Head Coach Shannon LeBlanc and the UMass Lowell field hockey team are excited for the 2022 season to get underway, as they look to build upon their successes from last year with a large and talented squad. 

The 2022 campaign kicks off on the road on Friday, August 26 at No. 15 Connecticut at 1 p.m. The River Hawks then head home to Wicked Blue Field where they will host LIU for their home opener on Sunday, Aug. 28, also at 1 p.m.

The River Hawks continued their upward trajectory in 2021, finishing with a winning record for the second straight season. The squad went 9-7 overall on the year, matching a Division I program best for wins first set in 2017.

“What we’ve always tried to create here is a winning culture,” explained LeBlanc, who is entering her 21st season at the helm of the program. “So, the expectation every year is to win every game that we play. We want to go further in the conference than we have in the past, and I think this year we have the talent and the depth to be able to achieve that goal.”

LeBlanc feels that goalkeeping will be key to achieving that goal. Junior keeper Eleonore Boekhorst (Bilthoven, Netherlands) will be back in front of the cage for the River Hawks after turning in an outstanding sophomore campaign. With a Division I program record five shutouts last season, Boekhorst now tops UMass Lowell’s DI record list with nine career blank sheets. She finished 2021 ranked third in the country with an .823 save percentage, as well.

“I think you have to have a great goalkeeper, and we have Eleonore, a junior who has done a tremendous job for us over the past couple of years. I think when you build from the back forward, we get better with every line so-to-speak, so I think goalkeeping will be key for us.”

With 26 team members, this is the largest River Hawk roster to date during the Division I era. That list includes nine newcomers, split between seven freshmen and two graduate transfers.

“We are a little young, but so far, we’ve seen a lot of leadership and a lot of energy," added LeBlanc. "Even though we have nine new faces, it feels like they have been together for a long time. I feel as though we have an ‘old soul’ type of team. We’ve gelled these fresh faces with our experienced players, and they’ve worked together really well in preseason.”

The 2022 schedule features eight America East Conference contests and 10 non-conference matchups. The squad's non-conference opponents represent six different athletic conferences, including Harvard out of the Ivy League, who advanced all the way to the Final Four in 2021.

“When you create a schedule, you really want to make sure you put some high energy, highly competitive games along with some games that you know you’re going to come out and win in the first half. I think the development of the non-conference schedule is really important to our growth throughout the year and what we’re looking like when we get into conference play.”