Field Hockey
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- sab207@lehigh.edu
- Phone:
- 610-758-4388
- Alma Mater:
- Third season
Stacey Blue begins her second season as Lehigh’s head field hockey coach. In her first year, Blue led the Mountain Hawks to a 3-2 league record - their best finish since 2007 - and the #3 seed in the Patriot League Tournament, Lehigh’s second tournament appearance in the last three years and Blue’s third in her four years in Bethlehem (including her time as assistant coach). One of the biggest wins came against eventual Patriot League Finalist Bucknell.
Blue helped coach Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Year Sierra Segear, who allowed only 11 goals in league play, the fewest the Mountain Hawks allowed since 2001 (when they also allowed 11). The last time a Lehigh goalie allowed fewer was in 1996. Segear went on to earn a spot on the NFHCA All-Mideast Region Second Team.
The Mountain Hawks placed three others on All-League Teams, including Kim Eng, Steph Fratoni and Marie Mignogna. Lehigh garnered five Patriot League weekly awards, led by three Goalkeeper of the Week honors from Segear.
After a tough start, Lehigh went 5-4 in its final nine regular season games to gain momentum heading into 2012. That included winning three-of-four in one stretch. Blue’s first win came over La Salle, a team which went on to the Atlantic 10 Tournament. The Mountain Hawks also earned their first-ever victory over Penn while picking up big Patriot League wins over Bucknell, Colgate and Holy Cross.
Blue’s appointment marks a return to Lehigh as she previously spent three seasons as an assistant coach for the Mountain Hawks, before moving on to American International College where she turned around that program in just one season.
In her first year as a college head coach, Blue inherited an American International team that went 6-12 in 2009 and transformed it into a 14-8 program that more than doubled the school record for wins in a season, while earning an at-large bit to the NCAA tournament, a first for the AIC field hockey program.
“Stacey has been a head coach and albeit for a short time, a successful one,” explained Lehigh Goodman Dean of Athletics Joe Sterrett. “AIC achieved their best season ever and broke multiple school records. This success is very directly attributable to Stacey’s approach to working with her team. Stacey brings to us a combination of proven effectiveness in leading a program and direct experience at Lehigh with the challenges that need to be resolved. She conveyed a very clear understanding of the current challenges and yet she also sees and is excited by the opportunities.”
Blue served as the top assistant coach for her predecessor, Julie Mazer from 2007 to 2009. She played a major role in recruiting many of the student-athletes on Lehigh’s current roster, while also assisting with scouting and working closely with Lehigh’s attacking players. In 2009, Blue helped guide Eng and Morgan Christopher to First Team All-Patriot League honors, while Eng went on to be named Patriot League Rookie of the Year and a Second Team NFHCA All-Region selection. Blue also mentored All-League forwards Kelly Fox and Kalynn Davies in 2008 and 2007, respectively and worked with 2007 Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year Christy Smith.
The Mountain Hawks advanced to the Patriot League tournament in two of Blue’s three seasons as assistant coach in Bethlehem.
Prior to her stint at Lehigh, Blue was an assistant coach at Wilkes University in 2006 and coached at Muhlenberg College the two years before that.
A Bellingham, Massachusetts native, Blue won three Atlantic 10 Championships as a forward at the University of Massachusetts before graduating with a degree in communications in 2003.
