The St. Thomas Aquinas College Women's Field Hockey team returns to the field for the 2019 season with a mostly young squad, but one that is determined to make a name for itself, as they transition to a new conference, while still playing against some very familiar opponents.
Starting with the 2019 season, St. Thomas Aquinas College, Mercy College and Molloy College (the only East Coast Conference Schools that sponsor Field Hockey) will call the Northeast-10 Conference home for its league schedule. This will give the opportunity for the Spartans, Mavericks and Lions to potentially compete in postseason play with a chance at advancing to the NCAA Division II Championships.
As for the make up of this year's Spartan Squad; Head Coach Genesis Pacheco sees 14 players return for the new campaign, including Arielle Rodriguez (Jr./Valley Cottage, NY), Briannah Thorne (Sr./Napier New Zealand), Lauren Cooper (So./Wakefield, England), Kerry Conlon (Sr./South Huntington, NY), Jade Hall (Jr.Ewing, NJ), Meghan McCarren (Jr./Sloatsburg, NY), Meaghan Burke (Sr./Latham, NY), Kaylee Pistner (Jr./Amherst, NY), Lotte Strijbos (So./Tilburg, Netherlands), Kaitlyn Gutenberger (Sr./Stony Point, NY), Caroline McGowan (Jr./Pearl River, NY), Taylor Hickey (Sr./Nassau, NY), Suzanne Clarke (Jr./East Schodack, NY) and Jessie Hohenstein (So./Stroudsburg, PA).
Coach Pacheco adds two a very talented players in Brittany Lionarons (Defense) and Lisa Larson (Midfield) to the STAC lineup. Lionarons, comes to Sparkill from the Netherlands and will major in Social Sciences. Larson, who hails from California and holds duel citizenship in both the United States and Sweden, will study Criminal Justice.
In addition, a very familar face will now roam the STAC sideline, only this time as an Assistant Coach. Elizabeth Cazzari joins Head Coach Pacheco and Assistant Coach Brianna Jones (also a former Spartan Field Hockey Athlete 2015-2018) on the coaching staff this season. Cazzari a top defender for the maroon and gold (2015-2019), had a very successful on-field career with St. Thomas Aquinas College in both field hockey and lacrosse.
The Spartans will open their 2019 season on the road at Frostburg State University in Maryland on September 5th. St. Thomas Aquinas will open the home portion of their schedule at Spartan Field on September 17th, as they host NE-10 opponent Adelphi University.