FIELD HOCKEY COACH

Head Coach: Andrea Zurlo

Historically SUNY Brockport has enjoyed a great deal of success in field hockey, and current head coach Andrea Zurlo has once again given the Golden Eagles a taste of that success by leading the team to at least eight wins in four of he last five seasons. Zurlo has rebuilt a program that managed just 14 wins in her first three seasons and had not had a winning season in the five years prior to her arrival. Her overall record entering the 2008 season stands at 55-80 at Brockport and 79-97 overall at the college level. She surpassed Anne Fowler for second place on the all-time coaching wins list at Brockport with a 2-1 victory over Utica College in October of 2006.

Zurlo’s best season was 2004, when she led the squad to a 10-10 record and an appearance in the NYSWCAA Tournament semifinals before losing in overtime. The 10 wins were the most in a season since the 1994 team tied the school record with 14 wins in a season. Na'Lisa Rowe, Erin Coyne, and Colleen Fritz each earned First Team All-SUNYAC honors.

The 2007 squad finished with a 6-8 record with seven loses coming by a single goal. Amanda Pickard was the first Brockport field hockey player to be a First-Team All-Region selection and was also named SUNYAC Player of the Year.

The 2006 team finished at 8-8 and boasted a six-game winning streak at one point down the stretch. The Golden Eagles landed three players on the First Team All-SUNYAC squad again with Steph Pokorski, Amanda Pickard and Andrea Mazlowski each earning the honor. Additionally, Pickard earned All-State honors for the second time in just two seasons at Brockport.

Zurlo is a 1997 graduate of Genesee Community College, where she earned an associate's degree in Elementary/Special Education. She continued her education at SUNY Geneseo, where she earned a degree in August 2003 in both elementary and special education.

Prior to coming to Brockport, Zurlo was the head coach at Geneseo for three years leading the Blue Knights to an overall record of 24-17 in the program’s first three seasons of competition. She also led the Knights to their first post-season berth ever as a qualifier for the NYSWCAA Tournament in 1999. Leading up to her coaching experience at Geneseo, Zurlo spent time as a referee for the Finger Lakes Field Hockey Association (1995-1997).

She has also competed in field hockey at the Empire State Games since 1992 including the 2001 Western team which won the gold medal. In 2002, Zurlo coached the Western team in the open division of the Empire State Games.

Zurlo is a member of the Phi Theta Kappa, the International Honor Society at GCC and also won the Outstanding Teacher Education Major Award.

Assistant Coaches

A 2002 SUNY Brockport graduate, Nichole Blackwell begins her third season with the Golden Eagles. She earned a degree in Physical Education with a concentration in Athletic Training.

She was a student athletic trainer as an undergrad and returned to Brockport after graduation as a Certified Athletic Trainer for field hockey, women’s volleyball, men’s lacrosse, softball, and men’s and women’s basketball. Blackwell has also worked for Nazareth College as a trainer. Currently, she is a physical education teacher at Greece Athena High School.