Simmons field hockey seniors Sydney Gonyea and Anna Tedeschi have collected a laundry list of individual accolades throughout their collegiate careers. Only one title has eluded them: the Greater Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) championship.
Under Gonyea and Tedeschi, the field hockey team has achieved a program-best overall start to the season. On the way to their 10-2 conference record, Gonyea and Tedeschi have proven to be quite the formidable duo. They lead the GNAC in goals – Gonyea with 26 and Tedeschi with 25 – and are both in the top 10 of Division III for goals per game.
Gonyea recently wrote herself into the Simmons Athletics history books again against GNAC opponent Lasell on Oct. 8 when she became the program’s all-time goals leader during the Sharks 5-0 win. After notching her 200th career point later that week against Elms College – the first player to ever reach this milestone at Simmons – Gonyea was named the National Field Hockey Coach’s Association (NFHCA) national player of the week.
This added to Gonyea’s lengthy list of accomplishments. Gonyea is a three-time All-GNAC and two-time NFHCA All-Region selection. When she led the conference in both goals and points her sophomore year, Gonyea was named the 2022 GNAC Offensive Player of the Year.
Tedeschi has an extensive resume as well, including a GNAC Player of the Week award this season. However, her participation in college athletics wasn’t always guaranteed.
“Before committing to Simmons I wasn’t even sure if I was going to play field hockey in college … but playing field hockey at Simmons has been one of the best choices I’ve ever made,” said Tedeschi in an interview with the Voice. She is now a three-time All-GNAC selection and became the first Simmons player to receive first-team NFHCA All-Region honors since 2016.
The team’s success cannot be celebrated without acknowledging the impact of Simmons Head Coach Tori Shaffer. In an interview with the Voice, Gonyea and Tedeschi described Shaffer as having an “instant impact” and being a “breath of fresh air” for the team. She has led the team to an overall record of 28-7 through her first two seasons as the head coach of the Sharks.
“We play a formation that is pretty unique to our players with a lot of room for versatility on the field,” said Shaffer in an interview with the Voice. She also gave credit to her players for the team’s success. “It is a group of players that have worked hard their entire career and have a high level of skill and IQ.”
Gonyea, Tedeschi and Shaffer are clear about their team’s goal this season: winning the GNAC. “All of these awards that Teddy [Tedeschi] and I have won … do not mean anything to me if we do not come home with a championship,” said Gonyea.
The Sharks will begin their championship run after earning the third seed in the GNAC on Nov. 2 against the University of St. Joseph’s Connecticut.
CORRECTION: October 31, 2024
A previous version of this article misspelled Coach Tori Shaffer’s name. All other content in the article remains the same.
