BY Jennifer Toland
jtoland@telegram.com
Almost three years later, the
thrill of playing in the Division 1 field hockey state championship
game and the sting after losing it are feelings that haven't
faded for former Shrewsbury High star Kathryn Nelson.
"My friends and I talk about it all the time," said
Nelson, now a junior at Stonehill.
Nelson doesn't dwell on the disappointment of the
Colonials' 6-4 loss to Acton-Boxboro, but rather uses it as
motivation.
"Now the goals are bigger," she said, "and I want
to bring that experience to our team at Stonehill. We want to get
to the national championship now."
The Skyhawks came close last year. After winning the Northeast-10
Conference regular-season title, Stonehill made it to the NCAA
Tournament semifinals. Nelson netted a first-half goal, but
UMass-Lowell scored with 1:46 left in advancing to the title
game.
Nelson, who totaled a school-record 109 points at Shrewsbury and
was a three-time T&G Super Team selection, was a major
contributor to Stonehill's success last season. She ranked
third on the team in both goals (11) and points (25).
After back-to-back losses at the start of this season, Stonehill
has won three of its last four, thanks in large part to Nelson, who
scored all four Skyhawks goals in a pair of 2-1 victories last week
over NE-10 foes Bentley and Franklin Pierce. Nelson was named the
NE-10 Player of the Week for her efforts.
"We have a great forward line, and our midfielder feeds us
the ball really well," Nelson said. "A lot of my goals
have come after the other team scores on us. I just get excited and
pumped to try to bring us back."
With six goals and an assist, Nelson leads her team in scoring and
ranks among the top five in the NE-10.
Stonehill returns seven starters from last year's 17-5 team.
The Skyhawks are starting three freshmen, including back
Gina Sheehan, who was a teammate of Nelson at
Shrewsbury.
Nelson's brothers, Brian and
Steve, played basketball in college. She was on
the girls' basketball team for three years at Shrewsbury and
remains a huge hoops fan. She loves the Celtics; Kevin
Garnett is her favorite player, and she is excited about
the acquisition of Shaquille O'Neal.
Stonehill was picked to repeat as NE-10 champion. The Skyhawks take
on rival UMass-Lowell today.
"This year, I think every team is getting up for us because
of what we did last year," Nelson said.
"Everyone's trying to beat us. We know they're
going to come at us hard."
