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Nov. 9, 2009
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is a very special player. What he's accomplished at such an early age at the NFL level is truly remarkable. You often hear from coaches, players and analysts that players like Brady don't come around too often. While the town of Tewksbury is not Foxboro and does not have professional athletes, there is a very special athlete here that has proven that no matter what obstacles comes in her way - one torn knee or two torn knees, you can overcome those challenges no matter how many mountains you may have to climb. Brady knows all about torn knees, torn cartilage and torn ligaments. He knows all about surgeries, rehab and sitting on the couch not being able to compete, not being able to enjoy his teammates and not being able to toss a football around. And while Brady knows all about all of those things, so doesn't Sammy Macy. Since leaving Tewksbury Memorial High School in the spring of 2007 (six months after being named the Town Crier's Female Athlete of the Year), she has gone through two major knee surgeries, including the second one coming this past January. After months of rehab, she made it all the way back - not only to the field hockey field, and not only as a full-time player, but this past Friday night she was named the Northeast-10 Conference Player of the Year, after leading the conference in scoring and helping the UMass-Lowell team finish the regular season with a 15-4 record. "For someone who has torn her ACL twice and not only come back to play but do what she has done, I think speaks volumes about the work ethic Sammy has," said UML coach Shannon Hlebichuk. "You never know what to expect from an athlete coming back from an injury like that, nevermind twice. Sammy came back just four days before the pre-season began, and no one knew what to expect. But what she has accomplished this year after that injury, she definitely deserves that award." As a freshman, Macy finished the season with 8 goals and 7 assists, but in the team's final regular season game, she was hit in her left knee with the ball and went up in the air in pain, only to land awkwardly on her right knee, where she ended up tearing her ACL. She came back from that surgery very strong and had a terrific sophomore season where she was named to the NE-10 All-Conference Team, as well being named An All-American first team selection and to the Womensfieldhockey.com All-American first team. She led her team in points with 64, registering 28 goals and 8 assists. After that season was over, she found out that her same ACL in the same right knee was torn again and she needed surgery. She went under the knife in January, and then went back on the recovery trail, all the way until four days before this pre-season started. Then once the season started, Macy took off. She finished the season leading the league in scoring with 23 goals and 7 assists for 53 points. She now has 59 goals and 22 assists through three seasons. Imagining that on the operating table twice, could have never entered her mind. "(The second time) it took six months for recovery," she said. "I was very lucky because the second time I finished the recovery just four days before pre-season began. It was just a lot of hard work and determination. When something like that happens to you, you just have to keep telling yourself to work through it, that it'll all be worth it as long as you put the hard work in. I heard this quote from Dolly Parton and she said "If you want the rainbow, you must put up with the rain," meaning nothing is handed to you and you have to face challenges head on. That saying means a lot to me." The only thing that has been handed to Macy is a field hockey stick. From there, her competitive drive and a career in the sport she loves so much then took over. "I knew about Sammy when she was in the tenth grade," said Hlebichuk. "She played against some of my girls at the Bay State Games and she it took it to them at that time. Obviously that's very good to be able to do that as a tenth grader, so I kept her in the back of my mind. When she became a senior, I knew that she liked to be close to home and that she wanted to be loyal to the program she was going to, so I just let her make her decision. Her coach (Pat Ryser) called me and said that Sammy was interested in ULowell and asked if I was still interested in her playing for me, I said `yes' and that the spot has been waiting for her." Since putting on the River Hawks jersey, UMass Lowell has gone 53-13-0 since Macy joined the team back in 2007. That's no coincidence. "She is just a natural goal scorer," said Hlebichuk. "You hear that argument whether or not someone is born a goal scorer or if they have to become one, well Sammy was born to be a goal scorer. She has that uncanny way to get to the net, and her swing around the cage is just so noticeable. She's just a natural and you don't see players like her come around too often." Macy is the first to point out that she plays a position where her job is solely to score goals, therefore, if she doesn't get the ball, if she isn't set up, or if she doesn't crash the net, she's not fulfilling that requirement. She added that she's one of 11 players on the field, just trying to fulfill her assignment, and although the goals are nice, she knows she wouldn't be anywhere without that supporting ten players. "I definitely owe all of the success to my teammates and my coaches," she said. "If you stick me on other teams, I won't have the same stats. I have the stats today because my teammates are all very skilled and to be honest, you wouldn't be writing this article (on me) if it wasn't for my teammates. Katie Enaire is right up there with 20 goals and 6 assists. She's awesome - she is a first team All-American and she is just such a great all-around player. "Molly Clay is like a machine. She's very good - her stick is always perfect, she moves the ball up the field and she hardly ever makes a mistake. And Liz Day I think is someone who got looked over during the awards. She is the best center midfielder in the entire conference. She's so versatile and playing that position is very tough. She just sees the entire field so well." On Saturday afternoon, the River Hawks were upset in the semi-final round of the NE-10 Conference playoffs losing to Bentley College, 1-0. That loss really stung Macy and the entire team pretty hard. But the team hopes it can get redemption this weekend when the two teams clash again in a NCAA Division 2 opening round playoff game to be played in Waltham. "It's exciting because we definitely want to get them back," said Macy. "We just couldn't finish. We didn't execute on our corners, and we just couldn't put the ball in the net. We fought and fought but we just didn't get the job done. I know I'll take a lot of blame for it because I didn't do my job which is to put the ball in the net. But we definitely outplayed them. I can honestly say that there are better teams than us out there, but we are the better team (than Bentley)." In that loss to Bentley, Macy met up with a very familiar foe, former TMHS teammate Chrissy Lowe, who has had a tremendous career herself as a member of the Falcons. But this meeting the two got acquainted very fast."Yeah Chrissy was marking me (on defense)," said Macy. "It's frustrating whenever you have a player constantly on your back and I'm not saying that other team's defenders didn't do the same thing, but when it's the same person throughout the game it does get frustrating. Chrissy is a very good defender. She's a such a hard worker and someone who goes all out. I mean she took 15 stitches to her eye. "We played together for three years and now against each other for three years so I know how she plays and I know her techniques. She has improved so much - she's such a hard worker - she stays so low on everything - she's tough, she blocks well and she's an excellent defender who is tough to get around." That being said, Macy believes this time around UML will be able to get by Bentley and advance to the next round to face Stonehill. "We can definitely compete with any team out there," she said. "We have five losses and all five of them were great games whether it was Adelphi, or whoever, we can beat any team we play. Stonehill got us twice and I think they are the best team out there, but we can definitely play with any team." She may believe that UML can beat any team, but it was her team who was with her every step of the way, from her game winning goals, to her injuries and to be by her side when she was named the NE-10 Conference Player of the Year this past Friday night. "We were at the banquet and I can honestly say that I never expected to get it.," she said. "I never even thought about it. I can mention a whole bunch of other deserving players in the league. I'm only a junior - my teammates were saying stuff but I never thought about it. But once the (league directors) started to give out the award, they were describing me and that's when I realized it. It's definitely quite an honor - nothing was ever said about it before or anything like that. So I had no idea and really wasn't expecting anything like this." Certainly she never could have expected it, but Sammy Macy proved that she deserves this incredible honor. |
