Assumption field hockey adjusts to departures, remains rolling in the Northeast-10

The Assumption field hockey team graduated seven starters from last year’s record-setting and NCAA Tournament team, but the departures have hardly hampered the Greyhounds, who again are rolling.

Assumption (7-2, 4-0 Northeast-10 Conference) took a seven-game winning streak, and four-game shutout streak, into Tuesday’s game against Adelphi.

“It’s been fun,” Assumption coach Annie Lahey said. “I’m really impressed with how this team has adjusted.”

The Greyhounds rank No. 7 in this week’s National Field Hockey Coaches Association Division 2 poll.

Lahey, who grew up just down the street from Assumption’s campus, has done an incredible job establishing the program and sustaining its success. Under Lahey, who is in her 12th year, the Greyhounds have posted seven straight winning seasons. They made their first NCAA appearance in 2019 as an at-large selection, and last year, while winning a program-record 20 games, captured the NE-10 championship (and NCAA auto bid) for the first time.

The Greyhounds have won 26 consecutive games against NE-10 opponents.

“We set the bar high,” Lahey said, “and the level of excellence that I’m looking for we push really hard in practice. We have a good system in our approach, but I also feel like we’re able to attract more talented players to the program. Once you get out there nationally, you’re able to get more recognition and looks from players that maybe wouldn’t normally be checking out Assumption.”

The 2022 Assumption roster, headed by graduate student goalkeeper Kylie Gargiulo of Connecticut, who was the 2021 NFHCA Division 2 East Region Player of the Year, is loaded with New England talent, including six players from Central Mass.

Freshmen Elle Murray of Worcester and Doherty and Chloe Kaeller of Uxbridge have made immediate impacts and rank among the team’s top scorers. Seniors Kathleen Smiley of Shrewsbury and Notre Dame Academy, Christina Leonard of Marlborough and Liz Zenevitch of Worcester and St. Peter-Marian, and sophomore Delaney Novick of Shrewsbury and Notre Dame Academy all have contributed to the Greyhounds’ recent success.

“We’re lucky in Central Mass. to have some really strong field hockey,” said Lahey, who starred in field hockey and softball at NDA.

Lahey said coaching at the high school level and the opportunity to play for elite club teams has helped grow field hockey, as well as exposure to the sport at a younger age. Lahey, her staff and players witness this through their volunteer work with Worcester Field Hockey, which teaches fundamentals to players in pre-K to eighth grade.

“That’s a huge part of developing the game,” said Lahey, who first played field hockey as a freshman in high school. “When you’re picking up a stick at age 6, some of these kids already have great stick-handling skills and an idea of what the game is supposed to look like.”

Lahey, a 2002 Holy Cross graduate, coached field hockey at Wachusett Regional for seven seasons.

Tuesday’s game against Adelphi started the second half of the Greyhounds’ season.

“This team has been really good at taking every game for what it is,” Lahey said. “We’re going quarter by quarter, just doing what we can in the moment, and preparing for a championship every single game. That will continue to be key for us going forward.”

McGuinness happy to be back playing, at Bentley

Former Wachusett Regional star field hockey goalkeeper Erin McGuinness missed her first season at Bentley due to a knee injury. McGuinness tore her ACL while skiing in spring 2021.

Following surgery and months of rehab and strength training, McGuinness made her long awaited return to action this season, on Labor Day weekend, at West Chester.

“It’s awesome to be back,” McGuinness, a Rutland resident, said. “It was a little nerve-wracking the first game back, but I was really confident in my knee and in myself that everything would come back. I was ready to be back out there and it was exciting.

“I’ve played field hockey my whole life, and I always knew I was going to play in college,” McGuinness said. “It was definitely hard sitting out the whole first year watching everyone else play, but I had such awesome support from all my teammates and coaches, so it wasn’t too challenging.”

McGuinness has played in five of Bentley’s 10 games, and last week earned her first collegiate win against St. Thomas Aquinas. During her 91 minutes, 37 seconds in net last week, she allowed one goal, to nationally ranked Assumption, in a 1-0 overtime loss.

As a junior at Wachusett in 2019, McGuinness posted a 0.60 goals against average. She was one of five captains to lead the Mountaineers through the challenging 2020 COVID season.

McGuinness is enjoying the whole experience at Bentley and this week declared her double major in economics and public policy.

Erin Duncan having Jumbo fun on field at Tufts

Helping Holy Name High capture the 2019 Central Mass. Division 3 championship is one of Erin Duncan’s favorite soccer memories.

Duncan, who grew up in Rutland, was a senior captain on that squad. It was the last year of the MIAA’s district tournament format, and the last year of Holy Name, which merged with St. Peter-Marian to become St. Paul Diocesan.

“It was kind of cool how it all came together,” said Duncan, a junior forward at Tufts. “It was great to come into college off that win.”

COVID canceled her freshman season at Tufts, but Duncan played in 10 games last year and scored her first collegiate goal against New England College.

This fall, in an expanded role, Duncan has four goals, tied for the team lead, and she has helped the Jumbos to a 7-2-1 record and a No. 18 ranking in the latest U.S. Soccer Coaches top-25 NCAA Division 3 poll.

“We were a little nervous coming into the season,” Duncan said. “We graduated 10 seniors from last year’s starting lineup, so it’s a completely new team from last year. We have all been clicking as a team. Defensively, we’re shutting down teams. On the attack, we’ve been able to finish a lot of the opportunities we’ve been getting.”

Elsi Aires of Westborough and Caroline Kelly of Southborough and Algonquin Regional are Tufts freshmen. Aires’ first career goal was the equalizer in the 67th minute of an exciting 1-1 draw with NESCAC rival Hamilton. Kelly had a goal and an assist in last weekend’s win at New England College.

Duncan, the salutatorian of her high school class, is majoring in community health and biology. She plans to go to physician’s assistant school. Last year, she earned NESCAC All-Academic team honors.

Head of the Class

• Fitchburg State junior field hockey goalkeeper Jenna Morse of Leominster totaled 25 saves and allowed one goal to lead the Falcons to two victories.

• Pace freshman field hockey midfielder Sydney Sims of Worcester and Notre Dame Academy scored her second straight winning goal in the Setters’ 1-0 victory over St. Thomas Aquinas. Sims ranks second on the team with eight points.

• Worcester State freshman James Riley of Shrewsbury set a PR at the James Earley Invitational with a time of 28:06.04 over the 8K course.

• Assumption freshman Daniel Paulsson assisted on the tying goal in the 67th minute and scored the winner in the 74th minute to lead the Greyhounds past St. Rose, 2-1.

—Contact Jennifer Toland at jennifer.toland@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @JenTolandTG.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Assumption field hockey adjusts to departures, remains on a roll