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Gia Cillizza
Gia Cillizza enters her eighth year as head coach of the Cardinal field hockey team. Over the past seven years, she has become CUA field hockey's winningest coach and continued to lay the foundation for a nationally recognized program.
The 2008 squad posted a 14-8 overall record and won the second consecutive regular season Landmark Conference title. Seeded No. 1 in the Landmark tournament, the team fell 2-1 in double overtime in the championship game to the Juniata Eagles. After the tournament, the Cardinals earned a berth to the Eastern College Athletic Conference Division III Mid-Atlantic Field Hockey tournament where they beat Cabrini College and top seed (#15 nationally) William Patterson University (in OT) before falling in another overtime championship match to Kean University.
Post-season accolades followed. Cillizza and her staff were named Landmark Coaching Staff of the Year for the second year, following Cillizza's 2006 Capital Athletic Conference Coach of the Year honor. A senior was named All American, All Region and Landmark Defensive Player of the Year; a junior also earned All Region honors; and five players earned All-Landmark distinction.
Inspired by an emphasis on excellence on and off the field, 12 of the team's student-athletes received National Field Hockey Coaches Association Division III National Academic Squad honors last season by earning a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.30 through the first semester of the 2008-09 academic year. The squad also was recognized with an NFHCA academic team award with an overall GPA of 3.22 for the fall semester.
Cillizza began her career as head coach in 2002 after serving for three years as an assistant at CUA. In 2004 after a two-year stint as a part-time head coach, Cillizza left her career in publishing as assistant production editor, reporter and marketing manager for National Journal Group (now Atlantic Media) to follow her passion, full-time coaching. She has coached at U.S. Field Hockey's National Futures Championship, served as a site director and coach in the U.S. Field Hockey Futures development program, directed Revolution Field Hockey camp at CUA, and coached camps with the University of Maryland; Nike; Cecil County Field Hockey; Archbishop Spalding High School; and Gateway Field Hockey in St. Louis, Chicago, Dallas, and Kansas City. She has served on various National Field Hockey Coaches Association and NCAA committees and currently sits on the NFHCA All-South Region Committee.
Cillizza serves as associate athletic director and senior women's administrator at CUA, overseeing seven varsity programs, directing the department's major events and programs, mentoring coaches and handling special projects and committees. She is also working on a master's degree in psychology at CUA.
Cillizza is a 1998 graduate of Division I Miami University in Ohio where she was a four-year letter winner and twice earned a trip to the Mid-American Conference championships. She was elected co-captain of her team both junior and senior year and was a three-year starter at midfield and defense. She earned a bachelor's degree in English literature and journalism and was a reporter and editor for the university's newspaper.
A St. Louis, Mo., native, Cillizza was co-captain of the Visitation Academy 1993 Midwest Championship team, which finished an unblemished 22-0, and was named first team all-conference her junior and senior years. During high school she participated in the U.S. Futures program and played on all-star teams at the National Field Hockey Festival. Her background includes high school and club softball and soccer as well as musical theater and dance.
Cillizza, her husband, Chris, and son live in Alexandria, Va.
Kristy Palchinsky
In her seventh year with the program, Kristy
Palchinsky will continue her work with the goalkeepers and defense
but will also play a central role in scouting for the program.
Palchinsky played four years at the University of Maryland, College
Park, a Division I field hockey powerhouse. During her time there,
Maryland captured the ACC championship three times and won the
national championship in 2000. A defensive player, Palchinsky was
named junior female MVP at the Big Apple International Indoor
Tournament and made the NFHCA academic squad and ACC honor roll.
She also coaches in the Futures program and at University of
Maryland and Revolution/CUA summer camps. Palchinsky earned a B.A.
in communications in 2002 and is a district sales manager for
Automated Data Processing. She resides in Bethesda, Md.
Sondra Pires
Sondra Pires begins her fourth season with the CUA field hockey staff after a successful playing career for the Cardinals. Her responsibilities include assisting with the team's strength and conditioning as well as playing a key role in the program's recruiting. Pires graduated from CUA in 2004 with a master's degree in architecture. During her five-year career (she was a medical redshirt as a fourth year), Pires received numerous accolades on and off the field including CUA co-rookie of the year, three time All-CAC selection, two-time All-South region pick and five-time CAC academic team honoree. A native of Dartmouth, Mass., Pires played with the Cape Ann Coalition club and has coached camps and clinics in her home state. She is a consultant with CADD Microsystems and resides in Washington, D.C.
Lucy Durbin
Third year assistant coach Lucy Durbin Fries will
aid Cillizza in all aspects of the program. Fries split her
collegiate playing career between Villanova University - where she
spent her first two years -- and Saint Louis University. A forward
and midfielder, Fries was Villanova's second leading scorer in 1996
with 13 goals and six assists. During her final campaign at SLU,
she set a NORPAC tournament record with five goals and one assist
in a single game. A team captain as a fifth year after taking a
medical red shirt, Fries capped her career with selection to the
NORPAC first team and All Tournament team. Fries graduated from SLU
with a B.A. in education and a teaching certification in high
school mathematics. A four-sport athlete at Villa Duchesne High
School in St. Louis, Fries participated in the Futures program and
competed at the National Futures Tournament. In 2006, she served as
assistant field hockey coach at Appalachian State University in
Boone, N.C. Prior to ASU, she taught and coached for six years at
the high school level. Fries teaches math at St. Andrew's Episcopal
School in Potomac, Md., and resides in Arlington, Va., with her
husband Jay.
Emily Richards
In her first year, Emily Richards will be focusing her efforts
on goal keeper play and recruiting for the Cardinals. Richards
played keeper for St. Mary's College of Maryland for four years
before graduating in 2008. She was a three-time All-CAC selection,
three-time All-Region selection, and two-time All-American. Serving
as a caption her senior year, Richards also accrued two team MVP
selections, St. Mary's College Female Athlete of the Year in 2008,
and was featured in Sports Illustrated's "Faces in the
Crowd" in the fall of 2005. Prior to college, she played with the
Capital Pegasus club, making multiple appearances at both Festival
and the National Indoor Tournament. Richards also helped lead
Springbrook High School to the 4A State Championship in 2004 and
was named team MVP. A native of Silver Spring, Md., Richards now
resides in Bethesda and works as an economist for the Bureau of
Labor Statistics.
