In the midst of closing out her collegiate field hockey career, Gabbie Bower thinks back on her love of her sport.

A graduate of Spencer-Van Etten High School, Bower was a first-team field hockey All-Star from 2010 to 2012. But, her love for field hockey started long before her teenage years.

“It started in the third grade when we played it in gym class,” Bower said. “I started to feel a passion for the sport. As I got older, my sister played and I would love to go to her games.”

Bower’s passion doesn’t stop with field hockey.

Originally from Erin, New York, and the daughter of Donald Jr. and Melissa Bower, Gabbie is a criminal justice major walking in the footsteps of her father, who was a correctional officer for 25 years.

“He is one of the biggest reasons why I have a passion for it,” said Bower. “I remember when he worked doubles, I would stay up until he got home because the job wasn’t necessarily safe.”

In pursuing her degree, the 2015 first-team All-CSAC player has a goal of becoming a probation officer.

“If I can save one person out of 50 or one person out of a hundred, that’s one less person going back to jail,” said Bower.

Bower has high goals for her team’s 2016 campaign.

“Our main goal is to make it to the conference playoffs and win. We also want to make it to NCAAs, if we make it past the conference finals,” said Bower.

The Pacers finished the regular season 12-6 (5-2, CSAC) and sit at the #3 seed in the CSAC playoffs with the 4-1 win over Keystone College last Thursday, Oct. 27. The team is set to face #2 seed Cabrini University in a semifinal game on Wednesday, Nov. 2 at 4:30 p.m.

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Twitter: @JohnFerraro21