Dec. 10, 2009

In eight seasons as UMass Lowell field hockey coach, Shannon Hlebichuk has guided the River Hawks to five straight Northeast-10 Conference Tournament championships, seven consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament semifinal and the 2005 NCAA Championship. She is 138-42 (.767).

She ought to send a “thank you” card to Rockport.

First, Rockport’s Michelle Harrington helped the team win a national title as a freshman, then blossomed into a nationally recognized college field hockey player; last spring, she was named the female recipient of the Lester H. Cushing Award Athlete of the Year to end her career.

But coach Hlebichuk still had one more Rockporter in the tank.

And that was Molly Clay, a senior left midfielder who this year helped the River Hawks land a third straight trip to the national title game only to lose to the same team for third time, Bloomsburg of Pennsylvania, 3-2.

Clay was named the Northeast-10 All-Conference Second Team, the Northeast-10 All-Tournament team and started all 24 games for the River Hawks. She had five goals and added three assists for 13 points.

“Molly is the best left midfielder our program has seen,” Hlebichuk said. “It’s very difficult to play on the left side. I can’t say enough about Molly Clay.”

Clay also has pretty good skills in the classroom; she’s a three-time National Field Hockey Coaches Association Division 2 National Academic Squad selection so far. The chemical engineering major is also an ambassador for the team in its school and league; she is ULowell’s representative for each.

“Molly was fantastic,” Hlebichuk said. “She’s so smart on the field and is one of our strongest players pound for pound. She’s done the work in the weight room. And in the classroom, she is amazing. I think that really helps on field. She’s balanced engineering with playing and has an amazing GPA. She balances life so well and is so good in everything she does. And she does it all with a smile on her face. She’s one of those kids who don’t come around too often.”

In the last five years for UMass Lowell, those kinds of kids did come around, and a few were from Rockport. Clay never quite felt the thrill of a national-championship victory as her former Rockport teammate, Harrington, did, but she came awfully close this season.

If there were ever a year to beat Bloomsburg, it was this one, Hlebichuk said. She knew they played their best game yet, and that was confirmed by Bloomsburg coach Jan Hutchinson, who retired after 32 seasons.

“It was definitely a surreal experience being that close to a national championship again,” said Clay, who is off to graduate school next year to pursue a Master’s in chemical engineering. “We played our game and put everything on the line, and we ended up on the wrong end again. It was a big heartbreaker. It was another successful season. We had our ups and downs, but we played very well the last couple of weeks to make it back to that national championship game that we worked hard for all year. We have been very successful for the last four years and I have had a chance to play in three national championships. I would say that’s good career.”