PREVIEW: Field Hockey Ready for Learning Process In The GNAC

Regis Athletics Fall Previews

Men's Cross Country: Pride Looks To Youth Movement For Success in 2017
Women's Cross Country: Expectations High for Experienced Women's Cross Country
Men's Soccer: Veteran Group Leads Men's Soccer Into New Era
Women's Volleyball: Turiano, Veterans Look to Build New Tradition
Women's Soccer: Women's Soccer Looking To Build On 2016 Success

WESTON, Mass. - The Regis (Mass.) field hockey team will open its 2017 season on Sept. 1, and head coach Nikki Panciocco knows this season will be a little different than those in the recent past.

“It’s going to be a learning process for everybody,” said Panciocco. “We’ll need to make sure we are competing at the level we need to be competing at.”

The Pride won a program record 12 games in 2016 to go along with its third New England Collegiate Conference title, but will be competing in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC).

“We are excited to be moving into the GNAC,” said Panciocco. “We’re looking forward to competing against very competitive schools in the Northeast. Eventually, down the road, we want to win a conference championship with an automatic bid to the NCAA (Tournament).” Despite winning the NECC title last season, the league did not own an NCAA automatic qualifier which will be availble in the GNAC.

Regis went 1-2 against GNAC competition a year ago, highlighted by a 3-2 victory over Anna Maria on Sept. 27. The same AMCats will serve as the Pride’s first GNAC opponent, as Regis travels to Paxton, Mass. on Sept. 9.

Panciocco anticipates a strong year from her talented junior class, led by midfielder Aineen Callahan (Diamond Point, N.Y.). Callahan set a Regis program record with 13 goals in 2016, and currently is tied for fifth all-time with 20 career goals. Her strong performance a year ago landed her on the First Team All-NECC for the second consecutive season. Classmate Mackenzie Cattaruzza (Guilford, Conn.) will look to build on a strong 2016 campaign that saw her tally six goals, including five game-winners. Despite being overshadowed by a thrilling late goal in the NECC Championship game, Cattaruzza’s overtime tally against Becker in the NECC semifinals was one of the signature moments in Regis Athletics last fall.

Senior goalkeeper Maresa Malcolm (Barrington, N.J.) and juniors Yvonne Abate (Easton, Mass.) and Alycia LeConche (Simsbury, Conn.) will serve as the Pride’s captains in 2017. Malcolm enters her second year captaining the Pride, leading a senior class that Panciocco praises for its leadership. As a junior, Malcolm was named the NECC Goalkeeper of the Year and was named First Team All-Conference for the first time. Abate has started every game for the Pride in her first two seasons with the team and was named NECC Tournament Most Valuable Player with a goal in the title game. LeConche has made 35 starts in her first two seasons and was named to the NECC All-Sportsmanship team as a freshman.

The Pride’s roster will feature seven new faces this fall that will push the returning players and compete for starting spots. Sophomores Madi McLellan (Fremont, N.H.) and Mary Costantino (Abington, Mass.) will be joining the Pride field hockey squad, coming aboard from the Regis softball and swimming & diving teams respectively. “They’ll add great competitiveness to the team,” said Panciocco. “They already know what it’s like to be a student-athlete.”

Five freshman enter the program and will look to have an immediate impact. The freshman class includes position players Emily Garfield (East Bridgewater, Mass.), Helen Jones (Newburyport, Mass.), Jamie Juskiewicz (Gorham, Maine) and Joslyn O’Brien (Petersham, Mass.), as well as goalkeeper Hope Winkin (Winslow, Maine).

The Pride will open its 2017 season on Friday, Sept. 1 when they welcome the Colonials of Western Connecticut State University to Regis Stadium, and Panciocco is calling the contest a benchmark game for her squad. “(Western Connecticut) is a team that we’ve never played before,” she said. “They come from a great conference (Little East Conference) and it will be a good game for us to evaluate where we are before going into conference play.”

Other non-conference opponents for the Pride include Wheaton College, Framingham State University, New England College and former NECC foes Bay Path University and Becker College.

The Pride will face the the GNAC’s defending champion, Saint Joseph’s (Me.), on the road on Friday, Sept. 15. The Monks are the Pride’s lone opponent who reached the NCAA Tournament a year ago, where they defeated Montclair State 1-0 in the first round before falling to Skidmore to end their season. The Pride will wrap up its regular season on Saturday, Oct. 21 with a Senior Day game vs. Mount Ida.

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