Anticipation, butterflies and excitement are forever grounded into season openers. For the NIU field hockey team, those three ingredients will be larger than usual come Saturday.

The opener at Old Dominion (1 p.m.) just might be the biggest game for the youthful squad according to its coach, Laurie Bell. Going on the road to Norfolk, Va. certainly won’t make things easy; especially when ODU just happens to be the defending national champion.

“Old Dominion is a tough opener for us,” Bell said, “but it will be a good experience for the kids. It will be good for them because that is the level where I’d like to see them some day.”

Certainly the Monarchs are at a level which a lot of teams would like to come close to. According to Bell, ODU has stars everywhere on the field. “They have several All-Americans returning and even some Olympic players,” the sixth-year coach said.

With only five players returning from last season to go along with 13 freshmen, it certainly will be a test for NIU. “We have them mentally prepared right now,” Bell said. “It’s a big opener for us and I told them to do the best they can.”

After ODU, NIU will remain in Norfolk to face Final Four qualifier Penn State on Monday at 1 p.m.