Oct 21, 2005
By Fred Hurlbrink Jr. / On Campus
You could say she's come a long way from being named the Daily News 2000 Female Athlete of the Year.
Thing is, though, she really hasn't.
She went a long way, sure, all the way to Northwestern -- that's in Illinois, for you townies -- and became a standout lacrosse player there, after starring at Weston High and, for her freshman season, at UMass.
Now, Angela McMahon is back -- or maybe, she's just arrived.
Either way, she has had her sites set on this destination for awhile.
"Oh, absolutely, it's been in my plans since I graduated high school," McMahon said of her new job. "It's kind of just natural for me."
Bentley Athletic Director Bob DeFelice has sure been around, well, around here anyway, and he has a pretty good idea just where McMahon is. You know, besides out early on the practice field or hammering away at something in her new office.
DeFelice, who recently hired McMahon, 23, as Bentley's women's lacrosse coach, walked in her shoes once upon a time. His first head coaching gig came when he was 20, so long ago that the school -- Christopher Columbus High, in the North End -- is defunct.
He was a senior at Boston College and was given a $1,000 salary to head up the school's football team. And he knows he wouldn't be where he is today if he wasn't given that chance.
"If experience is a prerequisite for a job, then none of us would get any experience," DeFelice said.
So, here we are. From Weston to Amherst to Illinois and right back again, in Waltham, a field-long pass away from home. In the blink of a young girl's eyes -- thanks, Boss -- McMahon's glory days aren't so much in the rear-view mirror as they are in her back yard.
The accolades are plentiful. Besides her Daily News crown, McMahon was a Dual County League All-Star in basketball, soccer and lacrosse, and in her senior seasons, she was captain of the lacrosse and basketball teams.
In her freshman season at UMass -- the first school to win the NCAA women's lacrosse championship in 1982 -- McMahon made an immediate impact, scoring 12 goals and five assists.
Then it was on to Northwestern, for the Wildcats' inaugural season as a varsity squad in 2002, where she put up big numbers as a sophomore (24 goals, 11 assists). She excelled as much in the classroom as she did on the field, a fact that DeFelice said turned into a major selling point.
Besides making the Big 10 All-Academic team, she won the Northwestern University Scholastic Achievement Award in 2004 -- and, you have to figure, with the school's academic reputation, there was some competition for that one.
"She's a great mix for (Bentley), and what the school's looking for in its student-athletes," DeFelice said. "She's only been here a couple weeks, and she hasn't disappointed one bit."
DeFelice says he loves young, aggressive people and believes that's what he has found in McMahon, who he says is "very committed" and brings "great energy" to her new position.
She also brings "tremendous credibility" with her back from Illinois, DeFelice says, what with her status as a two-year captain and one of the program's all-time leaders in goals (13th) and assists (ninth).
All of McMahon's positive attributes plus DeFelice's own experience as a young coach himself add up to a lack of apprehension about the proximity of McMahon's age to that of her players.
"She's the coach," DeFelice said. "Kids today, people knock them, but I think they're better than ever."
When DeFelice first was hired as Bentley's baseball coach in 1968, his team captain was older than him. Now, though, regardless of age, he believes college students have a better perspective of the big picture and in many ways are more mature, having grown up in an era where practically nothing is hidden or taboo.
The NCAA, according to a spokesman yesterday, does not keep records on the ages of its coaches, so maybe there are more important criteria. McMahon thinks so.
"I haven't seen my age being any sort of issue," she said, pointing to her longtime devotion to the sport and resulting knowledge. "That's what mattered to (the team). I have stuff that I can teach them."
McMahon says she had no qualms -- "not in the slightest" -- about coaching a group of girls she could just as easily hang with on a trip to the mall. Her Northwestern coach, Kelly Amonte Hillier, served as a "great mentor," and McMahon has lived and breathed lacrosse since she can remember.
"I felt like that was enough experience for me," she said. "(This) just seemed like a great situation to come into."
Here she is, inheriting a young team that has floundered around .500 the last few years, and loving every minute of it. The expectations, say McMahon and DeFelice, have less to do with wins and losses than shaping the program in a certain image.
The young coach has a plan, and the old coach, her boss, is on board. He sees McMahon's excitement and knows how badly she wants to succeed, and he's looking forward to those qualities rubbing off on her new team.
McMahon says she will simply aim for improvement, let the record take care of itself. The girls, she says, are raring to go, excited, even, to get on the practice field, sometimes by 6:30 a.m. "They all have a lot of respect for me," she said.
"I think this is the perfect situation for me. I really do."
Well, as spring blooms, we'll get a chance to see just how far the dynamic, young coach can go.
FACE IT There's only so much notoriety to be expected when you play Division III college field hockey, but it looks like Shrewsbury's Elise Conley has reached that pinnacle. The Babson senior flashed her pearly whites in Sports Illustrated's "Faces in the Crowd" feature in this week's editions, trumpeting her ascension to the heights of Nation's Leading Scorer. In her last game, Conley became the Beavers' all-time assist leader. She has 23 goals and nine assists for Babson (14-3, 6-0 NEWMAC), which is ranked 20th in the latest Div. III field hockey poll. Conley is a first-team All-American and was named NEWMAC player of the week for the second time this season, with four goals and three assists in the Beavers' 3-0 week.
GOLDEN GOALS Saint Rose (N.Y.) sophomore midfielder Lindsay Bove of Holliston was named the Northeast-10 Conference women's soccer player of the week after scoring a pair of game-winning goals in a 2-0 week for the Golden Knights. Her first came last Monday in a 2-0 win over No. 19 UMass-Lowell, and her second was the lone goal in a shutout win Saturday over Merrimack. Bove, who was a second-team NE-10 performer last season and the team's second-leading scorer (13 points), has three goals and two assists so far this season.
THE 600 CLUBAfter becoming just the second women's volleyball coach in New England college history to net 500 wins in 2001, Bentley's Sandy Hoffman will soon be the charter member of her own club. Hoffman, a New York native who now lives in Waltham, could reach the 600-win plateau with a Homecoming victory over NE-10 rival Saint Rose Saturday. The 17-5 Falcons are in first place in the conference (8-0) with five league games left before the postseason. Hoffman is looking for her fifth straight 20-win season, 18th overall. She has won at least 30 games six times and 40 twice, and while winning the NE-10 title eight times, she's coached the Falcons to perfect league records in six seasons. Thing is, Saint Rose this season is tied for second in the NE-10 with Bryant and has the most overall wins of any league team (19-4, 9-1).
AROUND THE REGION American International's Matt Marcoux of Blackstone, a junior backup goaltender, posted his first career shutout in his first start of the season, a 2-0 win over Caldwell last Monday. Marcoux made seven saves in the win and has allowed just one goal on nine shots in 134 minutes for the 7-5-2 Yellow Jackets....Boston College women's hockey star Deborah Spillane of Franklin was named Hockey East co-player of the week as the Eagles began their season with a pair of wins. Spillane, a sophomore, tallied five points in two games, including the overtime game-winner against Quinnipiac Friday night. Spillane made an early bid for next week's honors as well, scoring a pair of power-play goals and an assist Tuesday in BC's disappointing -- Eagles were up, 3-0, in the third -- 3-3 tie with rival Boston University. The Eagles are 2-0-1 (1-0-1 Hockey East)....Stonehill's Sara Thompson of Millis continues to have a fine season for the volleyball team, contributing seven kills and five blocks in Wednesday's win over Assumption. One of the Skyhawks' best net players, Thompson is among the team leaders in kills and blocks. Senior Liane Kilmain, formerly of Holliston, is a third-year captain, and Ashland's Lauren McNally, a senior outside hitter, is also a key contributor for the Skyhawks.
