A Boston College Publication February 2010

•2009 NFHCA NORTHEAST REGIONAL COACH OF THE YEAR

Coaches Corner •2009 Assistant Coach USA U21 Team
Ainslee Lamb, Head Coach •2010 Head Coach USA U21 Team

This past fall was a fantastic experience with the return of the team to the NCAA tournament. Alums, parents
and affiliates had lots to be proud of with this group of women representing Boston College and its field hockey
program. They were relentless with their pursuit to be selected for the tournament. It was an impressive focus for
the entire group. Sacrifices great and small were made willingly every day to stay on task for the teams goals! It
was a journey that none of us will soon forget. I was thrilled and honored to be a part of their accomplishments.

After a much needed break for exams and the holidays the students returned to campus in the second week of
January. Now we are well into the spring training for the team. The girls have been doing a great job. It is a
difficult phase of training with lots of running & lifting and little hockey. Their approach from the first day of spring
has been preparation for our fall 2010 opening weekend versus UMass and Indiana @ UMass. Every rep
counts! We see the spring training as critical to our success for next fall.

This upcoming fall we have 10 top 20 programs to contend with! That is not taking into consideration long time
foes of BU, Northeastern, Harvard and UNH!

Our spring is full of fundraising efforts for the program, hosting two team development clinics on the front end of
the semester and at the beginning of the BC spring break.

Both Chris and I are busy with the continued recruiting efforts for the program. Travels to California, Florida,
Canada, Pennsylvania… you name it, place or event, one of us is bound to be there! In April we will be hosting
three spring tournaments. With our fantastic field and great facility support we are one of the top sites of choice
for the New England programs to compete during the spring months.

Later in April, I will be travelling to the Olympic training center in Chula Vista, CA where I have been asked to run
the Under 21 National squad training sessions. This is sure to be a fantastic experience for me. Under the
watchful eye of Terry Walsh, Director of USA field hockey and the head women’s national team coach, Lee
Bodimeade it is a coaching development opportunity that I am very excited for.

We recently put in place our “5 Pillars of Success”. The team creates a mission statement and goals for the five
areas of our spring training: lifting, running, hockey, community service and academics. We feel strongly that all
of these areas need to be committed to equally and fully. The team has set lofty goals in all of the areas. They
are sure to get us better by the end of the spring semester.

Thank you again for your continued support. Your enthusiasm and passion for BC and the field hockey program
are unwavering and we appreciate your loyal support. As we embark on one of the toughest fall schedules to
date, we ask your continued support. Come to a game and support the girls that are in so many ways are just
like you- passionate and proud to wear the maroon and gold! Always seeking the next challenge and facing it
head on! The traditions of BC athletes and this athletic department are entrenched in the history. You were that
history and we hope for you to be a part of this exciting present and future! I hope to see you at the alumnae
game and a fall game!

SAVE THE DATES!

BCFH BANQUET - Saturday May 1st

ALUMNAE DAY AND GAME - Sunday May 2nd

 BCFH Newsletter February 2010

Alumnae Corner
By Meghan Brogan ‘04
I am currently volunteering full-time for the 9th Ward
Field of Dreams in New Orleans. The 9th Ward Field of
Dreams is a nonprofit seeking to build a state-of-the-art
football field and track in New Orleans’ Upper 9th Ward,
one of the areas decimated most by Hurricanes Katrina
and Rita in 2005. With the goal of raising $1.8 million
dollars, the Field of Dreams seeks to provide a safe,
healthy and readily available environment for all New
Orleanians and sees sports as a way to build and
support local communities. We have raised $1.2 million
in just over 1 year, but we still need $600,000 more!

Our mission is to provide students with a safe place to

learn life’s lessons and play out their dreams. But it’s
even more than that – we want to inspire others to Eagles win National, Regional,
believe in their own power to create change and show
our students that they are just as deserving as students
and ACC Honors!
from more affluent communities.
Chelsey Feole ’10
This project will both literally and figuratively get a Senior All-Star Game
community back on the right “track” toward a positive All American – 1st Team
and healthy lifestyle. We truly believe in the mantra that All-ACC Team
Hope is a Game Changer. This project will inspire a Northeast Region - Player of the Year
largely neglected and underserved population in New NFHCA Northeast Region – 1st Team
Orleans to strive for a better tomorrow. As illustrated by
the words of a former athlete at Carver in response to a Emily Kozniuk ’11
question about what he had learned during a losing All American Third Team
season played mostly on an abandoned lot, “Never say I
NFHCA Northeast Region - 1st team
can’t.”

The outpouring of support from the BC Athletics Alumni Kristine Stigas ’10
Community, most notably BCFH, has been tremendous. Co-ACC Player of the week - October 26th
BCFH supporters include Lauren Parks, Kristen NFHCA Northeast Region - 1st team
Madden, Allison Early, class of 2006; Cristy
Almendrales, class of 2009; Bronwen Evans, class of Janna Anctil ’11
2005; Virginia Whitesides, class of 2003. Other BC NFHCA Northeast Region – 1st Team
Athletics Alum supporters include Matt Ryan, Atlanta
Falcons' QB, class of 2007, JoLonn Dunbar, New
Kate Gillis ’12
Orleans Saints' LB, class of 2007, Jim Marten, Chicago
Bears' T, class of 2006, and Josh Beekman, Chicago
NFHCA Northeast Region – 3rd team
Bears' G/C, class of 2006.

To learn more and watch our video featuring our

student-athletes please visit
www.9thwardfieldofdreams.com

Alumnae still in hockey

Niki Novocin Eastley ‘99
Officiated a Maryland State Semi-Final Game
this past fall.
Coaches a U16 team in DC - the Jackals.
“It’s been a great way to get back into Join us on Facebook!
(and give back to) the sport!”
BCFH Newsletter
Captain’s Circle
By Emily Kozniuk ’11
Co-captain
When I look back on our season there are a lot of
things that will stick out in my mind. We started the
year 6-0 which hadn’t been done in over a decade.
Of these six games, our overtime win against
Boston University is probably the most memorable.
Scoring was back and forth with our overtime goal
coming off of a penalty corner.
After a disappointing game against Maryland we had
to rally for Umass the next day, after going down 1-0
we came back to tie the game with 8 minutes left
and eventually would win the game in OT off of a
great team effort, everyone was exhausted from
playing Maryland the day before but it was our will to
win and our desire to find a way that won us the
game.
Duke was our first ACC win of the season, we came
out flat and Duke scored first just 50 seconds into
the game, we quickly realized that we were going to
have to take control of the game, make them play
our style of hockey. We quickly got a goal that put
us back in the game and ended up winning 3-2 -
such a satisfying feeling to beat someone in our
conference.
Our next conference game at UNC was a very
disappointing and frustrating loss. We didn’t show
up to play and UNC took advantage. This loss made
our game against Radford, a team we knew nothing
about, that much more important.
Northeastern is an important regional match up that
always gives us a good game. They are a very
aggressive, physical team and this game was on
their home turf (a field that has 3rd base in the
middle of the field and is not level). This works as an
advantage for them and only frustrates us as the
game progresses, but we found a way to win.
UNH was another important regional game; the
conditions during this game were something that we
hadn’t expected to experience. It was snowing and
hailing, just miserable conditions for a game. This
was our first and only non conference loss of the
year, it unfortunately put everything into perspective,
and we knew that our post season dreams now
rested heavily on our last 3 games of the year.
February 2010
Syracuse was my most memorable game this
season. It was an emotional day all around as not
only did we upset the number 5 team in the
country but it was also senior day. We played a
patient game of hockey, waiting for them to make
the mistakes. We played incredible team defense,
starting with our goaltender and working its way
forward.
Our game against Harvard was our last home
game of the season which always makes you
realize just how short our season actually is. We
played a great game, winning 9-1, finishing the
season with a 7-1 record at home, the best home
record since 1998.
Our last game of the season was against Wake
Forest, a disappointing 5-2 loss. We would get
them 5 days later in the ACC tournament, we went
up 1-0 and had the energy and momentum all
going for us but by the 50th minute in the game
we found ourselves down 4-1. With 20minutes left
in the game we had a choice to make; we had to
leave it all on the field. We closed the gap 4-3 but
at this point in the game time was our enemy and
that’s as far as we would get.
At this point with the regular season and ACC
tournament now over it was just a waiting game to
see if we would make the NCAA tournament.
Although the coaches had calculated it numerous
times and were pretty positive that we had a good
chance at making it, nothing was for certain until
we heard Boston College being announced in the
bracket. The night of the selection show is a night
that I will never forget; we sat as a team, with our
coaching staff and support staff anxiously awaiting
the results. We heard our name and the room just
erupted, tears were flowing, we had accomplished
our next goal. With all of the excitement we didn’t
even hear the name of the team we were playing,
but when we found out it was Syracuse we were
excited for the opportunity to play them again.
This was the first time that anyone on our team
had been to the tournament and when we arrived
in Princeton, N.J. we were ready for the game and
knew that Syracuse would be too. Syracuse plays
a very different style of hockey than we do and
perhaps it was the importance of the game but
Syracuse got the better of us on the day. This 6-2
loss marked the end of our season.
This successful season gave us a taste of the
post season but has left us wanting more which is
why we are looking forward to the spring; this is
when we truly prepare ourselves for next fall. All of
the lifting, running and hockey that we do now will
shape the type of fall that we will have in 2010 and
we cannot wait to get started!
 BCFH Newsletter February 2010

Boston College Field Hockey 2010 Spring Schedule

Sunday April 10 Tournament @ Quinnipiac
Sunday April 17 Tournament @ BC
Sunday April 24 Tournament @ BC
Sunday May 1 Tournament @ BC

SPRING OUTLOOK – Players Perspective

By Janna Anctil ’10

I am really looking forward to the spring season. It’s always nice to come back from Christmas
break and having the opportunity to see all the girls on an everyday basis again.

The spring season is also exciting because we realize that all the hard work that we put in now
has a direct impact on our success for the upcoming fall. With this in the back of our mind we
all have a bit more motivation for every sprint or extra squat we do with Tom, or the extra rep
of a push pass we get in during our individuals, or that extra level we get during our beep tests.

Personally, I love the tournaments we have in April the best because we get to play against
other teams not just scrimmage against ourselves for the first time since the season.

ANNOUNCEMENTS!
BCFH CLINIC
February 26 and 27
Send your future eagle along!
Clinic Details - click here
- ALUMNAE DATABASE -
RELAY FOR LIFE
February 12th Please visit the following link to help us update our
database. We will only use the information for field
MS WALK hockey relevant news. Alumnae Information
April 11th Or

BCFH BANQUET Drop us a note that we can share with the BCFH
Saturday May 1st Community about what you are doing.

ALUMNAE DAY AND GAME

Sunday May 2nd