Amherst College Women's Field Hockey

2013 NESCAC Coach of the Year 3 NCAA Tournament Appearances Coached 17 All-Americans Head Coach Carol Knerr will be entering her 25th season in the fall of 2026. After spending the 2000 season as an assistant and sharing head coaching duties with Chris Paradis in 2001 and 2002, Knerr assumed sole control of the field hockey program in 2003. Knerr eclipsed 200 career wins in 2021 en route to an 11-5 overall record and the team has now posted 17 straight seasons with a winning record. Since Knerr became a head coach in 2001, Amherst has amassed a 244-140 (.635) overall record in 24 seasons over 25 years (the 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic). Amherst set the program record for wins with 15 in 2011 and earned berths in the NCAA Division III Tournament in 2009, 2011 and 2025, reaching the quarterfinals in 2011 and finishing the season ranked 10th in the NFHCA Division III Poll. In 2013, Amherst suffered a pair of overtime losses to start the season before erupting for 13 straight victories, resulting in a 9-1 mark in league play and the program's first-ever top seed in the conference tournament. For her efforts, Knerr was named the 2013 NESCAC Coach of the Year. Since 2001, Knerr has seen 36 players garner NFHCA Division III All-Region honors. She has also had a total of 17 players secure NFHCA Division III All-American honors. Amherst has also had at least one All-NESCAC selection in every season of Knerr's time as head coach for a total of 62 All-NESCAC selections, with 30 first-team selections and 32 second-team selections, in addition to Rookie of the Year honors for goalkeepers Emily Vitale ’12 and Rachel Tannenbaum ’15. Before coming to Amherst, Knerr spent a year and a half as a two-sport assistant coach at Ivy League power Dartmouth College, where she helped lead the Big Green to an ECAC Field Hockey Championship — and an Ivy League title and subsequent trip to the NCAA quarterfinals in women's lacrosse — in 1999. The Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania, native was a standout women's lacrosse and field hockey player at the University of Richmond, where she was a four-year starter and captained both sports before graduating in 1998 with a degree in leadership studies and a minor in sports science. Leading the nation in saves as a senior while garnering All-Conference honors, Knerr closed out her field hockey playing career ranked seventh all-time in NCAA Division I history with 975 career saves. She also served as an assistant women's lacrosse coach at Amherst from 2000-12, helping guide the team to the program's first-ever NCAA Championship title in 2003. CAROL KNERR FIELD HOCKEY COACHING CAREER 2001-present: Head Coach, Amherst College 2000: Assistant Coach, Amherst College 1998-99: Assistant Coach, Dartmouth College   CAROL KNERR CAREER COACHING RECORD Season Overall Record NESCAC Record NESCAC Finish 2001* 13-4 6-3 T-3rd 2002* 7-8 4-5 7th 2003 11-5 6-3 T-3rd 2004 5-8 3-6 T-7th 2005 5-9 2-7 8th 2006 8-8 3-6 T-6th 2007 8-7 4-5 T-5th 2008 10-5 6-3 T-4th 2009 12-5 6-3 T-3rd 2010 12-4 6-3 4th 2011 15-4 8-2 T-2nd 2012 11-5 6-4 5th 2013 13-3 9-1 1st 2014 12-4 7-3 4th 2015 12-5 6-4 T-4th 2016 11-5 6-4 T-5th 2017 10-6 5-5 T-5th 2018 10-6 5-5 7th 2019 8-7 3-7 T-8th 2020 no games 2021 11-5 6-4 T-4th 2022 12-4 7-3 T-4th 2023 10-7 5-5 T-7th 2024 9-7 4-6 T-6th 2025 9-9 4-6 8th Total (24 seasons): 244-140 (.635) 127-103 (.552) *co-head coach

Boileau graduated from Hofstra University in 2015 with a Bachelors of Business Administration. Serving as team captain of the Division I Pride in the 2014 season, Boileaus 40 goals and 114 points over the course of her collegiate career ranks her third in goals and fourth in points in program history. A forward, she was the first-ever Hofstra field hockey player to be named the CAA Field Hockey Player of the Year after posting career-highs and leading the conference in both goals (16) and points (38) in her senior season. A three-time NFHCA All-Region and All-CAA selection, Boileau was chosen to play in the 2014 NFHCA Senior All-Star game after averaging 0.84 goals per game (11th in the nation) and 2.00 points per game (14th in nation). Off the field, she was named the 2014 CAA Scholar Athlete of the Year, was awarded the 2014 Dr. Sylvia J. Giallombardo Award as Hofstras top female scholar-athlete, and was the recipient of the 2014 Hofstra Pride Community Service Award. Additionally, Boileau was an active member of Hofstras Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), acted as an assistant coach to the Strong Island United field hockey club, and served as a student assistant coach to Hofstra field hockey in the spring of 2015. Prior to Hofstra, Boileau was a member of the Canadian Junior National field hockey squad.  

Peterson was a four-year member (2011-2015) and senior team captain (2014-2015) of the Blues field hockey and lacrosse teams, while earning her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology with a minor in Biology. Peterson brings plenty of experience to Amherst, having won two NEWMAC Championships (2013, 2014) at Wellesley, as well as two trips to the NCAA Quarterfinals (2013, 2014.) In her successful collegiate field hockey career, the defenseman and midfielder notched a total of eight goals and 23 assists for 39 points in 82 games. Leading Wellesley to a .711 winning percentage (59-24 overall), Petersons career is highlighted by an exceptional senior campaign in which the Blue posted 10 shutouts on their way to an undefeated season in NEWMAC play, and a program best 19-3 overall record. Individually, Petersons efforts in 2014 resulted in her taking home multiple athletic honors including NEWMAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player, First Team All-NEWMAC, First Team New England East All-Region, Longstreth/NFHCA Division III Second Team All-America, and an invitation to participate in the NFHCA Senior Game.   Off the turf, Peterson held membership in Wellesleys Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), and exhibited a passion for volunteering in her local community and abroad. Utilizing her athletic ability to help her community, she acted as a clinic coach for Wellesley Youth Lacrosse and a seasonal coach for Wellesley Youth Field Hockey. Peterson also participated in the program Adopta una Familia, traveling to Ecuador every summer for five years to assist the running of an afternoon school program for kids.