Field Hockey Coaches Earn Second Straight NFHCA National Staff of the Year Honor

MEDFORD, MA (January 15, 2026) - For the second year in a row, the Tufts University field hockey coaches were honored as the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) National Coaching Staff of the Year for the 2025 season on Thursday evening.

The announcement was made at the NFHCA Hall of Fame Awards Dinner, sponsored by AstroTurf®, during the 2026 NFHCA Annual Convention in Lake Mary, Florida.

The Jumbo staff includes head coach Tina Mattera, associate head coach Megan Caveny and assistant coaches Katie Weber and Troy Zirbel. All four coaches received the honor last season when Tufts was recognized as 2024 National Coaching Staff of the Year. Mattera was also National Coach of the Year in 2012 before the honor was changed from an individual award to staff recognition in 2017.

This fall the coaching staff led the Jumbos to the 2025 NCAA Division III Championship in a 2-1 overtime victory against Johnson Hopkins University on November 22 in Hartford. It was the Tufts program's second national title including 2012.

In 2024 the Jumbos had won the NESCAC Championship and advanced to the NCAA final, but entered this season with some uncertainty following the loss of six starters. They had just a 3-2 record early on before coming together and winning 16 of their final 17 games. An 11-game winning streak helped lead them to a 9-1 NESCAC finish, which earned the team the #1 seed in the conference for the regular-season. 

Despite a disappointing loss in the conference tournament semifinals, the Jumbos rebounded to win five NCAA games and take the title. After tying an NCAA record for goals in a game with their 11-0 win over Dean University in the first round, the Jumbos ran off victories against Williams College (2-1 in overtime), Bates College (3-1) and Christopher Newport University (1-0) before topping Johns Hopkins in OT to win the crown. Christopher Newport was undefeated and ranked #1 in the nation before the Jumbos eliminated them in the semifinals.

Tufts senior Hannah Biccard was honored as NFHCA Regional and National Player of the Year after scoring 17 goals, the most by a Jumbo since 2010. She was joined by senior goalie Lydia Eastburn, junior defender Claire Casey and sophomore midfielder Eleanor Luft on the NFHCA All-Region team. Tufts' three first-team honorees (Biccard, Eastburn and Casey) were the most in the region.The four All-Region players were joined by first-year Eleanor Helm on the All-Conference Team, where Tufts' five recipients were its most since 2013.

Tufts' 19-3 final mark tied the school record for victories. The team's 3.32 goals per game average led NESCAC and was matched with a 0.98 goals against average. 

On the NESCAC All-Academic Team, recognizing student-athletes with grade point averages of 3.50 or better, the Tufts field hockey roster featured 16 honorees.