The 2007 UMass Lowell field hockey team just concluded another outstanding season, as the River Hawks made the NCAA Tournament and finished 19-3 overall after losing in the Division II Championship match.
One of the players most integral to the team's success was Rockport native Michelle Harrington, who was recently named to the Division II All-American First Team.
The junior midfielder started all 22 games this season, notching 12 points on four goals and four assists. Among other honors, Harrington was also named to the Northeast-10 All-Conference Second Team as well as the 2007 NCAA Division II Field Hockey All-Tournament team.
This past fall, UMass Lowell won the Northeast-10 regular season title after compiling a 15-1 record. Even more impressive, the conference postseason tournament was won by the River Hawks for the fifth consecutive year.
In 2007, UMass Lowell made their fourth consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament and by chance actually hosted the event too. After a first-round bye, UMass Lowell squared off against conference foe Bentley and the River Hawks eventually prevailed, 2-1, in overtime.
Riding a 13-game winning streak, the River Hawks took on powerhouse Bloomsburg University in the NCAA Division II Championship on November 11. Bloomsburg came out on top, 5-2, as the Huskies won their second straight title and fifth out of the last six.
The River Hawks won the Division II Championship back in 2005, thanks to a 2-1 double-overtime defeat of Bloomsburg.
This time around, Bloomsburg jumped out to a 3-0 halftime lead and UMass Lowell cut it to 4-2 in the second half but could not fully recover from the big deficit.
Nevertheless, the future looks bright for Harrington and her UMass Lowell team as they should be loaded once again next season. They will only lose one senior from this year's squad to graduation.