Annie Zinkavich enters her sixth season as an assistant coach at Penn State. A former goalkeeper with the Nittany Lions, she works primarily with the goalkeepers and also assists in the day-to-day operations of the field hockey program.
Working with first-time starter Ali Meves in 2009, Zinkavich helped aid the junior goalkeeper to some stellar efforts, highlighted by an 11-save performance against No. 18 Ohio State to spearhead the Lions to a thrilling 2-1 overtime victory on the Big Ten Network. She followed that performance with six huge saves vs. No. 14 Stanford in a second straight win. Meves was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week and Penn State Student-Athlete of the Week following her effort against the Buckeyes while also cracking the Big Ten All-Tournament Team after leading the Nittany Lions into the conference semifinals.
In the summer of 2010, Zinkavich served as assistant cocach for the gold medal winning Pennsylvania Junior High Performance squad.
Working with first-time starter Ali Meves in 2009, Zinkavich helped aid the junior goalkeeper to some stellar efforts, highlighted by an 11-save performance against No. 18 Ohio State to spearhead the Lions to a thrilling 2-1 overtime victory on the Big Ten Network. She followed that performance with six huge saves vs. No. 14 Stanford in a second straight win. Meves was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week and Penn State Student-Athlete of the Week following her effort against the Buckeyes while also cracking the Big Ten All-Tournament Team after leading the Nittany Lions into the conference semifinals.
In 2009, Penn State recorded nine shutouts thanks in large part to Zinkavich[apos]s work with the goalies. The duo of Jen Beaumont and Meves recorded a 82.5 save percentage that was tops in the nation while its 1.05 goals against average was fourth best nationally and shutouts per game (0.45) was second. The Nittany Lion defense and goalkeeping dominated the conference, coming in first in fewest goals allowed, GAA, and shutouts. The team[apos]s 21 goals allowed for the year was the fewest since the 1999 squad only allowed 20. Beaumont was also named a First Team All-Conference Performer as well as earning First Team All-Region and Second Team All-America status.
In 2007, Zinkavich[apos]s work helped the Nittany Lions record 10 shutouts, including nine by Beaumont and two big shutouts in the NCAA Tournament against a pair of top five teams. Beaumont also ranked among that nation[apos]s leaders in goals against average and save percentage while being named All-Region for the second straight season. Three years ago, Beaumont, then a first-year starter, had an outstanding year between the pipes for the Lions as she was named First Team All-Region and a Second Team All-American while finishing fifth in the country and tops in the Big Ten in goals against average.
Zinkavich was a four-year letterwinner for the Nittany Lions from 2000-2003. She recorded eight shutouts in 2002 to anchor the defense of the squad that advanced to the NCAA National Championship game. In 2002, she ranked 16th nationally in goals against average with 1.41 per game. She earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors six times in her career, including three in 2001. In 2002, Zinkavich set a Bigler Field record for saves in a game with 10 in a 2-1 upset victory over No. 6 North Carolina. She was named to three consecutive All-Mideast teams, garnering first team honors in 2001 and 2003 and second team honors in 2002. She started 85 out of the 87 games she played in her career. She had 22 shutouts in her career, which ranks sixth all-time at Penn State.
Prior to returning to her alma mater, Zinkavich served for two years as the graduate assistant coach at Bucknell, also working with the goalies. Under her tutelage, Bucknell[apos]s senior keeper Liz Jordan was named the Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Year and the East Coast Athletic Conference Goalkeeper of the Year. Jordan was also a Second Team All-Mideast Region selection.
She plays club field hockey for Red Rose and helped the team win the Club Cup in Virginia Beach in April of 2006, 2007, and 2008. She also received her Level II Coaching Accreditation in January.
Zinkavich received her Bachelor of Science in psychology from Penn State in 2003. She hails from Kingston, Pa. and graduated from Wyoming Seminary in 1999. Her parents are Joe and Peg.
GETTING TO KNOW COACH ZINKAVICH
Nickname: Ani or AZ
Favorite Food: Funfetti Cake
Favorite Color: Blue
Favorite Musical Artist: Too many to name
Favorite Movie: The Birdcage
Favorite TV Show: The Today Show
Favorite Website: www.frontrush.com/psu
Favorite Athlete: Marc-Andre Fleury
Childhood Idol: Michael Jackson
Hobbies: Listening to music and relaxing
Biggest Fear: Lakes and bats
Teams I[apos]d Like To See Added To The Schedule: Cal and Wake
Best Player I Ever Played With: Too many to name
Magazine Cover I[apos]d Like To Be On: Sports Illustrated
Most Prized Possession: My computer
Place I[apos]d Like To Visit: Europe
If I Had $1 Billion, I Would: Retire
After Penn State, I Would Like To: I[apos]ll never leave!