UMass-Lowell draws top field hockey players

Entering her sixth season as head coach of the University of Massachusetts at Lowell field hockey team, Shannon Hlebichuk noticed something.

"When I played at UMass-Lowell, the longest [time] I had a head coach was two years," said Hlebichuk, an All-American player who graduated in 1998. "Pretty much that was the standing time frame for a coach here."

So perhaps it's no coincidence that with stability has come success.

In Hlebichuk's first year, UMass-Lowell reached the postseason for the first time in two decades. After years as a struggling independent, the team had joined the Northeast-10 Conference a couple of years prior.

But since then, Hlebichuk has guided the UMass-Lowell program to another level. Entering this season, the River Hawks have reached the Division 2 final four for four consecutive years, capped with a national championship in 2005.

Though this year's squad has just one senior and 15 freshmen and sophomores, Hlebichuk said the bar won't be lowered. "Truthfully, now that we've experienced four final fours in a row, that's just an expectation for us," Hlebichuk said. A big reason it's realistic is her eight-woman, all-Massachusetts recruiting class, which looks like something of a local all-star team of last year's high school seniors.

That group includes Tewksbury's Sammy Macy (last year's Merrimack Valley Conference MVP), North Andover's Liz Day (who led the Knights to the Division 1 North title), and Arlington's Lizzy Ales (a Greater Boston League All-Star). That trio, along with Amesbury's Katie Enaire, drew praise from Hlebichuk.

"Those four are not just all-league field hockey players, they're all-league ice hockey, they're all-league softball," the coach said. "They're just amazing athletes. I think that's what maybe sets this class apart."

But it's no surprise they all chose UMass-Lowell, which is gaining a reputation in area field hockey circles. Macy turned down an offer to play at Division 1 Northeastern University to play at UMass-Lowell, citing the program's success and Hlebichuk as reasons.

"They're a really good team," Macy said. "Shannon is really nice. She reminds me of my coach at the high school [Tewksbury's Pat Ryser]. She's very intense, and that's what I want."

Other local River Hawks include Chelmsford freshmen Jaime Hadley and Michelle Perrault and Nashua junior Jessica Ellis. Captain Jayne Vagenas, a Harwich native, is the team's lone senior.

Where are they now?

Two of the area's hottest golfers, Concord's Garrett Arnold and Andover's Colin Brennan, will be freshmen on the Rollins College (Winter Park, Fla.) golf team this fall. Arnold recently finished 14th of 63 in a American Junior Golf Association event in Marblehead, while Brennan was last year's Globe Division 1 Player of the year for Andover High. . . . The University of Connecticut football roster has a new flavor, thanks to four local freshmen. Arlington Catholic defensive back Jonathan Jean-Louis, Nashua North defensive end Kendall Reyes, and Woburn offensive lineman Mathieu Olivier -- a redshirt -- are joined by walk-on Nathan Sherr, the Austin Prep RB who broke the all-time state scoring record last fall. . . . Lexington's Bryan Longo, a state track champ, will play soccer at Seton Hall alongside Acton-Boxborough star Steve Rose. Two of Rose's classmates, Natalie Crutchfield (soccer) and Kiara Blough (field hockey), will put their skills on display at Boston College.

Clarification

In a sports story last Thursday ("Bilodeau makes his pins stick"), it was stated that Harvard native Sean Bilodeau was the second Massachusetts wrestler to win a junior national title. In fact, in addition to Wellesley's Rollie Peterkin in 2005, Braintree's Colin Kilrain (like Bilodeau, a future Lehigh University wrestler) won the title at 168 pounds in 1977. Then, the tournament wasn't held annually in Fargo, N.D., but in Iowa City.

Mike Lipka can be reached at mlipka@globe.com.