(2010) - In Patrice Mendoza's first two years, the UMass Lowell field hockey team posted consecutive records of 7-12. By her senior year, it was contending for the NCAA Championship.
Perhaps the best goalkeeper in UMass Lowell field hockey history, Mendoza was one of handful of athletes who were instrumental in elevating the program to national prominence, a standing which it has maintained to date.
"Patrice was one of the most focused athletes I have ever coached, whether she was in a repetitive drill or playing for a national championship," said UML Head Coach Shannon Hlebichuk. "She had one focus: keeping the ball out of the net. She played an integral part in the transformation of the field hockey program nine years ago."
After a 9-9 record and its first postseason bid in years, UMass Lowell peaked over the second half of the 2003 season and captured the first of five straight Northeast-10 Conference Tournament championships and advanced to the NCAA Championship match against 11-time titlist Bloomsburg University, despite falling 4-1.
Mendoza put forth her best numbers her junior and senior years. As a junior, she maintained a 1.21 goals against average with an .866 save rate and seven shutouts - very telling figures considering the River Hawks finished 9-9.
As a senior, she nursed a 1.12 GAA and an .832 save percentage with then a school-record nine shutouts as UMass Lowell went 15-7. She remains prominent in the record books, holding benchmarks for matches (77) and shutouts in a career (26).
"Patrice was extremely athletic and unconventional, especially when it came to her size (5 feet)," Hlebichuk noted. "But that is what made her outstanding. What she lacked in size, she made up with her passion and intensity. She was an inspirational leader while she was here as well."
Mendoza was also the recipient of many plaudits during her career. She was named a two-time All-American by the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA), earning first team honors as a senior and second team as a junior. She was also named the NE-10 Goalkeeper of the Year and first team member both years.
At UMass Lowell's 2003 Excellence Awards Banquet, she was named the recipient of the Lester H. Cushing Award for Female Athlete of the Year.
Saturday, Nov. 6, 2010 was declared Patrice Mendoza Day in Mendoza's hometown of Wilmington. She was honored in a brief ceremony at the WCTV studio and presented with a citation from Wilmington's Board of Selectmen and signed by Governor Deval Patrick.
Mendoza graduated in 2004 with a degree in health education.
