After posting its first winning season in 2019, the Roger Williams University Field Hockey team returns an experienced team looking to make a splash entering its ninth season as a varsity sport. Two years ago, the Hawks posted a 12-10 record and earned its first win in the Commonwealth Coast Conference Tournament in the process.
 
"We are excited to continue building upon our tradition of success and defining the culture that embodies RWU Field Hockey," Head Coach Kelly Blackhurst said. "We are a values-driven program that focuses on trusting the process. Success does not occur overnight – but with an attention to detail and creating habits of excellence, success can be achieved."
 
After seeing their 2020 season got cancelled due to COVID-19 and going 2-1 in spring scrimmages, the Field Hockey team enters this season with a large group of returning players including six seniors, who are looking forward to getting back on the field and embracing the challenges this season may present.
 
"Our coaching staff is excited about the challenge our schedule will bring this year in the CCC," Blackhurst said. "Despite having a year off from competition due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are excited to compete and continue defining Roger Williams Field Hockey. Our internal leadership has been an important factor to being successful on the field. Hannah Palmer, Brooklyn Cenatiempo, and Callie Flanagan have done an excellent job leading us through a very difficult last year and a half and welcoming our class of 2025."
 
Offense
Roger Williams boasted the fourth-best offensive attack in the CCC in 2019 by posting a program-best 2.6 goals per game average and they figure to only get better as they return their two leading point scorers from that season.
 
Hannah Palmer leads the Hawks offense as the team's top dual-threat offensively. In 2019, she led the team with 29 points, 11 goals, and seven assists and all three marks also ranked in the top-ten in the CCC. In addition, she was efficient in her scoring finishing with a .186 shooting percentage, the second-highest mark on the team among players with at least 15 shots. In addition, Palmer needs just four assists to tie the program record for career assists.
 
Her top running mate will be Brooklyn Cenatiempo. Cenatiempo was the Hawks' top offensive player as a freshman in 2018 when she not only led the team but set program records with 15 goals and 31 points, and she did so with great efficiency posting a .333 shooting percentage. That season she ranked seventh in the conference in goals and ninth in points. In 2019, she improved her passing with three assists but saw her scoring fall with just ten goals despite leading the team in shots taken. She did, however, have a flare for the dramatic as she led the team with four game-winning goals to set a new program record. In addition, she is within striking distance of multiple program records. She is already tied for the program record for most career game-winning goals, and needs seven goals and 23 points to match the program records in those categories as well.
 
In addition to their top scorers, the Hawks also return Morgan Foley and Hannah Gaffney. The rising junior Foley scored nine points on four goals and an assist on just nine shots (.286 shooting percentage) in 2019. Meanwhile, the senior Gaffney had three goals and an assist out of the midfield for RWU in 2019.
 
Defense
On the defense, Roger Williams ranked third in the CCC in goals-against average in 2019 allowing 1.93 goals per game, by far the team's lowest mark since the team's inception. The Hawks were adept at limiting their opponents' chances, allowing 16.1 shots against per game, but they were even better at defending those shots as their opponents managed just a .121 shooting percentage against.
 
Their defensive line was led by the strong play of Taylor Woodbury who returns for her senior season after leading the Hawks and finishing tied for fourth in the conference with four defensive saves.
 
Another key returner on defense is senior Erin Magsamen who appeared in all 22 games with 20 starts while recording an assist in 2019.
 
In addition to the upperclassmen on the roster, the Field Hockey team also features large freshman and sophomore recruiting classes that will look to make an impact in their first seasons.
 
"We are excited to welcome ten first-years hailing from Maryland, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Massachusetts," Blackhurst said. "Their skill set, hockey IQ, and commitment to excellence are impressive. Undoubtedly, we will have first-years competing for a starting spot. Meanwhile, our sophomore group has seen tremendous progress over a year's time. Their decision-making under pressure and understanding of the game has elevated. As they have not competed in an official game, our sophomore group came into preseason eager and prepared."
 
Goalkeeping
The anchor of the RWU Field Hockey team is in the cage with the steadying presence of senior captain Callie Flanagan. She has started in all 41 games since coming to Bristol as a freshman and tops the program leaderboard in career shutouts (6), goals against average (2.40) and save percentage (.756) and should eclipse the top spots for career wins and saves by season's end.
 
After a solid freshman season, Flanagan emerged as maybe the top goalkeeper in the conference by leading the CCC with a .781 save percentage and ranking second with 153 saves and a 1.93 goals-against average in route to an All-CCC Second Team selection.
 
2021 CCC Field Hockey Preseason Coaches' Poll

	Team	Points (First Place Votes)
1.	Endicott	48 (6)
2.	University of New England	43 (1)
3.	Salve Regina	33
4.	Roger Williams	28
5.	Western New England	21
6.	Gordon	12
7.	Nichols	11

 
Overall
With a strong blend of well-seasoned seniors and exciting freshmen, this year's Field Hockey team projects to be the best in the program's short history and should be among the best in the Commonwealth Coast Conference.
 
"Ultimately, our team and leadership decide who we are and where we want to go," Blackhurst said. "And for us, our sights are set on the CCC Tournament."
 
"We are looking towards September 1st; we have been pleased with the competitiveness at practices," Blackhurst added. "Our players are competing and putting in to place our systems and style of play."
 
The RWU Field Hockey team will return to action on Wednesday, September 1^st when they travel to Regis College before returning to Bayside Field for their home opener against Mount Holyoke College on September 4^th. Start time is slated for noon.