Delaware's Nauck has been sensation in field hockey

NEWARK – From her home in Kerfeld, Germany, two years ago, Greta Nauck chose the University of Delaware – sight unseen.

While the recruiting placement service that lines up foreign field hockey players with U.S. colleges had put Nauck in touch with more than a dozen coaches, she had an inkling about Delaware.

“One impression I had from the beginning was that Rolf [van de Kerkhof] worked a lot with us and wants us to become the best player we can be,” Nauck said of Delaware’s coach.

Last year as a freshman, Nauck was a Colonial Athletic Association All-Rookie selection but wasn’t among the four Blue Hens named first- or second-team All-CAA.

This year, as a sophomore, she has become one of the best players in the nation.

Nauck leads NCAA Division I in goals (24) and goals per game (1.26). Delaware, ranked ninth nationally, hosts the CAA Tournament this weekend at Rullo Stadium.

“She has a toolbox with skills that I think are second to none in this country at the moment and it’s nice to have her in the Blue Hen outfit helping us do what she’s doing,” said van de Kerkhof, in his sixth year as UD coach.

“Once again, she’s put in that position by the help of many of her teammates and maybe the coaching staff has a little bit to do with it," he said. "But at the end of the day, Greta makes a decision to go for it or not and she continues to decide ‘Let’s do it.’ ”

Nauck started the season quickly, with a four goal-explosion in the Hens' season-opening win over Ohio State.

Delaware (17-2 overall, 6-0 CAA) has won 13 straight, a school record, and is 10-0 at home. The Blue Hens’ next win will also be a school single-season record 18th.

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“The coaches just do so much for me, put effort and time into me,” Nauck said. “Then, our senior class this year, they are a really strong leadership class, and they helped me a lot with individual stuff.

“In the beginning ... I wasn’t really able to focus on myself because I had to focus on outside distractions like language, new culture, new team, 24 new teammates. ... This year, I got adjusted to everything already, knew everything, knew everyone, so I was really able to just focus on myself and that was a big reason I was able to do a little better this season.”

Nauck is also third in nationally in points (56) and points per game (2.95).

The Blue Hens, who’ve reached the last three NCAA tournaments as CAA champs, will begin their postseason Friday at 3 p.m. in a CAA semifinal against Drexel (8-10, 3-3). William & Mary (9-9, 5-1) meets James Madison (12-6, 4-2) in the second semifinal at 6 p.m.

Friday’s winners meet at 1 p.m. Sunday at Rullo Stadium for the CAA title and its automatic NCAA Tournament berth.

Nauck’s 24 goals and 56 points – she has eight assists – are also UD single-season records, which is no small accomplishment in a program that has often been among the nation’s best since the 1970s. Caesar Rodney High graduate Casey Howard held the previous records in both -- goals (22) and points (51) – in 2009.

“She’s almost a professional quarterback for our team,” van de Kerkhof said. “She knows hockey inside-outside. She has superb skills. She is calm with the ball. If she doesn’t see an option, she can always create a foul, get a free hit, or she will lay the ball off. She can accelerate. She’s explosive.’’

Nauck had played for the Düsseldorfer Hockey Club since 2011. In Germany, athletes play for club – not high school and college – teams. She is one of at least four Düsseldorfer players on U.S. Division I college teams, including Charlotte Veitner, a junior at UConn who was a first-team All-American last year. Three Düsseldorfer players were on the German team that won the bronze medal in women’s field hockey at the Summer Olympics in Brazil.

Nauck comes from strong athletic genes. Her mother, Helga, was a professional tennis player in the early 1980s.

“My whole family played hockey and tennis,” said Nauck, also referring to dad Guenter and older brother Nikolas. “I played tennis on a high level when I was young but at the age of like 14 or 15 you’ve got to decide between two sports. Timewise, it’s not possible to do both. ... I liked both but I wanted to play a team sport. My mom always supported me and said she wanted me to be happy and play the sport I liked the most.”

Nauck and her family had traveled to the United States twice, when she was 10 and again when she was 16, on sight-seeing trips – first to New York City, then to California. But she hadn’t contemplated playing field hockey while pursuing a U.S. college education until being invited to a seminar on the subject by a recruiting service.

“I was amazed by that,” she said. “I thought it was so cool.”

“I was in contact with different coaches, different schools, but Delaware was my favorite,” Nauck said. “It was just how Rolf was asking me questions. He seemed to be a really great coach. I liked the mission he has, making Delaware a Top 10 program. I wanted to be part of that. So I thought, ‘Yeah, that sounds good.’ He also focused a lot on family and, especially, because I’m so far from home that was really important to me.”

Van de Kerkhof, who is originally from the Netherlands and happens to be the father of four young children, also spoke with his European contacts, who praised Nauck and her club team. Nauck is one of six European players presently on the UD roster, with the other five coming from the Netherlands.

“I was so excited to come here,” Nauck said. “I couldn’t wait to come here. I counted down the days. The difference between me and the other girls was I didn’t have time for an official visit. I came here without knowing anything. I didn’t know the school. I didn’t know any of the teammates. I just knew Rolf.”

She’d met van de Kerkhof during one of his trips to the Netherlands, where he has family. Nauck arrived at Delaware in 2015 to take summer classes before preseason practice. Having two Dutch classmates -- Kiki Bink and Lisa Giezaman – helped ease the transition, as did older players familiar with the terrain, such as present senior Marjelle Scheffers, who is also from the Netherlands, and German Michaela Patzner, who graduated last year.

“They help you so much getting adjusted to everything,” she said. “But on the field it was different. Speaking a different language on the field was so weird to me. Terms like ‘goal cage’ or ‘stroke’ or ‘go right’ or ‘turn right.’ I was like ‘What is that?’ ”

Nauck has now mastered the language along with the hockey, leaving one major challenge.

Delaware would like to advance past the round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament this year after its 4-3 overtime loss to Virginia there last fall. Finishing strong has been on Nauck’s mind since the beginning.

“We can do this. We have big goals and I want to achieve this.’’

Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @kevintresolini.