World Class

By Leslie Gaber, GoDuke the Magazine

Junior midfielder Margaux Paolino shined on one of her sport's largest stages over the summer, scoring twice in three matches for the United States at the 2018 Vitality Women's Hockey World Cup in London.

While teammates, family and friends cheered her on in the late summer tournament, Paolino excelled as a forward for the U.S. women's senior national team, despite being one of its youngest players.

“The older girls with more experience like Melissa Gonzalez, Kat Sharkey — people like Kat especially who play my position forward-wise — they were constantly keeping me in the loop, showing me film, helping me out and making me feel more comfortable,” Paolino says of her transition to the senior national team. “At the end of the day we all want the same thing. We want to compete, challenge each other and win the big games. I think everyone on the team had a hand in that and that's something, that as a group, we take pride in, is that we all trust each other, we talk to each other, we have open communication.”

U.S. women's national team head coach Janneke Schopman's World Cup squad featured a unique blend of experienced veterans and younger talent. Paolino also benefitted from playing alongside two former Duke field hockey standouts in goalkeeper Lauren Blazing ('16) and defender Stefanie Fee ('12).

“They were always reaching out to me and we stayed in contact,” Paolino says of the connection with Blazing and Fee. “It's always nice having familiar faces on the team because you feel more comfortable, confident and you're going through the same thing together. So it helps out and makes it more fun.”

“It's very impressive (to have had three Blue Devils on the U.S. World Cup roster). It's a big testament to Pam (Bustin) and the program she has and the girls who come through Duke.”

Paolino's road to the World Cup began well before her arrival at Duke. A Villanova, Pa., native, she picked up the sport in middle school after watching her older sister, Emily, compete and excelled in high school as a member of teams at The Episcopal Academy and her club program. A two-time high school All-American, Paolino led Episcopal to three state titles and an undefeated season her final year.

She also entered the USA Field Hockey pipeline as a teenager, honing her skills year-round through the intersection of the national team program and club team tournaments.

Paolino was chosen for the U.S. Under-17 and Under-19 national teams, completing international tours with the squads, as well as with the U.S. indoor national team. She went on to garner selection to the U.S. U-21 team, and with that squad had the opportunity to compete at the 2016 Junior Pan American Games and later, the 2016 Women's Hockey Junior World Cup.

“Playing in the Junior World Cup basically is what got me to the point of being on the national team,” she notes. “It was the biggest tournament I'd played being on the Under-21 team. It's where I think my skill came together. I met a lot of the girls who would eventually move up, we had a lot of chemistry.”

Paolino joined the Blue Devil program in the fall of 2016 and had an immediate impact, leading head coach Pam Bustin's squad in assists as a rookie. Her 14 assists that fall broke former Blue Devil Katie Grant's freshman record in the category.

“Playing with U-17, U-19 and at Duke — just consistently playing field hockey I was constantly growing,” Paolino says. “A lot of the college coaches would be the coaches for the U-17, U-19 teams so you'd learn different styles of play, different techniques, skill. I just took all of that information and brought it to Duke. And since it was every day playing at school here and then in the summer being with them and playing with them, it just all came together.”

Paolino led Duke in assists again as a sophomore last fall, and also ranked among the ACC leaders in the category. The Blue Devils' primary inserter on offensive penalty corners, she shined in October and during November's ACC Tournament before receiving third team All-American recognition from the National Field Hockey Coaches Association at the end of the season. She was also a first team All-South Region and All-ACC pick.

While her Duke teammates spent this past spring training and playing in weekend scrimmages against other schools, Paolino was across the country in California with the U.S. women's senior national team. She earned her first international cap with Team USA Feb. 21 in a match against Canada, notching a goal in her senior national team debut. She was officially added to the team roster in March and spent her spring months balancing school work, training and occasional travel to be with the national team.

“Balancing school work, Duke field hockey and USA Field Hockey is difficult,” she notes. “My U.S. head coach, Janneke Schopman, and Pam and our assistant coaches, they constantly keep in touch. My coaches at Duke are part of USA Field Hockey's Under-20 teams, so they know Janneke very well and they relay information, whether it's email, text or phone calls, and I'm involved with that too. There's constantly feedback about where I am and what's best in the upcoming days.”

Perhaps few understand the balance and the commitment better than Bustin and Duke volunteer assistant coach Tracey Griesbaum, both of whom competed for the U.S. national team during their own playing careers.

“Having Pam and Tracey both playing USA, we always will talk about it and they'll show me USA things from when they were younger,” Paolino says. “When I'm in Pam's office and I see her photos and medals, she'll tell me stories about that. She hopes that I'm having the same experiences she was, and of course I am. We have serious conversations about the future. She knows what I'm going through so that helps a lot.”

Paolino set out for London with just nine senior national team caps under her belt after being one of 18 athletes named to the World Cup roster in early July. And while Team USA bowed out in tournament pool play, Paolino burst onto the scene with two goals, finding the back of the cage on a corner opportunity in the World Cup opener against Ireland and putting away a rebound early in a contest against India.

“When I made the national team roster, I was honestly overwhelmed,” she says. “Being selected for the World Cup, my nerves were everywhere. Going into a tournament that large, it's hard to put into words because I honestly didn't think I would get there. I felt like I was going down the right path. And then making the World Cup put a lot of confidence back into me, knowing that I've grown a lot and I am a good field hockey player.”

Midway through her junior season back at Duke, Paolino has looked to bring the skills and confidence gained from this summer's experience to the field. While she has enjoyed relationships she's built with other younger national team players who are also in the midst of collegiate seasons, her focus remains on the Blue Devils' success.

“Knowing that I've played in big tournaments and now being a part of the women's national team, it's so exciting,” she says. “It's one of the things I dreamed of when I was younger … It's something I can bring back to school now, knowing that I can make a difference on the field, whether it's in international games or being at Duke.”

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Margaux Paolino

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World Class

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