended Handsworth Secondary School in North Vancouver, British Columbia, and led the Royals to Provincial Championship titles in 2011 and 2012. Other notable Handsworth alum- nae are Jessica Barnett, Karli Johansen, and Sophie Plasteras. Barnett was an All-American at Iowa and is now volunteer assistant coach for the Hawk- eyes. Johansen started 65 games for Iowa from 2010-13, and Plasteras is a Hawkeye junior who has appeared in nine matches with three assists. "I knew (Jessica and Karli) were down here and they loved it," Norlander said. "When I started looking into colleges, I asked them a lot of ques- tions. I visited and I loved it from the first moment I stepped on campus." Norlander also took visits to Boston College, Bos- ton University, and Stanford. Norlander was named Big Ten Conference Fresh- man of the Year in 2013 and followed that by becoming a first-team all-conference selection as a sophomore. She was also named second-team Longstretch/National Field Hockey Coaches As- sociation All-American in 2014. "It's motivational because I want to live up that and I want to prove I deserve to be there," Norlander said. One of Norlander's finest traits is that honors do not go to her head. "She is very humble and goes about her business," Cellucci said. "She is one of the best players in the