Field Hockey

By Dom Nicastro, Amesbury News


Amesbury, Mass. - Coach Shannon Hlebichuk knew she could count on Amesbury’s Katie Enaire for some scoring this season for the UMass/Lowell collegiate field hockey team.

And why not?

Enaire, now a junior, finished third in scoring last year; she had 31 points (14 goals, 3 assists) off the bench. She had two game-winning goals. Her rookie season, Enaire was named Northeast-10 Freshman of the Year in 2007, and was honored as an NE-10 Second Team All-Star. She was also chosen ECAC’s Rookie of the Year, and an ECAC all-star. She was second on the team with 25 points, 12 goals and an assist.

But this?

Hlebichuk could never have predicted a scoring output like this from her entire team, much less one player.

Enaire pulled off the unimaginable, scoring four goals in the first 7:19 of a match against St. Anselm in Lowell Sept. 19, and tied the school record for points in a game with nine.

Officials with the field hockey program are calling it “one of the greatest individual efforts in program history.”

“Katie had a breakout game for us versus St. Anselm,” Hlebichuk said. “I’m not sure if we have ever scored four goals in seven minutes, never mind by the same person. She was a sniper [on Sept. 19]. She finished every ball that came near her.”

For her efforts, Enaire was named UMass/Lowell’s Lowell Five Savings Bank Athlete of the Week Sept. 22. In victories at St. Michael’s (2-0) Sept. 16, and at home against St. Anselm (9-1), Enaire compiled four goals and two assists (10 points).

UMass/Lowell is currently 9-1 overall (2-0 in the Northeast-10 Conference), and is ranked No. 5 in the latest National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division 2 poll.

Enaire also had an assist against St. Anselm. UMass/Lowell’s top career scorer, Sara Hohenberger, was the last River Hawk to tally nine points in a single game (Oct. 29, 2005 vs. Southern Connecticut).

Enaire scored first at 1:54 into the game off a penalty corner. Just 23 seconds later, she scored again from the center of the circle. Rockport’s Molly Clay set up her third strike, from a similar spot in the middle of the circle at 5:02 into the contest.

Enaire’s final goal came just more than two minutes later, when she grabbed her own rebound in the eighth minute, and found a hole on the right side of the cage, for her eighth goal of the year.

A nursing major and daughter of Bill and Anne Enaire of Amesbury, Enaire already had a multiple goal game this season; she scored two goals in the first half to lift the River Hawks to a 5-0 victory over Southern Connecticut State University at Cushing Field in Lowell Sept. 8.

“She was due for a game like this,” Hlebichuk said, “and we hope that she gained some confidence from her performance, and that she continues to be a dominant presence around the net as our season continues.”