Head coach of the 2012 NCAA Division III Field Hockey Champions at Tufts, Tina Mattera has directed the Jumbos to nine NCAA appearances and five "Final Fours" during an outstanding coaching career.
The 2012 national championship - a 2-1 victory against Montclair State - was the first NCAA title won by a women's team at Tufts. Mattera was voted National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) National Coach of the Year that season. That squad has been selected for induction into the Tufts Athletics Hall of Fame.
Now in her 18th year, Coach Mattera has built Tufts Field Hockey into one of the elite programs in the country. The 2019 season saw the Jumbos finish with a 15-5 record, play in the NESCAC championship game and advance to the NCAA Tournament "Elite Eight." Tufts' final ranking of #4 in the NFHCA poll marked the 11th time in the last 12 seasons that the Jumbos finished among the top 15 teams in the nation.
Four of Mattera's Tufts teams have played in the NCAA Championship Game (2018, 2016, 2012, 2008). She directed the 2018 Jumbos to a 19-3 record that included NCAA and conference runner-up finishes. In 2016 she led Tufts to its second New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) championship and into the NCAA Championship Game. She was selected as the NFHCA's Regional Coach of the Year that season. Tufts won its first-ever NESCAC championship under her guidance in 2009 when the team also advanced to the NCAA semifinals. In the program's first NCAA final appearance in 2008, Tufts lost to rival Bowdoin 3-2 in double overtime.
Entering the 2020 season, which was canceled due to COVID, Mattera ranked fifth on the NCAA Division III all-time winningest coaches list with a .774 percentage. She became the Jumbo program's all-time leader in coaching victories in 2015 and currently has a 226-66 overall mark. Her 226 wins are 20th in Division III's active coaches ranking.
Tufts has a 184-43 overall record and 97-21 mark in the conference since the 2008 season. In 2008, Tufts had the best winning percentage in the NCAA's Division III with their 19-2 record (.905). Following that with an 18-2 mark in 2009, the Jumbos went 19-2 again in 2012. They tied the school record for wins in a season with a 19-3 mark in 2016 and again with the 2018 season's 19-3 finish.
Six players recruited to Tufts by Coach Mattera have earned NFHCA First Team All-America honors in recent seasons. Marguerite Salamone was honored in 2019, following Issy Del Priore who received the accolade in back-to-back seasons (2017-18). Emily Cannon (2012-13), Tamara Brown (2009-10) and Margi Scholtes (2008-09) are also Jumbos who were first team All-Americans in consecutive years. Taylor Dyer was honored in 2010. Brown was named NESCAC Player of the Year for both 2009 and 2010. She finished her career as Tufts' all-time leading scorer with 78 goals and 26 assists. In April 2019, Brown was inducted into the Tufts Athletics Hall of Fame. Salamone and Del Priore earned NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year awards in 2019 and 2017, respectively. Dyer was selected as NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year in 2011 and Scholtes won the award in 2009.
Mattera's Jumbos achieve academically and in the community as well. Fourteen members of the 2019 squad earned Division III National Academic Squad honors from the NFHCA for carrying grade point averages of 3.30 or higher. The Jumbos earned a National Academic Team Award as well, which recognized programs that achieved a team grade-point average of 3.0 or higher during the fall semester of the 2019-20 school year. Former Jumbo Annie Artz received 2017 Academic All-America honors, while the 2019 squad produced six Academic All-NESCAC recipients (3.50 GPA or better). Tufts Field Hockey annually hosts a Girls in Sports day for Big Sisters of Masschusetts Bay. They held a clinic for adult Special Olympians in Athens, Greece during their international trip there in June 2019.
NESCAC's Coach of the Year twice, Mattera was hired as the sixth coach of Tufts Field Hockey in June 2004. A 2000 Boston University graduate, she was a four-year standout and captain of the 1999 team. She led the Terriers to an undefeated America East Conference season and championship that year.
An assistant coach at Holy Cross prior to Tufts, Mattera won two Massachusetts state championships while playing for the Walpole High School team in 1994 and 1995. She was a member of USA Field Hockey's national indoor team from 2003-10 and won a silver medal at the Pan Am Games in 2005. She was recently selected by USA Field Hockey to the 2022 Masters Indoor World Cup Over 40 Team.
Coach Mattera and her husband Chuck have two daughters - Lucy and Maddie - and live in Wakefield.
On the sideline for Tufts as an assistant coach since 2009, Troy Zirbel has been a part of the team's great success during the past nine seasons.
Among the Jumbo teams he has assisted include the 2012 NCAA Division III Champions, the 2016 New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Champions and NCAA finalists, and the 2009 conference champions and NCAA semi-finalists.
Zirbel hails from Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Annie Lahey enters her ninth season as the Assumption College field hockey head coach in 2019.
In 2018, Lahey led the Hounds to a 12-8 overall record and a 7-6 Conference record. The Hounds upset multiple ranked teams throughout the season and were ranked seventh, eighth and tenth themselves throughout the season. Assumption reached the NE10 tournament, for the fifth straight year, and upset top seeded Pace in the first round to make it to the semi-finals. Kolby Burger was named NE10 Defensive Player of the Week and National Defensive Player of the Week in the same week while both Burger and Gina Burton were selected for the Senior All-Star Game. Deirdre Burchill was named NE10 Player of the Week while Burger, Burchill, Lucy Malia, Sam Tepper and Sarah Bodzinski all earned All-Conference honors. Bodzinski also was named to the NE10 Academic All-Conference team for the 2018 season.
In her seventh season Lahey led the Hounds to a 12-9 overall record and a 7-5 NE10 Conference record. The Hounds had an outstanding year in 2017 as they upset No. 2 Stonehill in the NE10 Tournament to make it to the NE10 Championship. Senior Allison Sheahan received multiple All-American Honors along with NE10 Conference recognition. Freshman Izzy Primack and Shannon Quinlan were also named to the NE10 All-Rookie Team. Deirdre Burchill was named NE10 Rookie of the Week and also National Rookie of the Week.
In 2016, the team finished with a 10-8 overall record and a 7-5 NE10 conference record. For the third consecutive season the team made the NE10 Tournament. Three Hounds earned postseason accolades from the NE10, and two Hounds were named to the DII All-America Teams. The team also earned NFHCA All Academic Honors and placed 12 players on the NFHCA All-Academic team.
In the 2015 season, the team finished with a 14-6 record, good for second place in the Northeast-10 Conference. The team made the Northeast-10 Tournament for the second consecutive year. Five Hounds were named to All-Conference teams, three were placed on All-American teams, and one was placed on the National Rookie Team. Senior Kiley Colucci was named to the Northeast-10 First team All-Conference, was selected for the 2015 NFHCA Division II senior game, and also earned NFHCA Division II All-American honors.
In 2014, the Hounds posted a 12-7 record and advanced to the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament for the first time over a decade. Ranked No. 9 in the final National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division II National Poll, the team earned the No. 5 seed in the league tournament and was regionally ranked for much of the season.
Lahey has an overall career record of 28-42 at Assumption and was named as the 2012 Northeast-10 Conference Coach of the Year. In 2014, she has three All-Conference players that included First Team selection Kiley Colucci. Colucci went on to earn NFHCA Division II Second Team All-American honors as well, the first Hound in over a decade to do so. Overall, she has coached three All-Rookie Team selections (Paige Anderson 2011, Colucci 2012 and Allison Sheahan 2014) and nine Northeast-10 All-Conference players.
Lahey has also guided her players to success not only on the field but to accolades off the field. These honors include the 2014 Francis J. Grimaldi Award (Sadie Oliver), the 2013 Albert S. Banx Memorial Award (Kathy Moffett), and Scholar of Distinction recognition (Abigail Heroth (2013, 2014 and 2015). Lahey also helped Moffett to lead the nation in defensive saves in 2012.
In 2013, Lahey coached the Hounds to a 7-11 mark overall as the team remained in playoff contention entering the final week of the season. The team posted a 4-4 record at home and won three of its final four games, including a shutout win on Senior Day.
In 2012, Lahey guided the Hounds to a seven-win turnaround as the team finished 8-10 overall and 5-5 in the Northeast-10. After a 5-5 mark at home, the Hounds finished in a three-way tie for fifth place in the league. At the end of the season, Lahey was honored as the 2012 Northeast-10 Conference Coach of the Year, as voted by her peers. The turnaround was the second-biggest turnaround in NCAA Division II in 2012. During that season the team also held the record for most fan attendance in the nation for Division II Field Hockey.
Lahey came to Assumption from Wachusett Regional High School, where she served as the program’s varsity head coach from 2005-2011. In addition, she was the school’s softball varsity head coach from 2004-2010, winning the 2010 Central Mass. Sportsmanship Award.
Her other field hockey experience includes serving as the head coach of the Worcester County United Field Hockey Program from 2006-2009, as well as working a number of camps including the Tufts Field Hockey Camp, the All-Star Field Hockey Camp in Worcester, the Holy Cross Field Hockey Camp and the Nike Field Hockey Camp.
Lahey is a 2002 graduate of The College of the Holy Cross, graduating with a degree in religious studies and a concentration in women’s studies. While at Holy Cross, Lahey played softball. She also completed the Teacher Certification Program at Holy Cross. In addition, Lahey earned her Master’s in Theological Studies in 2004 from the Vanderbilt Divinity School at Vanderbilt University.
Prior to attending Holy Cross, Lahey was a standout in both field hockey and in softball during high school, attending Notre Dame Academy.
In addition to her coaching experience, Lahey served as an English teacher at Wachusett High School from 2004-2011, teaching classes in World Literature, Philosophy and Humanities.
Lahey ultimately credits her family for helping her get into the realm of coaching. She has a brother, Tim, who was a former standout in basketball, baseball, and golf while at St. John’s High School. He went on to play baseball at Princeton University as well as in the Minnesota Twins, Philadelphia Phillies, and Chicago Cubs organizations, respectively. Her father Philip was also a standout at basketball at St. John’s High and is currently one of the physicians for Holy Cross athletics and has been for over 30 years. Her grandfather, Wilfred A. Michaud, was a coach and sports official in Nashua, New Hampshire, and Pennichuck Junior High School’s gymnasium is named after him.
Lahey currently resides in Worcester, Mass.
Katie Weber is in her third season as Tufts' goalkeeper coach. Last season, the Jumbos led the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) with a 0.80 goals against average and were second with a .776 save percentage. In 2016, the team led the conference in both categories with a 0.57 goals against average and .806 save percentage.
Prior to Tufts, Weber spent three seasons (2013-15) as an assistant coach at Lasell College.
She played at Bridgewater State University, graduating in 2011 with a degree in Kiniesilogy and Exercise Science. Originally from Arlington, Mass., Weber made back-to-back appearances on the All-Little East Team as a first team pick in 2010 and as a second-teamer in 2009.