University of Massachusetts Lowell
Stanford
River Hawks Excited for Mix of Strong Leadership and New Talent Heading into 2026
8/27/2026 11:45:00 AM | Field Hockey
With a youthful roster, a strong senior leadership group and a challenging schedule ahead, the UMass Lowell field hockey team is ready to turn a promising preseason into another competitive campaign in 2026. The action begins on Friday, August 28, as the River Hawks visit Stanford for a 7 p.m. ET matchup.
Entering her 25th season, Head Coach Shannon LeBlanc is especially excited about what she has seen from her team throughout the preseason.
“For my 25th year, I got those butterflies of excitement,” said LeBlanc. “I love when a new team comes together in August. There is just so much positive energy spinning in this team, a lot of youthful energy, but my senior class has provided such tremendous leadership through the spring and now even through preseason. This team is open to feedback and applying it and came in prepared physically and mentally. It’s been awesome”
The River Hawks return from an 8-10 campaign in 2025 that included a 3-2 mark in America East play and a home playoff game. Ahead of the 2026 season, UMass Lowell has been picked third in the America East Preseason Coaches’ Poll.
“We're going with that mentality of one game at a time,” LeBlanc explained. “We really want to make sure early in the season that we are focusing on us, our structure, our skill and our IPR, which is our instant positive response. I think it's really going to be building blocks over the course of the next few weeks and then really looking forward to making a statement in conference play.”
KEYS TO SUCCESS
In order to be successful this season, LeBlanc believes that, first and foremost, the team needs to be connected.
“Because we have so many young players in their first and second years, we really need to make sure we get that connection built on and off the field. I think when everyone starts feeling comfortable with each other, really positive things happen on the field like goal scoring. We’ve got to key in our goal scoring. We've got to score some goals. It's a focus point for us at practice, and we want to build on that through the season.”
LEADERSHIP AT THE CORE
The River Hawks will lean heavily on a four-player senior class that includes midfielders Christina Wagner (Cicero, N.Y.), Florine Gerrits (Amstelveen, Netherlands) and Alice Van Hemelen (Tervuren, Belgium), and forward Karli Penrod (Seaford, Del.).
All four played significant roles for UMass Lowell in 2025. Van Hemelen is the team’s top returning point scorer, after registering five goals and four assists for 14 points last year. Penrod also tallied five goals in 2025, while Gerrits contributed nine points and Wagner added five.
LeBlanc has been especially pleased with the way the group has embraced its leadership responsibilities.
“They really set the standard this summer and held their teammates accountable,” commented the veteran coach. “They're really strong, they're four of our best players so it's been awesome to watch them lead these underclassmen starting last spring and through the summer. It's really made a huge impact early on in preseason for us.”
STRONG FOUNDATION IN THE CAGE
The River Hawks return both of their goalkeepers from a season ago, giving the team valuable continuity in the cage.
Sophomore Veerle Mous (Breda, Netherlands) started all 18 games in 2025, while classmate Megan MacMiller (Tarzana, Calif.) also saw action in five games. The pair that combined for a .679 save percentage gives UMass Lowell an experienced training environment that LeBlanc believes can pay dividends later in the season.
“We have two great goalkeepers in Veerle and Megan,” LeBlanc added. “I do think that will pay off later in postseason when we're used to having to score against really good goalkeeping in practice. It's going to help us in our game in postseason play.”
YOUTHFUL BACKFIELD
Having graduated two veteran starters in the backfield, this year’s lineup will feature a mix of younger defensive specialists. Sophomore Rena Pistilli returns after an America East All-Rookie Team performance in her first season that included 14 points and two defensive saves. She will be joined in the backfield by fellow returning classmate Brynn Somers (Berlin, N.J.), who appeared in 13 games for the River Hawks last season and sophomore Frédèrique van den Dungen (Rosmalen, Netherlands), who was a member of the Syracuse squad as a freshman.
“Our sophomores came back ready to play and that says a lot about their buy-in to what we did for one year,” LeBlanc stated. “So I'm really excited about our sophomore class and how they came back. I think defensively we're still a little inexperienced in the backfield, but we’re really happy with what we're seeing right now.”
NEWCOMERS READY TO GROW
UMass Lowell welcomes six first-year players to the 2026 roster in Sophia Setouhi, Ella Sluder, Shaye Lastella, Kendal Leeland, Sophie Han and Mae Kemps.
“We really are a team that develops players, so I think our freshmen will be doing a lot of learning this year,” LeBlanc said. “I think the freshmen are really going to learn a lot in one year and develop, but they definitely came in with a solid base, so I think they're going to make big leaps early on.”
A CHALLENGING SCHEDULE AHEAD
The River Hawks will face a demanding non-conference slate, beginning the season with four straight road games, including matches at Stanford (Aug. 28) and UC Davis (Aug. 30) during opening weekend. UMass Lowell will then visit a pair of ranked opponents in No. 4 Harvard (Sept. 4) and No. 15 Massachusetts (Sept. 6) before heading home to host New Haven on September 11. The early portion of the schedule also includes a trip to No. 9 Syracuse on Sept. 18.
LeBlanc believes the schedule provides the right mix of challenges and opportunities to prepare the River Hawks for conference competition.
“I think we have a balanced schedule,” she said. “We made sure we built in some games that are winnable and we built in some games that are reach games. We're going to challenge ourselves a little bit early on because I think that will be most important for our conference preparation.”
After the early non-conference tests, UMass Lowell will turn its attention to America East play, with conference matchups against Bryant, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and UAlbany on the 2026 schedule.
2026 UMass Lowell Field Hockey Schedule
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ONE BUILDING BLOCK AT A TIME
As the River Hawks work through the opening weeks of the season, the emphasis will remain on establishing the fundamentals that LeBlanc believes will allow the team to reach its full potential.
“I think we need to focus on really doing the basics well," she concluded. "I think it's passing, receiving, understanding our structure and having a high intensity in our gameplay. We'll build all that over the course of September, so once October comes, we're going to be in a really good place."
Entering the season with a blend of senior leadership, promising young talent and plenty of opportunities for player development, the goal is simple: establish the details early, continue to grow and be ready when the biggest games arrive.
