Northwestern University Athletics
Head Coach Tracey Fuchs Names Two Assistant Coaches
1/29/2009 12:00:00β―AM | Field Hockey
Jan. 29, 2009
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern head coach Tracey Fuchs has announced that April Fronzoni, who spent the 2008 season as a volunteer assistant coach with the Wildcats, will remain on staff as a full-time assistant while Carla Tagliente, who for the past three years worked alongside Fuchs as an assistant at Michigan, will join the staff in Evanston as associate head coach.
“I feel extremely confident moving forward with the addition of April and Carla to our staff at Northwestern,” Fuchs said. “Both are very aware of what it takes to succeed at an elite level having won NCAA championships during their playing careers. As April's coach and Carla's colleague at Michigan, I've gotten to know them very well and I anticipate them contributing a great deal to the success of our program.”
A four-time letterwinner in field hockey at Michigan, Fronzoni concluded her Wolverine career as the school's all-time leader in goals (68) and points (155). She was the first player in program history to be named Big Ten Conference Athlete of the Year in 2002 and was tabbed Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year in both 2002 and 2003. Fronzoni, who was a three-time NFHCA All-American and All-Big Ten Conference selection as well as a two-time Honda Broderick Award finalist, earned all-tournament honors following Michigan's 2001 NCAA championship.
On the international scene, Fronzoni played the forward position and compiled 60 caps and 15 goals. She has been a member of USA Field Hockey every year since 1998, starting with the Under-16 National Team and as recently as 2007-08 with the USA National Team. She served as an alternate for the 2008 Women's Olympic Field Hockey Team that competed in Beijing, China, and was also a member of the 2004 U.S. National Field Hockey Olympic Qualifying Team.
“This is an exciting time for Northwestern field hockey and I feel so privileged to be a part of it,” Fronzoni said. “I really enjoyed working with our team in the fall and look forward to building on those experiences while coaching with Tracey and Carla.”
Tagliente is set to begin her seventh season coaching in the Big Ten after three-year stints at Iowa (2003-05) and Michigan (2006-08). She also spent two years as a volunteer assistant at Maryland, where as a player she was a three-time first-team NFHCA All-American and a two-time finalist for the Honda Broderick Award. Tagliente was a member of the 1999 NCAA champion Maryland squad that defeated Michigan in the tournament final and she continues to hold Terrapin school records for career goals (87) and points (187).
In fall 2008, Tagliente was elected to the U.S. Field Hockey Board of Directors and in November received a Level III accreditation from U.S. Field Hockey with a recommendation to go on to the International Hockey Federation. Tagliente and Fuchs are two of only five coaches in the country to have earned such accreditation.
“Northwestern is such an incredible academic institution and a great place to be a field hockey student-athlete,” Tagliente said. “Having coached with Tracey before I know she will do an amazing job at NU. Personally, I hope I can share what I've learned from past experiences to help this group of players achieve their goals.”
Additionally, Tagliente competed for seven years on the USA Field Hockey national team, playing in 78 games and scoring five goals. She contributed to U.S. silver medals at the 1999 Pan American Games and 2001 Americas Cup and played alongside Fuchs in the 2002 World Cup. In her first season with the national team in 1997, Tagliente was named the USFHA Female Athlete of the Year.
