INFANTE LIKING HER SECOND STINT AS PLAYER ON U.S. SOIL

By Al Mattei

Founder, TopOfTheCircle

Paula Infante's first view of the United States as a field hockey player was not the most positive one. Making her debut at 16 years of age with the U-20 Chilean national team, she participated in a four-nations tournament in Union City, N.J.

The first match that the team played, India won 6-1.

"It was our first international tournament," Infante says. "Our level was very up-and-down. We has very good games, but India had such good players that we were getting mad in the huddle."

But by the time the tournament ended, they had gotten better, losing to the Americans 2-1 in the third-place game.

"The Americans played a very similar game to us, so it was easier to play against them than the Indians, who have such skills," says Infante.

Infante's presence at the University of Maryland has two main impacts on the game. It is a symbol of the continuing globalization of NCAA field hockey.

But what it also does is send the message that Argentina is getting a competitor in the South American game.

Argentina, the current World Cup champion, has been the dominant force in South American field hockey for decades. However, Infante leads a youth revolution for her country. She has already earned 40 caps for the Chilean senior national team.

"If you compare me to an Argentian player of the same age, like a Soledad Garcia, she has 100 caps," she says. "I am one of the most-capped players for Chile."

She has brought her skills to the University of Maryland where she has, in a very short period of time, shown skills comparable to many of the best players ever to come to U.S. colleges, including NCAA all-time leading scorer Marina DiGiacomo.

"The truth, I knew nothing about the level of the players coming in," Infante says. "I just knew, for example, about Dina Rizzo and Keli Smith, because I played against them. I believe you can be the best at what you do, and I am of the mindset that I have to be the best here. That's why I love to focus and I love to score."

Infante's ball skills, decision making, and corner striking are already some of the best on the highly competitive Atlantic Coast Conference. Which is no surprise, since she has played in intense matches for national championships for her club team in recent years.

"I started playing at eight years of age," Infante says. "I played at the Universidad Catholica club at the age of 13 and played until 2003."

Universidad Catholica won national championships in 1997 and 1998.

Now, she is looking for one at Maryland. With her anchoring the back line, it could be just a matter of time.