FIELD HOCKEY PROGRAM ANNOUNCES THREE MORE STUDENT-ATHLETES TO JOIN 2010 TEAM

DURHAM, N.H. -- Robin Balducci, 19th-year head coach of the University of New Hampshire field hockey team, has announced three students who will begin attending the University in the Fall 2010 semester will also join the UNH field hockey program.

Balducci, who has already announced three National Letter of Intent signees as well as four other students who will join the 2010 Wildcats, will be welcoming Renee Bernier (Wolfeboro, N.H), Ailish Fitzgerald (Lexington, Mass.) and Hannah Richard (Hopkinton, N.H.) to the fold for the 2010 season.

Bernier, a letterwinner in field hockey and lacrosse at Kingswood Regional High School, was named to the All-State First Team in 2009 and the Second Team in '08. The goalkeeper was a Futures National Championship participant in both '08 and '09. Her other accolades as a senior included Foster's Daily Democrat Dream Team. Bernier helped lead Kingswood to the semifinals in 2009. She has also played for the Seacoast United club team.

Fitzgerald, who has lettered in field hockey and lacrosse at Lexington High School, competed at the Futures National Championship in 2007 and 2008. The midfielder was named to the Middlesex All-Star Team in the 2007, 2008 and 2009 seasons. Fitzgerald tallied 17 goals and 24 assists as a senior, when she captained the team, and compiled career numbers of 30 goals and 39 assists. She also garnered Middlesex All-Star accolades as a lacrosse player in '08 and '09. Fitzgerald's other field hockey experience includes playing on the Seacoast United club team.

Richard, who lettered in field hockey, basketball and softball at Hopkinton High School, was selected to the All-State First Team as a junior and senior and was named to the Second Team as a freshman and sophomore. As a senior, the forward recorded 36 goals and 14 assists en route to being named Concord Monitor Player of the Year. In that 2009 season, she scored five goals in a game to break the Hopkinton school record, and her seven hat tricks also marked a single-season record. Richard totaled 98 goals and 45 assists in her career.

Megan Bozek (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.), Meg Callahan (Lititz, Pa.) and Casey Pohlmeyer (Millersville, Md.) are the aforementioned scholastic players who signed an NLI. The other newcomers are Mackenzie Joyce (South Pomfret, Vt.), Katie Walborn (Selinsgrove, Pa.), Tori Welch (East Hampstead, N.H.) and Meg Williamson (Cos Cob, Conn.).

The UNH field hockey team finished the 2009 season with a 12-7 overall record and advanced to the America East semifinals for the third consecutive year.