"Remember who you are and what you represent."
 
That was a statement uttered by Gettysburg College head field hockey coach Lois Bowers often during practices and games, although most of the time her own players finished it for her. It was also something she said on the steps of Plank Gymnasium in front of a crowd of excited onlookers who came to see the first-ever national championship team in school history.
 
Heading into the 1980 season, the field hockey team was riding high on the laurels from the previous season. In 1979, the team won eight games against just two losses with three ties and captured its first-ever Middle Atlantic Conference championship, defeating Wilkes University 2-1 in overtime. Gettysburg went onto compete in the Eastern Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (EAIAW) Division III Tournament, where it fell to eventual national runner-up Franklin & Marshall College.
 
A large number of players returned from that '79 squad, giving hope for another magical season.
 
"I think we all knew we had the team that could do it," recalled team captain Heidi Tuma Wandel '81. "I just don't think we wanted to say it out loud too soon to jinx it. But I've never been on a team that worked so well together and who worked so hard to keep every player playing at their best."
 
"We really didn't know much about 'national titles' at the time," stated Cheryl McHale Carey '82. "In 1979 we were just excited to go away to New Jersey, stay in a hotel, eat out, and continue to play field hockey. I think [Coach Bowers] realized she had given us a taste of something that we would want to experience again."
 
Led by Tuma, McHale, and Marianne Paparone '81, the team jumped out to a torrid start, going 6-1-1 with its only loss coming at the hands of then-Division I power Ursinus College. The Bullets ended that opening spurt with a 3-2 victory over defending Division III national champion Shippensburg University. Paparone, McHale, and Sherry Ogg '83 provided the tallies in the upset victory.
 
Despite the hot start, Gettysburg stumbled following the win over Shippensburg. The Bullets lost the next three outings to Elizabethtown College (2-1), Franklin & Marshall College (2-0), and Bucknell University (3-2).
 
"I think the key to our winning the championship was losing a couple of key games that almost took us out of the running," said Tuma. "It was the wake-up call we needed to stay humble, work hard every practice and every game, and play as a team. We all knew our job and we did it."


That was the end of the regular season and set the stage for a showdown for supremacy in the MAC Southwest League. Gettysburg squared off with Juniata College in the playoff tiebreaker. The two teams had played to a scoreless draw just 19 days earlier, but the Bullets dominated the rematch, out-shooting their opponents 22-6 with Ogg, Paparone, and Sue Cannon '82 getting into the scoring column for a 3-0 win.
 
 

In the MAC playoffs, Gettysburg trounced the University of Scranton 4-0 to setup a rematch with F&M. A penalty stroke goal by Paparone and a rocket blast by McHale proved the difference as the Bullets prevailed 2-1 for their second consecutive conference championship.
 
Bowers was a big proponent on conditioning and that would play a pivotal role in the upcoming regional and national tournaments. The Bullets would out-score their next seven opponents 10-3 in the second half and overtime.
 
"She always pushed us to be our best and give our all every time we were on the field," said Tuma. "She totally believed we could do it. She made sure we were in the best shape possible. If we would lose a game it wasn't going to be because we weren't in shape! Pushing through the pain of our endurance training also helped us know we could push through any game situation too."
 
Gettysburg was named host of the 1980 Division III EAIAW Championship. The Bullets were the sixth seed and were joined by Salisbury State, Elizabethtown, Shippensburg, F&M, Millersville, Frostburg State, and Glassboro State (present-day Rowan).
 
The well-conditioned hosts raced past Millersville and Glassboro, out-scoring their opponents 7-1 as Pam Yerkes '83 tallied a team-high three goals.
 
Just a few hours after the Bullets dispatched Glassboro, they lined up in the championship game against familiar foe Elizabethtown. This time around, Gettysburg did all of its damage in the first half with goals by Ogg and Yerkes, while first-year goalie Lisa De Banico '84 picked up seven saves in the 2-0 win.
 
Gettysburg had won its first EAIAW title and clinched a spot in the AIAW Division III Championship for the first time. Elizabethtown and Franklin & Marshall joined the Bullets in the 16-team event, which was hosted by Hollins College in Virginia.
 
"[Coach Bowers] really had us believing that we were as good as any of those other teams that we were there to win the championship," said McHale. "I believed - WE all believed - but some of those teams were really good.  We were hard workers and we were in great shape physically. We had heart and Coach believed in all of us as well."

 

The team cruised in its opening game, downing host Hollins 3-1. The next three would be much closer, beginning with a 3-2 triumph over Denison University. The Big Red out-shot the Bullets 21-12, but two goals by Nancy Loh '82 in the second half proved the difference.
 
In the semifinals, Gettysburg was matched up with Chico State out of California. The two teams traded blows throughout the first two periods and ended regulation deadlocked 2-2. Just one goal away from competing for the school's first national title, the Bullets once again came through in overtime as Tuma stole a pass and dished to McHale for a hard shot into the back of the cage. The Bullets were marching on to the national championship game for the first time.
 
"We came out and really pressed in overtime," said Bowers following the game. "We took the game right to them. I've never in my life seen 11 kids who wanted the game more than these kids did in the last seven and a half minutes."
 
Gettysburg took on Hartwick in the finals. Hartwick had blanked its first two foes and like the Bullets, survived in overtime to defeat Elizabethtown 3-2.
 
Despite significant advantages in shots and penalty corners for Gettysburg, the game went all the way to double overtime. With each team playing overtime the prior day, the physical toll was catching up to the players. The game was going to come down to the team that made the first mental mistake, and that happened 2:30 into overtime.
 
The Hartwick goalie popped out of the cage and Cannon had a clear look halted by the foot of a defender, setting the stage for a penalty stroke. Paparone stepped in front of the goal and slipped the winning shot past the goalie.
 
"I never doubted that Mare would make the stroke but I knew the game wasn't over as soon as it went in the cage," said McHale. "In those days there was no sudden victory; you played out the entire overtime period and there was still time on the clock.  I think I even remember catching Mare's eyes as we were all celebrating and thinking get back to the center and get this over with a win."

 

Hartwick had no answer in the extra period and Gettysburg walked off the field at Hollins holding the AIAW Division III Championship to the sky above.
 
"I had been part of a state championship field hockey team in high school and winning a National Championship in college was so deeply satisfying," said Tuma. "For a sports lover a national championship is a huge achievement. You walk a bit taller after that!"
 
The team returned home from Virginia and was met just outside of town by exuberant fans. Upon returning to campus, the marching band was playing tunes of triumph. More than 200 spectators were there to cheer for the team and listen to speeches from Coach Bowers and the team captains, Paparone and Tuma.
 
"The parade through town and campus when we returned back from Virginia was awesome," recalled McHale. "I remember when the bus pulled over outside of town and we were all like what's going on. We were ready to get back to campus and some of us were joking 'they are getting the band and the fire trucks ready for our celebration' and they really were."
 
The field hockey team was the first athletic program to gain national acclaim in the institution's first 148 years, and it would be another 31 years before another team rose to such status. In 2011, the women's lacrosse team won the NCAA Division III championship with Head Coach Carol Daly Cantele '83 leading the way. Cantele was a sophomore on the victorious 1980 field hockey team.
 
The field hockey team narrowly missed another title in 1981, falling to Lynchburg College 2-1 on penalty strokes in the national quarterfinals and finishing fifth overall. That would be the last year of the AIAW Division III Tournament as the NCAA fully committed to women's championships beginning in 1981 and the AIAW folded operations shortly thereafter.
 
The 1980 field hockey team featured one of the greatest collections of student-athletes in school history. All 16 members of the varsity team played multiple sports and including Bowers, eight have been elected to Gettysburg's Hall of Athletic Honor.
 
In her infinite wisdom, Bowers was well aware of the impact her 1980 team had on the college and future generations of Bullets.
 
"They now know it can be done and that we are not here in a void, because we sit in the middle of small town USA," said Bowers shortly after the return to campus in 1980. "We are a small school, but as long as our athletes set their sights on being big-time winners, then it is possible and that is what I think the national championship means to Gettysburg College."
 
Gettysburg has won a total of four team national titles with one in field hockey and three coming in women's lacrosse. Not long after Cantele led her lacrosse team to the national title in 2017, Bowers passed away peacefully at her home with family at her side. She was 86 years old.
 
"Lois Bowers was a true leader and was instrumental in the growth and development of the women's athletics programs at Gettysburg College," said Cantele. "She embodied the values of integrity, humility and character and taught her women to represent themselves and their institution in the best manner possible while at the same time having a healthy, competitive spirit."