Rother Wasting No Time Helping Indiana
9/18/2015 1:48:00 PM | Field Hockey
By: Sam Buishuizen, IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Google images. That's all Noëlle Rother had.
The freshman goalkeeper from Hamburg, Germany didn't know practically anything about Indiana, other than it was somewhere in the middle of the United States. She'd search the internet for images of the universities she was interested in, and for some reason, Bloomington stood out.
Rother scheduled a visit, made the 10-hour flight to Indiana and saw the images she's been looking at through a computer screen in person. Before long, the U-21 German National Team keeper was committed to the Hoosiers.
Now a month into her first season in America, Rother has already earned a starting spot and leads the Big Ten in saves.
"She's exceeded expectations and has really stepped up," head coach Amanda Janney said. "We're very happy with her production in terms of her acclimating to the American game and being able to play at such a high level as a freshman."
Rother comes to Indiana having already proven herself as one of the world's elite keepers in the German National Team's development system.
She helped her home country to a second place finish in the 2014 U-21 European Championships. In each of the three years prior, Rother was named Best Goalkeeper at the National Youth Championships while playing for Germany.
Rother credited her national team experience for helping her become the player she is after facing the best of the best each day. The opponents were fast and the shots came quick, and as a result, she became the fast, aggressive keeper she is today.
She said the American game is more team-oriented, while the International game had more individual playmakers. She's had to adjust to relying more on teammates and expecting opposing offenses to do the same when she's under attack.
"It's very tactical. We're doing a lot of video," Rother said. "In Germany, it's more about dribbling, playing by yourself. (In America), it's more about team culture, team spirit and playing as a team."
The added emphasis on teamwork has made communication all the more important, Rother said. She's had to sharpen her English quickly and have the confidence to demand more out of her teammates.
Senior Karen Lorite can relate to Rother's struggles in transitioning from a foreign country as a freshman. The forward from Catalonia experienced the same thing herself and said Rother has handled everything as well as she could.
Rother is quick to crack jokes and isn't hesitating to talk on the field. She's becoming the defensive leader Indiana's back line needs, Janney said, and is only getting better.
"She's been adjusting very fast," Lorite said. "I can't even compare her to myself. When I came in, I was a mess, but she's been awesome. I'm pretty sure it's been really hard, but you can't tell in practice. I feel like it's so natural."
Rother's statistics certainly imply a level of comfort. Along with leading the Big Ten in total saves (29), she also leads the conference in saves per game (4.8) and has been regularly making the kinds of saves Janney said she expects to see out of a nationally proven player.
"She's made some fantastic saves for us," Janney said.
Rother said she still has "a long way to go" to get reach the level she wants to play at.
She's still adjusting to the American culture, but Janney and Lorite both said she's much more comfortable now than she was when she arrived. She's become more vocal on the field and quicker to make her teammates laugh off of it.
Rother still isn't pleased with her communication skills quite yet and said her confidence still has room to grow. She's trying to be a more consistent player all while learning a new style of play, new teammates and a new culture all at the same time.
And she's still a true freshman. Janney said she needs to remind herself that from time to time, knowing that she'll still have Rother for three seasons after this. In that time, Janney expects Rother to only continue to get stronger and develop into an anchor for Indiana's defense for years to come.
"I didn't expect anything," Rother said. "I just try to give my best in practice, so I'm very happy I could play."
Said Janney: "We're very pleased that she chose Indiana."
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Google images. That's all Noëlle Rother had.
The freshman goalkeeper from Hamburg, Germany didn't know practically anything about Indiana, other than it was somewhere in the middle of the United States. She'd search the internet for images of the universities she was interested in, and for some reason, Bloomington stood out.
Rother scheduled a visit, made the 10-hour flight to Indiana and saw the images she's been looking at through a computer screen in person. Before long, the U-21 German National Team keeper was committed to the Hoosiers.
Now a month into her first season in America, Rother has already earned a starting spot and leads the Big Ten in saves.
"She's exceeded expectations and has really stepped up," head coach Amanda Janney said. "We're very happy with her production in terms of her acclimating to the American game and being able to play at such a high level as a freshman."
Rother comes to Indiana having already proven herself as one of the world's elite keepers in the German National Team's development system.
She helped her home country to a second place finish in the 2014 U-21 European Championships. In each of the three years prior, Rother was named Best Goalkeeper at the National Youth Championships while playing for Germany.
Rother credited her national team experience for helping her become the player she is after facing the best of the best each day. The opponents were fast and the shots came quick, and as a result, she became the fast, aggressive keeper she is today.
She said the American game is more team-oriented, while the International game had more individual playmakers. She's had to adjust to relying more on teammates and expecting opposing offenses to do the same when she's under attack.
"It's very tactical. We're doing a lot of video," Rother said. "In Germany, it's more about dribbling, playing by yourself. (In America), it's more about team culture, team spirit and playing as a team."
The added emphasis on teamwork has made communication all the more important, Rother said. She's had to sharpen her English quickly and have the confidence to demand more out of her teammates.
Senior Karen Lorite can relate to Rother's struggles in transitioning from a foreign country as a freshman. The forward from Catalonia experienced the same thing herself and said Rother has handled everything as well as she could.
Rother is quick to crack jokes and isn't hesitating to talk on the field. She's becoming the defensive leader Indiana's back line needs, Janney said, and is only getting better.
"She's been adjusting very fast," Lorite said. "I can't even compare her to myself. When I came in, I was a mess, but she's been awesome. I'm pretty sure it's been really hard, but you can't tell in practice. I feel like it's so natural."
Rother's statistics certainly imply a level of comfort. Along with leading the Big Ten in total saves (29), she also leads the conference in saves per game (4.8) and has been regularly making the kinds of saves Janney said she expects to see out of a nationally proven player.
"She's made some fantastic saves for us," Janney said.
Rother said she still has "a long way to go" to get reach the level she wants to play at.
She's still adjusting to the American culture, but Janney and Lorite both said she's much more comfortable now than she was when she arrived. She's become more vocal on the field and quicker to make her teammates laugh off of it.
Rother still isn't pleased with her communication skills quite yet and said her confidence still has room to grow. She's trying to be a more consistent player all while learning a new style of play, new teammates and a new culture all at the same time.
And she's still a true freshman. Janney said she needs to remind herself that from time to time, knowing that she'll still have Rother for three seasons after this. In that time, Janney expects Rother to only continue to get stronger and develop into an anchor for Indiana's defense for years to come.
"I didn't expect anything," Rother said. "I just try to give my best in practice, so I'm very happy I could play."
Said Janney: "We're very pleased that she chose Indiana."
Players Mentioned
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