Before even playing a game this season, North Carolina field hockey captain Katelyn Falgowski suffered a concussion in practice.
As the season progressed she continued to miss games and eventually decided to redshirt. Falgowski’s absence not only left UNC without possibly their best player but also without their captain.
This meant cerebral senior Elizabeth Drazdowski would have to step up as captain and become a more vocal leader on the field. While her leadership on the field has helped UNC to its NCAA semifinals match with Virginia today at 2 p.m., it has also prepared Drazdowski for her job post-field hockey.
“I really respect (Falgowski) and look up to her,” Drazdowski said. “So it was hard for me as the weeks kept going on and she wasn’t coming back everything became very real and I knew that I was going to have to step up big time and really embrace the role.”
UNC coach Karen Shelton said she thought the team could have floundered without Falgowski but that Drazdowski was critical to keeping them on track.
“She’s handled it well and been willing to do whatever it takes for the team to succeed,” Shelton said. “She’s not necessarily the most vocal, so the fact that she has had to step into the leadership role has been very good for her.”
Part of her captaincy comes from her unselfish play — Drazdowski is tied for eighth on the team with 12 points. The increased leadership role has helped Drazdowski on the field and also in her future plans.
She was recently accepted for the Teach For America program, and she will be teaching special education in Hawaii after she graduates.
Last spring Drazdowski, a communications major, went to the tropical island with a communications performance class and fell in love with the state. As a way to get back to the island, Drazdowski then applied for the program with Hawaii as her first choice.
