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Daniel Webster Names Connolly First Head Coach
(Nashua, NH) – Caitlin Connolly has been appointed the first
Head Coach of Field Hockey and Women's Lacrosse at Daniel Webster College.
Her appointment was announced by Phil Rowe, Assistant Vice President of
Student Affairs for Athletics.
"We are very excited to have Caitlin join the DWC family," said Rowe. "She
brings a wealth of experience and understanding of what it takes not only to
start a program from scratch, but to build it into an annual competitor. Her
background as a very successful multi-sport student athlete as well as her
outstanding contributions at Bryant University excited our search committee.
We are confident her drive for excellence, her passion for field hockey and
lacrosse and her outstanding work habits will bring quality student-athletes
to our campus."
A native of Manchester, N.H., Connolly was a standout in field hockey and
basketball at Central High School. She moved on to Regis College in Weston,
Mass. where she earned degrees in Communications and English, graduating in
2005. She spent the past two seasons as Assistant Field Hockey Coach and one
season as Women's Lacrosse Assistant Coach at Bryant University in
Smithfield, R.I.
"This is an exciting time for the Daniel Webster community with the adding
of field hockey and lacrosse and I feel privileged to be the first head
coach of both sports," said Connolly. "I am grateful for the opportunity to
not only coach both, but also to establish and build each program towards
success. As a former student-athlete at Division III, I am enthusiastic
about being back as a head coach to teach, instruct, and mentor young women
to reach their potential on and off the field."
Connolly put together a memorable field hockey career at Regis. She was a
four-time Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) First Team selection at
midfield, including earning Rookie of the Year honors in 2001. She went on
to earn National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) regional All
American honors in 2004 and was a three-time NFHCA Academic All American
(2002-04).
Connolly, who retired as the Pride's all time career leader in goals (29),
assists (16) and points (74) also owns program records for points (26) and
goals (10) in a season (2004). She was part of a program that ended six
straight losing seasons with solid 9-9 and 10-10 campaigns in 2003 and 2004,
which also included berths in the CCC post season tournament.
During her two years at Bryant, Connolly was part of a field hockey program
that posted a remarkable turnaround in 2006 with an 11-10 mark including a
9-7 record in Northeast-10 (Division II) Conference play and a berth in the
conference tournament, after the Bulldogs posted a 5-12 mark in 2005. The
lacrosse team posted a record of 11-2 (8-2 NE-10) in 2006, qualifying for
the NE-10 Final Four.
The addition of the new programs, announced this past December 18th, has
brought the total varsity sports offerings at DWC to 12. The College also
sponsors men's cross country, women's cross country, men's soccer, women's
soccer, women's volleyball, men's basketball, women's basketball, baseball,
softball, men's lacrosse and men's ice hockey as a non-NCAA affiliated
program in the ACHA. The new programs are the first at Daniel Webster since
men's lacrosse was added in 1998.
A timetable has been set to establish club programs beginning next year in
order to create a student-athlete base. The field hockey program will play a
limited non-varsity schedule in Fall 2007 and begin varsity play in 2008.
The women's lacrosse program will play a non-varsity season in Spring 2008
and field its first varsity team in Spring 2009. Both programs will then
play as NCAA independents in 2008-2009 with a plan to join an affiliated
conference the following year. |
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