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After nine years as head coach at UMass Lowell, Shannon Hlebichuk has little left to accomplish: NCAA Championships in 2005 and 2010; Six Northeast-10 Conference Tournament titles (2003-07; 2010); and eight consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament, six of which in the championship game.
With a sterling record of 162-42 (.794), awards have been plentiful in Hlebichuk's nine seasons for her and her players. She was named the Division II Coach of the Year by the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) in 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2010; the NE-10 Coach of the Year in seven of her nine seasons at the helm; and NFHCA Division II North Coach of the Year five times.
She has also guided her players to NE-10 All-Conference honors 47 times and All-American status 35 times - including six in the 2010 season.
UMass Lowell is coming off a perfect 24-0 year in 2010, which saw it capture the Conference regular season and tournament titles as well as the NCAA Championship, the River Hawks' second title in six years.
Eight of Hlebichuk's players were named to the NE-10 All-Conference teams while six were honored as All-Americans. Senior Liz Day was named NE-10 Player of the Year, NE-10 Tournament Most Outstanding Player, and to the NCAA All-Tournament Team, while senior Sammy Macy earned the prestigious Honda Award for Division II Female Student-Athlete of the Year.
Named head coach in December of 2001, Hlebichuk led the River Hawks to a 9-9 clip in 2002 and to the NE-10 Tournament - its first-ever postseason bid. Just one year later, UMass Lowell went 15-8, captured the NE-10 Tournament and advanced to the NCAA title match where it fell to Bloomsburg University (4-1).
The 2003 NCAA championship game was the first of six championship game appearances in eight years, coupled with semifinal showings in 2004 and 2006. On the eve of the 2003 NE-10 Tournament championship, Hlebichuk became the third field hockey player inducted into the University's Athletic Hall of Fame.
Outside of coaching, Hlebichuk served on the NFHCA Hall of Fame Committee from 2008-10 and was formerly Northeast Region chair of the NCAA Division II Field Hockey Committee and the NFHCA Division II All-American Committee. She also served two years on the NFHCA North-South All-Star Game Committee and was named head coach of the North Region squad in 2004 and 2005.
During the summer, Hlebichuk is the director of the Northeast Field Hockey Camp at The Governor's Academy in Newbury, MA, which trains more than 150 players.
Over the span of her career (1994-98), Hlebichuk amassed 33 goals and 29 assists (formerly a school record), pitting her eighth on UML's all-time scoring list. She was an integral player in helping the River Hawks to a 15-4 record in 1997, up from a 5-15 clip the year prior.
A two-year captain, Hlebichuk was twice named to the NFHCA All-America team and was named the 1997-98 NCAA Woman of the Year for the state of Massachusetts.
Hlebichuk's field hockey prowess carried over to the classroom as she earned a spot on the NFHCA National Academic Squad three times. She was also named a GTE Academic All-American and was co-chair of UML's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
Upon graduation in 1998, Hlebichuk earned her master's degree in higher education at Arizona State in 2000.
Hlebichuk and her husband Korey reside in Nashua, NH, with their daughter Liv (8).
