After seeing her team match the second highest win total in school history for a second straight season in 2004, Pam Arpe has her sights set even higher for the 2005 edition of Stonehill Field Hockey, as the Skyhawks return 12 letterwinners and eight starters from a squad that posted 13 triumphs overall and 10 in Northeast-10 Conference play while advancing to the league semi-finals for the first time in three years.
Arpe, who has guided Stonehill to 61 victories during her five-year tenure at The Hill, will rely on experience on both ends of the field during her sixth campaign at the helm, as the Skyhawks welcome back two seniors, four juniors and seven sophomores back into the fold. Leadership will come both on and off the field from the two members of the Stonehill Field Hockey Class of 2006, as seniors Lindsay Breen (North Andover, Mass./North Andover) and Julie Michalos (Norwood, Mass./Norwood) have been appointed as co-captains for the 2005 season.
“Lindsay and Julie have both played important and integral roles in the success of this program during the course of their careers, and I will look to them to help guide their teammates in that same direction of success this season,” Arpe says of her senior co-captains.
Here’s a look at how things are shaping up for the 2005 edition of Stonehill Field Hockey:
FORWARD. Sophomore Caitlin Gleason (New Boston, N.H./Goffstown) leads the way up front for the Skyhawks after shattering Stonehill’s single-season scoring total as a rookie in 2004. The all-Northeast-10 performer amassed 17 goals and five assists for 39 points to rank among the national leaders in scoring, and she is joined at the forward spot by Michalos, who notched eight goals and eight assists for 24 points to finish second in the team scoring race. If the return of that dynamic duo wasn’t good enough news for Arpe, she also welcomes back junior All-America Kelly Latendresse (Sidney, Maine/Messalonskee), who netted three goals and a team-leading nine assists for 15 points in becoming the second All-America performer in school history. Sophomore Jillian Klotz (Centerville, Mass./Barnstable) lends additional experience at the forward spot for Stonehill, after netting three goals and three assists for nine points during her rookie season.
MIDFIELD. A quintet of returnees will make up the Skyhawk midfield this fall, led by juniors Patty McNeil (Canton, Mass./Canton) and Courtney Campbell (Reading, Mass./Reading). McNeil has established herself as one of the top defensive midfielders in the conference, while Campbell is a threat at both ends of the field after recording four goals in 22 contests in 2004. Sophomores Aly Boulis (Lincoln, R.I./Lincoln), Ashley Freeman (White River Junction, Vt./Hartford) and Brittany Dibble (Troy, N.Y./Columbia) were all valuable contributors during their respective rookie seasons, as Boulis netted five goals and an assist for 11 points while Freeman and Dibble combined to appear in 38 matches as freshmen.
DEFENSE. Breen anchors a solid Skyhawk defensive corps that saw Stonehill allow just 1.50 goals per match last season while notching nine shutouts, as she posted six defensive saves to lead the squad in that category a year ago. Sophomore Colleen McLaughlin (Methuen, Mass./Methuen) also returns on defense looking to contribute after appearing in 17 matches as a freshman.
GOAL. Sophomore Dani Ryder (Fiskdale, Mass./Tantasqua) returns to the Stonehill cage after posting a 13-8 mark in net during her freshman campaign with a 1.50 goals against average. Ryder, a three-time selection as Northeast-10 Goalkeeper of the Week, posted 123 saves for a .799 saves percentage while recording eight shutouts for the Skyhawks in 2004.
SCHEDULE. As always, Arpe’s crew will play one of the toughest schedules in the nation, as matches against 2004 NCAA participants Bentley, UMass Lowell and Southern Connecticut loom along with a non-league contest against perennial Division II power East Stroudsburg.