Skyhawks inaugural Division I NEC schedule features 15 game slate
EASTON, Mass. (July 28, 2022) – The Stonehill College field hockey program will make its NCAA Division I debut as a member of the Northeast Conference (NEC) with a 15-game regular season schedule, including its first seven game NEC slate, first year head coach Danielle Aviani announced today.
Stonehill, which enters its 26th field hockey season and 27th year in program history overall, is beginning its four-year transition to NCAA Division I status as a member of the NEC this fall. The Skyhawks will play a 15-game schedule, featuring four home games on Timothy J. Coughlin, '80 Memorial Field at W.B. Mason Stadium, starting in late August and continuing through the month of October. Stonehill competed at the NCAA Division II level in the Northeast-10 Conference since its inception in 1996, capturing three NE10 Tournament titles and two regular season crowns, while earning nine NCAA Tournament bids along the way with five Division II National Semifinal appearances.
Stonehill will get its NCAA Division I era underway with a preseason exhibition at former NE10 rival UMass Lowell of America East on Friday, August 19 (1 p.m.), before officially opening its inaugural Division I slate at Hofstra University of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) on Saturday, August 27 (1 p.m.). The Skyhawks will play its first six regular season games on the road, a stretch that will carry through the month of September.
Stonehill will face another CAA member, Northeastern University and former head coach Shelly Morris, who led the Skyhawks to a 100-48 (.676) mark over seven seasons from 2008-14, on Sunday, September 4, at noon. Stonehill will head to the Midwest the following weekend for a pair of games in the Saint Louis area at Atlantic-10 Conference member Saint Louis University on Friday, September 9 (5 p.m.) and fellow Division I newcomer Lindenwood University on Sunday, September 11 (noon), before returning to the Northeast to visit former NE10 rival Bryant University, now an America East member, on Friday, September 16 (6 p.m.), before opening its first NEC schedule two weeks later at Long Island University on Friday, September 30 (noon), another former NE10 foe.
Stonehill will play its first of four home dates with an NEC clash against another former NE10 rival, Merrimack College, on Friday, October 7 (3 p.m.) at W.B. Mason Stadium. An NEC road matchup at Wagner College on Staten Island follows on Sunday, October 9 (1 p.m.), before the Skyhawks head to upstate New York for a non-conference clash with Colgate University of the Patriot League on Tuesday, October 11 (noon).
Stonehill returns to W.B. Mason Stadium for an NEC matchup with Rider University on Friday, October 14 (3 p.m.), before visiting the University of Vermont of America East on Sunday, October 16 (noon). The Skyhawks final NEC home game of the season is Friday, October 21 (3 p.m.) against Sacred Heart University, before wrapping of their first NEC season on the road at Saint Francis (Pa.) University on Sunday, October 23 (noon) and Fairfield University on Friday, October 28 (3:30 p.m.). Stonehill's first Division I season will draw to a close with a Senior Day matchup at W.B. Mason Stadium against Queens University of Charlotte (N.C.), also beginning its NCAA Division I transition period, on Sunday, October 30 (1 p.m.).
Stonehill finished the 2021 season with a 13-5 record overall, including 11-3 in its final season in the NE10. The Skyhawks were ranked No. 10 in the final National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division II poll after making a Conference record matching 22nd appearance in the NE10 Tournament as the No. 3 seed and were ranked No. 4 in the final regular season NCAA Division II East Regional rankings. Rising junior Raegan Hickey earned All-America honors from the NFHCA and Synapse Sports and was among five to earn NE10 postseason honors.
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