Plymouth State University head field hockey coach Bonnie Lord, whose 263 career victories are the fourth-most across all sports in school history, announced she will retire after the 2022 season.
"I came to Plymouth State in mid-August of 2000 to serve as interim coach and here we are 23 years later," said Lord. "I have an incredible passion for the sport of field hockey and the young women who play it, and that year-round commitment is as strong now as ever, but seven years ago I was blessed to have a new title added to my life – grandmother – and I am excited about the opportunity to spend more time with my grandchildren. That said, I am thrilled about the 2022 edition of Plymouth State field hockey. We had an incredible preseason with a talented and exciting team built on the foundation of positive, supportive, and passionate leadership. I cannot think of a better group to spend my final season with. I will continue, as I have for the last 22 years, to send our team onto the field to Play Hard, Play Fair, Play to Win, but most of all Play Together."
This fall will mark Lord's 23rd year atop the program, tying her as the second longest tenured head coach in the history of Plymouth State athletics. She enters the year with a remarkable 263-145 record, .645 winning percentage, four ECAC Championships, five LEC regular season titles, three LEC Tournament Championships and three NCAA Tournament appearances.
"There aren't words to describe the impact Coach Lord has had on our field hockey program and department," said Director of Athletics Kim Bownes. "She has been a fierce advocate for her team and student-athletes and her record speaks for itself. I'm grateful we will be able to celebrate her accomplishments throughout this fall."
Lord joined the Panthers for the fall of 2000 and had an immediate impact on the program. PSU went 15-5, including a perfect 10-0 in the LEC, during her inaugural season, claiming the LEC Tournament title and advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in program history. It would be the first of three consecutive trips to the national tournament for Lord's squad.
Year two and three were equally impressive as the Panthers went 15-5 in 2001, then 17-2 in 2002. PSU was a combined 19-1 in LEC games and made another two trips to the NCAA Tournament. Lord's staff was honored as the New England West Region Coaching Staff of the Year by the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) following the 2001 season.
Lord led the Panthers to a program-best 18 wins in 2004. Despite being nipped in the championship game of the LEC Tournament, Plymouth State was awarded the top seed for the ECAC New England Tournament, where the Panthers outlasted Wellesley in overtime, 3-2, to capture the program's first ECAC title.
The Panthers made eight straight ECAC Tournament appearances from 2007-14, advancing to the championship game every year from 2008-14, and earning titles in 2010, 2012 and 2014. Lord matched the program record of 18 wins during the 2011 season when the team went 18-4 and 10-1 in the LEC, though Mount Holyoke upset the top-seeded Panthers in the finals of the ECAC Tournament.
More recently, Plymouth State advanced to the semifinals of the LEC Tournament in 2016 and 2017 and has earned a postseason spot in 19 of her 21 full seasons.
Overall, Lord has guided the program to 17 winning seasons, with three NCAA Tournament appearances and 11 ECAC New England Tournament berths. She has mentored two All-Americans, four PSU Athletics Hall of Fame inductees (Adriene Harvey '03, Annie Metz Palumbo '05, Whitney Swaffield '05 and Lilly Silva '06), 17 All-New England Region players and four NFHCA Senior All-Stars. Five of the program's top six career points leaders played under her guidance.
A two-time LEC Coach of the Year (2000, 2002), Lord surpassed the 200-win threshold in 2014. Her teams weren't only successful on the field, though, as the Panthers regularly earned academic recognition. PSU has earned NFHCA National Academic Team honors 12 times, including each of the last eight years, while 179 of her student-athletes were named to the NFHCA National Academic Squad. The Panthers have had 19 NFHCA Scholars of Distinction since the academic program started following the 2012 season, honoring student-athletes with cumulative GPAs of 3.90 or better. Another two students garnered CoSIDA Academic All-District recognition.
Even with all the academic and athletic success, perhaps Lord's biggest victory came in September of 2015 when the team "adopted" 2 ½-year-old, brain-cancer survivor Arielle Beaulieu. The two were introduced through the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for children battling childhood cancers. Since then, Plymouth State has hosted annual Childhood Cancer Awareness games to celebrate Ari, who has since been declared cancer-free.
The team's smallest member has had as significant an impact on the team, as the student-athletes have had on Ari. Over the last seven years the program has raised funds and awareness for childhood cancer research, working directly with the Dana Farber Research for Pediatric Cancers, and has connected coaches and athletes from across the U.S. and as far away as the Netherlands.
Prior to arriving at Plymouth State, Lord spent 20 years as the field hockey coach at Kingswood Regional High School, posting a career record of 244-52-34. The team made 11 trips to the state finals between 1980 and 1999, bringing home six titles. She was named NHIAA Coach of the Year three times, was inducted into the New Agenda: Northeast Women's Hall of Fame in 1994, received Coach of the Year honors from the National Federation Interscholastic Coaches Association in 1997 and received the prestigious Walter A. Smith Coaches Award in 1998.
Lord was also previously involved with the grassroots organization of the U.S. Field Hockey Association's Future's Program from 1990-2000, serving as the Northeast Regional Director from 1990-96. She coached the 1995 USA U-16 Select Team to compete in the Netherlands International Easter Tournament and has mentored several U.S. Olympians. She founded Stick & A Smile Field Hockey, a youth field hockey camp, in 1986 and was the founder and head coach of the USFHA Hockey Festival Team, the NH Northern Lights, from 1992-2000.
A search for her successor will begin after the season.
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