University of Massachusets Athletics
Kurtz Takes On Double Duties
May 27, 2003 | Women's Lacrosse
May 27, 2003
When Kelli Kurtz accepted the position of co-captain for the University of Massachusetts women's lacrosse team she did not know the extent of the leadership role she was about to embark on.
Prior to the start of the 2002-03 school year Kurtz' head coach of three years, Phil Barnes, announced that he was leaving UMass and joining the coaching staff at Cornell. Kurtz was shocked at the news, having no inkling that she was going to be without a head coach for the majority of the fall.
"When it happened we were all so surprised," Kurtz said.
She also had no idea the amount of responsibility that was about to fall on the shoulders of her and fellow co-captain Bridget Byrne.
While the University of Massachusetts began the search to find Barnes' replacement, Byrne and Kurtz assumed the responsibilities of temporary head coaches. The senior duo was prepared to lead the Minutewoman women's lacrosse team through captains' practices, but they did not intend on filling their schedules with compliance meetings, sorting through mail from interested recruits, trying to organize the team for the fall portion of its schedule and going through the process of trying to find a replacement for Barnes.
"There's so much more that goes into being a head coach than you'd think," Kurtz said. Not able to contend with the unexpected heavy workload on their own, Byrne and Kurtz called on the help of former UMass women's lacrosse head coach Francesca McClellan and the University of Massachusetts men's lacrosse coaching staff, Greg Cannella, Chris Gabrielli and Andy Shay.
The senior captains were also aided by their three-year assistant coach, Carrie Bolduc. With her help, the team was able to put together a fall schedule and was able to get organized in the off-season. Bolduc also provided something else the women's lacrosse team needed---the desire to be the Minutewomen's interim head coach. Bolduc threw her name into the hat for the position and Byrne and Kurtz were there on the hiring committee to decide whether or not their former assistant coach would make the transition into the top position.
After taking part in the interview session and hearing Bolduc's plan to bring in Tegan Leonard and Karen Healy as her assistant coaches, Kurtz embraced the idea of having Bolduc as her new head coach, as well as being relieved of the head coaching duties that fell into her lap.
"It was a tough couple of weeks, but in the end it worked out well," Kurtz said.
When Bolduc officially took over as the Minutewomen's head coach, she was shocked at how much work Byrne and Kurtz had done.
"After having been elected captains at the end of their junior year, I do not believe Kelli and Bridget thought their role would come into play so early in the season," said Bolduc. "Fortunately, they did everything and all a captain should do in an event like this. Once I had officially arrived, I was startled with how organized they were. Practice plans were typed out, and phone lists and addresses of the team were prepared. They made the quick transition for me smooth and almost perfect."
Things continued to work out well for Kurtz and the Minutewomen. With a mix of what Kurtz describes as Bolduc's well-rounded playing experience after advancing to the 1997 Final Four with Temple and winning the 1999 ECAC Championship with Syracuse, the youth and humor of Healy, a 2002 Syracuse graduate, and the friendliness and goaltending knowledge of Leonard, a 2001 Syracuse graduate, UMass put together one of the most successful seasons in school history. Posting an 11-8 overall record, the Minutewomen recorded the most wins since the 1983 team finished 12-3-1. The team also advanced to its fifth straight Atlantic 10 Tournament, qualifying for the finals and taking home second place. It was the first time UMass advanced to the conference championship game since Barnes led the team there in 2000.
According to Kurtz, it was evident as soon as Bolduc, Healy and Leonard took over that this was going to be a season unlike any they'd had before. With all three coaches hailing from Syracuse, a nationally-ranked women's lacrosse program, the trio instilled the same work ethic and demands in their Minutewoman squad that were taught to them.
"Finally it was like Division I lacrosse," Kurtz said. "They worked us very hard and it was very competitive."
This intense level of play eventually paid off not only for the team, but for Kurtz as an individual.
Listed as a midfielder but expected to provide a presence on both the offensive and defensive ends of the field, Kurtz' game all came together for her this season. In the past the Schwenksville, Pa., native said that she used to spread herself too thin, trying to be everywhere at once.
"I felt like I was just running around during the game with no real direction," said Kurtz, who tallied 10 goals and five assists this year.
This season Kurtz decided to focus her attention more on playing defense and less on offense. Throughout the season she was asked to defend the opponent's top offensive threat and helped Massachusetts achieve the nation's 15th-best defense, allowing just 8.22 goals per game. Kurtz' efforts were acknowledged when she was named the 2003 Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year on May 1.
While sitting at the A-10 awards banquet, Kurtz had no idea she was going to win the coveted defensive honor. She said she knew from the introduction of the award that it was someone from her team, but she didn't know it was her until she heard her hometown, Schwenksville, Pa., mentioned.
"I was shocked, everyone was surprised," said Kurtz in reaction to her award.
Kurtz received another surprise after UMass fell to Temple, 15-9, in the A-10 championship game. Expecting that her season and career was over with the loss in the tournament, Kurtz was shocked when she returned to Amherst and discovered that the Minutewomen were selected to compete in the 2003 ECAC Tournament, taking on No. 13 Cornell at Ithaca, N.Y.
The match-up provided not only a chance to prolong Massachusetts' season, but it also gave Kurtz a chance to complete the circle of her senior season.
After coping with the headaches of the preseason where she was forced to wear the temporary hat of a head coach, Kurtz now had to face the irony of competing against Barnes for a chance to win the ECAC championship.
Before she left for the Cornell game, Kurtz showed the maturity and leadership that has made her successful both on the field and off for UMass. Kurtz wasn't worried about what had happened in the past, she was just focused on the present.
"It's going to be weird seeing him (Barnes) on the other end," Kurtz said. "But we just want to show him that we're doing well this season and that Carrie (Bolduc) has done a great job."
Things didn't go Kurtz' way in the ECAC game, as the Minutewomen fell to the Big Red, 14-8.
However, that one game couldn't take away the achievements UMass had already pieced together through Kurtz' final season. The record books will show that the Minutewomen had the most wins in 20 years in a single season and that they advanced to postseason play for the sixth straight year. The records will also show that Bolduc had the most successful debut season as a head coach since Pam Hixon went 15-1-0 in her inaugural season in 1979.
What the records won't reveal is how the senior co-captains struggled to even get the season started and that behind those 11 wins was an All-Conference defender who passed up the chance to score more goals in order to better serve her team on the defensive end.
