Northern Ireland field hockey club from Ulster enjoys Worcester State as tour's home base

WORCESTER — Katie Craig made multiple visits to the Worcester State University bookstore this week, and the Lancers ski cap and blue and gold hoodie the third-year student at Ulster University purchased are precious mementos of a most memorable week for Craig and her Ulster University Elks women’s field hockey club teammates.

Worcester State is hosting the Elks during their 10-day New England tour, which includes a series of matches against Division 1 area colleges, as well as Worcester State, cultural excursions, new friendships and a lot of fun.

“It’s been amazing,” said Craig, who is visiting the United States for the first time. “The facilities, everything over here is fantastic. The games are so exciting. Field hockey is so big over here. It’s great for us to get that opportunity. I’ve loved every second of it.”

The Elks were originally supposed to visit in the summer of 2020, but pandemic restrictions delayed the trip to this year.

“Our relationship (with Ulster University) started as an academic exchange in 2017 with our STEM faculty. This visit solidified another avenue of our emerging relationship,” said Worcester State president Barry Maloney, whose daughter, Carden, earned her master’s degree from Ulster University. “We are honored to welcome this cultural exchange through intercollegiate women’s field hockey to our campus and hope it is the first of many teams from Ulster University that will visit us.”

Ulster University has 27,000 students across four campuses, in Belfast, Coleraine, Jordanstown and Magee.

Nigel Dobson, Ulster’s director of sport, manages the university’s facilities and 70 sports, which, in addition to field hockey, include surfing, golf, soccer and martial arts. Elks women’s field hockey competes in the Ulster Premier League.

“It is wonderful to see the world open again to our students and players,” Dobson said. “We kept the communication going, and Worcester State has been a fabulous central point to stay. It’s been wonderful.”

Ulster has a traveling party of 36, including 22 players, which is staying in WSU dorms and eating in the Sheehan Dining Hall, and thoroughly enjoying the campus.

“We have worked collaboratively with the Ulster administration over the past three years in order to provide their organization an experience which we feel will be very rewarding to the group both on and off the field,” Worcester State director of athletics Michael Mudd said. “It is satisfying to see the planning finally come to fruition. We are so excited to finally welcome our good friends from the Ulster field hockey club to Worcester.”

The Elks have practiced on Coughlin Field and held a youth clinic there Sunday, and about 66 local kids, ranging in age from 6-17, attended.

“The kids seemed to love it,” Elks coach Joel Cathcart said. “It was a really good day to give back to the community and for them to see what we do in our culture.”

The Elks played games at Harvard, UConn, Boston University, and, on Tuesday, Worcester State. They wrap up their slate Thursday at Brown before returning home Friday.

“We like seeing them around, and they seem to be enjoying it as much as we do,” Lancers coach Hayley Sutherland said. “Their style and their level is pretty high, and when you play high-level players, you get better. It’s a nice opportunity for us to be able to do that.”

After three straight draws, the Elks defeated Worcester State, 3-0, in Tuesday’s friendly. The Lancers, perennial Little East Conference contenders, are coming off a 15-6 season and open 2022 on Sept. 1.

“It’s great we get to scrimmage before our first game,” Worcester State senior midfielder Carly Duff of Warren said, “play with them and learn from them. I think it’s awesome. Not a lot of Division 3 schools get this opportunity.”

The Worcester State and Ulster teams got together for dinner after the match.

The Elks are hoping to invite the Lancers to visit them next summer.

“Hopefully we can see them up there and experience their country like they experienced ours,” Sutherland said.

The Elks open their 38-game season Sept. 17.

“(The New England games) have been a really good challenge for us,” Cathcart said. “It’s fantastic to play these Division 1 teams you hear about, and they’re on ESPN. Even though we are quite high in our league in Ireland, we don’t get the coverage these guys get. (The games here) are helping us develop how we want to play for the season head.

"We’re getting the contact time we normally wouldn’t have at home in the summer with team lunches and team dinners and girls socializing together," Cathcart added. "We’re getting on the same page for the season ahead, and we want to make sure we’re pushing and moving forward in the right direction.”

Outside of field hockey, the Elks have enjoyed touring Harvard Square, shopping (“A lot of shopping,” Cathcart said) at the Wrentham Village Premium Outlets, and more shopping in the bookstore of each university they have visited.

On Thursday, the team was sightseeing in Boston before attending the Red Sox game at Fenway Park at night.

Last Saturday, the Elks celebrated their team manager’s birthday at Joey’s Bar & Grill on Chandler Street, and they have returned there.

“Joey’s is our favorite restaurant,” Dobson said. “We like Joey’s, and they like us.”

The team was impressed with its drive past Polar Park.

Worcester State senior midfielder Molly Cutting of Auburn hopes the Elks embraced Worcester State’s tight-knit community.

They did.

“Everyone on campus was amazing,” Cathcart said. “Everything we needed, they pointed us in the right direction. Barry Maloney, Mike Mudd, the whole team is really fantastic. We would love to come back here every few years and strengthen the partnerships. It was such a journey to get here, and it’s been fabulous. We keep getting more people a taste of American life and what Worcester is like and keep building the connections.”

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

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Northern Ireland field hockey club from Ulster enjoys Worcester State as New England tour's home base