Bottino and Hibbs Named to 18-Player USA Field Hockey Rosters, Set to Begin International Tours

LANCASTER, PA. – With the second round of selections complete, University at Albany field hockey standouts Anna Bottino and Jaclyn Hibbs were named to the U-19 and U-21 USA Junior National rosters, respectively.

After a series of games against North American rival Canada, Bottino and Hibbs were selected to the final 18-player international tour rosters. With the U-18 squad, Bottino will be part of the Belgium tour beginning April 4, with a stop to play a premier club in Holland. Joining Bottino on the tour will be local product Carrie Hanks, who played her club hockey with ADK and now competes at the University of Maryland.

Hibbs hits the trail for Holland on March 6, and will face the U-21 Netherlands group on March 10.

The UAlbany pair was invited to the Spooky Nook compound in Lancaster, Pa., official training ground of USA Women's Field Hockey for tryouts in January. The tryouts were by invitation only.

Bottino and Hibbs are the first field hockey Great Danes to compete for the USA National Team in any capacity. National team coaches typically pull players for tryouts from the NCAA Tournament, likely representing ACC, Big 10 and Big East powerhouse programs.

In her freshman season, Anna Bottino was an NFHCA All-Region Second Team selection and the unanimous America East Rookie of the Year. The midfielder earned America East All-Rookie and Second Team accolades. Bottino scored 11 goals in her freshman campaign, including the first goal of UAlbany's NCAA Final Four run against No. 5 Wake Forest in the first round.

Hibbs anchored the Purple & Gold defense for the second year. The sophomore defender was named to the America East All-Tournament squad after starting all 23 games and recording three defensive saves. Hibbs has started 44 consecutive games in two seasons for Coach Sykes.