By Chris Villani

Sports Writer

Gianna Yordanopoulos had a feeling Towson University would be the place for her the first time she visited the Maryland campus.

“The school itself is beautiful, I love the environment and it seemed like a perfect fit for me,” she said. “After my initial conversations with the coaches and talking with some of the girls, I just loved the energy of the team.”

The Nipmuc High School graduate is beginning her first season with the Tigers and her first semester at her new academic home. Yordanopoulos said she likes the size of the Towson campus and the setting, just outside Baltimore but without the city feel.

“It’s very open, very big, and there are a lot of areas where people like to hang around,” she said.

Yordanopoulos said she is not exactly sure where she will fit in with the Towson field hockey program right away, noting that the team has recently changed coaching staff and the new coaches have not had a chance to see most of the team in action. But she said her speed and aggression on the field is likely something that is going to stand out.

This fall also represents a bit of a bounce back for Yordanopoulos, who suffered a concussion that limited her playing time during her senior year at Nipmuc.

“It was a little hard not to be able to play, but I was able to lead the girls and see how motivated the younger players were,” she said.

Yordanopoulos said her junior year was a highlight, including a penalty shot victory over Oakmont that sent Nipmuc to the finals of the Central Mass. tournament.

“That was probably my favorite memory,” she said. 

Yordanopoulos has had a clean bill of health since November and finished her Nipmuc athletic career by participating in both winter and spring track. She has also been working hard at trying to refine her game before entering the collegiate level.

“I am playing pickup games at the field almost every day, doing touches, trying to get as technical as I can,” Yordanopoulos said. “I’m trying to do more reps and more intense workouts, I am at the track a lot.”

Yordanopoulos has also had strong support from her parents, Jeannine and George, and her twin sister, Gillian, even though Towson might be a bit farther away from Upton than her mother would have hoped.

“It’s been exciting for all of us,” she said.