Going back to her days at Parkland High School, Temple University field hockey player Sydney Hibshman was one of the anchors of the Trojans defense.

After seeing time on defense and at the forward position in her first collegiate season as an Owl, Hibshman is entering 2012 at a new position. She'll be seeing plenty of time at either the left or right midfielder position.

While being accustomed to playing on the defensive end of the field for much of her career, Hibshman is excited about the switch.

"I came here from Parkland as a true defender," said Hibshman. "We had a solid senior defensive line and she needed a mid. So I just went where I was needed and it worked out. I fell in love with the position. I don't think I would like to play defense anymore."

She saw time in 19 games as a freshman for the Owls. Now three games into this season, Hibshman has seen 41 minutes of play, including 26 in their second game against Duke University.

"I'm hoping that all my offseason work paid off," said Hibshman. "I'm looking to get more time and I'm looking for a start this year."

She hopes that offseason which included endurance workouts and getting more accustomed to the offense transitions to results on the field for herself as well.

"I think I want to be more offensive-minded," said Hibshman. "Because I was kept back in the backfield last year, and I want to help the team build our attack offensively.

"I really would like to get my first goal and assist and stuff like that that you can numerically count I guess."

The Owls fell to Virginia (4-3) and Duke (2-1) in their first two contests, both top 10 ranked teams nationally, before defeating Rutgers, 3-2.

"To come out in nonconference games and take UVa into overtime and contend with Duke was really nice to watch our team come together for opening weekend," said Hibshman.

In the team's final season as a member of the Atlantic 10 conference, the Owls are looking to once again contend for a league championship after falling to Richmond a year ago. The Owls will be moving to the Big East next year.

"It's our last year competing in this conference, and then we're switching over officially to the Big East for next year," said Hibshman. "So we definitely want to leave the A-10 with a bang."

September 16th is an important date not only for Sydney, but for her sister, Lauren, and mother, Donna, as well. That's when the Owls will host undefeated and No. 18 ranked Drexel with Lauren who is a freshman for the Dragons opposite her older sister. To make it even better, Donna coached both her daughters while at Parkland and it's a matchup that the entire family is looking forward to.

"I think my whole extended family is going to come and show support," said Hibshman. "So I don't know what side they're going to stand on."

Hibshman who has been playing since her early grade school years credits much of her success and support to her family, particularly her mother and former coach.

"It was a little weird having the coach be at home with you," said Hibshman. "I felt like she always kind of made an example out of us. But it's just an awesome feeling having your whole family invested into that basically with my little sister too. And now that my little sister is at Drexel and I'm at Temple we're going to compete against each other. It's going to be a different change of pace."