The River Hawks were also represented by eight players on the NE-10 All-Conference squads, as well, including First Team selections Day, Hopkins, Sammy Macy (Tewksbury, Mass.), Katie Enaire (Amesbury, Mass.) and Jaime Hadley (Chelmsford, Mass.). Junior Annie Hansbury (Plaistow, N.H.) was named to the Second Team and freshmen Hopkins, Rachel McCarthy (Reading, Mass.) and Kayla MacDonald (Chelmsford, Mass.) were tabbed as All-Rookie selections.
This is the second consecutive year that a UMass Lowell student-athlete has been named field hockey player of the year, as Macy was recognized as the conference’s best last season.
Liz Day, Player of the Year
As a midfielder, Day has led the River Hawks on both ends of the field this season, helping the stellar defense and explosive offense to a 20-0 season and NE-10 Regular Season Title.
Day has been a constant for UMass Lowell since stepping onto the field in 2007, appearing in all 91 games they’ve played during the last four years, making 81 starts over that span.
She has played to a career year this season, notching a personal-best 12 goals and 13 assists so far. In her career, she has amassed 34 goals and 32 assists, making her the seventh all-time leading scorer in program history with 100 career points.
Defensively, she has helped the River Hawk defensive corps to out-corner opponents 239-92 during the 2010 season. They also have only allowed 3.9 shots on goal per contest.
Day recorded a hat trick on Sept. 18 in a 4-0 win over Saint Anselm and is in the midst of a five-game point streak. She has also notched multiple points in 12 of the River Hawks’ 20 games this season.
A criminal justice major, Day is one of four children of Stephen and Cathy Day of North Andover, Mass.
Melanie Hopkins, Goalkeeper of the Year
Hopkins was named NE-10 Goalkeeper of the week in five of the last 10 weeks and earned Rookie of Week honors three times during the season. With her latest shutout on Nov. 10 against Saint Anselm, Hopkins tied the NCAA DII record for shutouts in a single season (15). She shares the record with three other goalkeepers, as the feat was most recently accomplished by Bloomsburg’s Jamie Hartman in 2003.
She also backboned UMass Lowell to a program-best 606:48 consecutive shutout minutes, holding opponents scoreless in eight straight games in the process.
The netminder has spent 1349:13 between the pipes for the River Hawks this season, amassing a 0.21 GAA, .947 save percentage and 20-0 record. She has allowed just four goals through the end of the regular season.
Hopkins, a Biology major, is one of two children of Julie Ann Hopkins of Harwich, Mass. and John Hopkins, Sr. of Wakefield, Mass.
Shannon Hlebichuk, Coach of the Year
For the seventh time in nine years at the helm of the River Hawk field hockey program, Hlebichuk took home Coach of the Year honors. She guided her team to a perfect 20-0 regular season and the fourth NE-10 Regular Season Title in program history.
Hlebichuk has amassed a 158-42 (.790) record over the past nine seasons and has taken her team to three consecutive National Championship games and four overall. She led her team to win the 2005 National Championship, as well as five NE-10 Tournament Championships.
Hlebichuk’s team this year has broken nearly every record set in program history and will continue to look for more in the weeks ahead.
All-Conference Teams
In addition to Day and Hopkins, Macy was named to the NE-10 First Team for the third time in as many years. She led the conference in nearly every offensive category: points (68), points per game (3.4) and goals (27), and ranked second in assists (14) and game-winning goals (7).
The senior forward also shattered multiple program records this season, en route to becoming the program’s all-time leading scorer. Broken records include career points (212), career goals (88), points in a season (68), goals in a game (5) and points in a game (11). She is just one goal away from tying the school record for goals in a season (28), which she set during her sophomore campaign in 2008.
Macy captured Player of the Week honors three times during the 2010 season. She has tallied at least one point in all but one of the River Hawks’ 20 games this year and has had seven multi-goal games.
This was Enaire’s second time on the NE-10 First Team, as she had a stellar offensive year, as well. She ranked second in the conference with 26 goals on the year, 58 points and 2.9 points per game.
She was named Player of the Week once, with two Weekly Honor Roll mentions, as well. Enaire tallied eight points on four goals on Sept. 14 in a 4-0 win over Merrimack and enjoyed 16 multi-point games on the year.
Hadley, a three-time Defensive Player of the Week, is making her first appearance on the All-Conference squad, after helping to backbone the River Hawk defense.
She has tallied 11 assists on the year, a personal best and tied for fourth in the conference, adding a pair of goals, as well.
Hansbury, a junior defender, is making her first showing on the Second Team All-Conference squad, as well. She has notched three goals and eight assists during her junior campaign and has helped to steady the defensive corps, as well.
Joining Hopkins in the All-Rookie ranks, is McCarthy, a midfielder that has steadily worked her way into the starting lineup, starting eight of the last nine contests. She leads NE-10 freshmen with 23 points on the year (8g, 7a) and earned Rookie of the Week honors twice.
Finally, freshman midfielder MacDonald has made 13 appearances for the River Hawks and started in two.
The River Hawks will host the NE-10 Field Hockey Championship this weekend, beginning with semifinal action at noon on Friday, as the top-seeded River Hawks will host the winner of the #4 Southern Connecticut/#5 Adelphi game that will be played on Tuesday afternoon. The Championship will be held on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.
Visit Tournament Central for more detailed information on the 2010 NE-10 Field Hockey Championship, including ticket information, results and a schedule of events.
www.goriverhawks.com
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