One in an occasional series.
In terms of the game of field hockey, Marcia Pankratz has truly fit the definition of a “lifer.” That ends with her retirement today as head field hockey coach at the University of Michigan.
She prepped at Wakefield (Mass.) before going onto a successful playing career at the University of Iowa. She was one of the few who took a chance at going out into what was not traditional field hockey territory, and eventually helped team founder Dr. Christine Grant and head coach Judith Davidson realize a dream — the dream of a national championship, which was attained a year after she graduated.
To understand how good the Iowa teams in the post-AIAW era were, think of this: at least a half-dozen players from that era would go on to become NCAA Division I head coaches.
Pankratz would serve as vice-captain of the U.S. women’s national team until the 1996 Olympics. During her 110-game career with the Applebees, she helped the team to bronze at the 1994 World Cup, an eighth place at the 1988 Olympics, a fifth-place finish at Atlanta 1996, and bronze at the 1995 FIH Champions’ Trophy.
But she made her biggest mark on the sport as the head coach at the University of Michigan. In her two stints at the helm, she brought in a lot of the best talent to play on the blue turf of Phyllis Ocker Field. In her coaching career, she won a national championship in 2001 and narrowly missing out on a handful of others.
Indeed, she was on the sideline when the Wolverines lost one of the signature games of the modern era of the sport, the 2020-21 national title contest.
That match, played in May because of the COVID-19 pandemic, saw North Carolina win on a patented Erin Matson tomahawk shot in a game which received major promotional muscle from ESPN after having not broadcast the title game for nearly a quarter of a century.
Still, Michigan played excellent hockey over Pankratz’ years at the helm of Michigan. They were a fun team to watch, especially in 2024 when they won the Big Ten title with a 1-0 win over Northwestern, a scant two days after being four seconds away from losing the semifinal to Maryland.
Pankratz, as a player, a coach, and as the mind behind her consulting company 4Goals, has been a transformational and positive force for the game. She’ll certainly be missed on the sidelines.