Varsity Club Hall of Fame
Cheryl Murtagh, of Salem, Mass., has been elected to the Northeastern University Varsity Club Hall of Fame for excellence in the sport of field hockey. Murtagh will be inducted along with four others in formal ceremonies at Northeastern’s Matthews Arena in Boston, Mass., on Friday, April 13, 2012, at 7 p.m.
Murtagh has compiled 333 wins in 24 seasons at the helm of the Northeastern field hockey program. Her tenure includes 15 NCAA Tournament appearances and 10 America East Conference championships over a 15-year period, from 1990-2004.
A three-sport star in field hockey, basketball and softball at Bishop Fenwick High School in Peabody, Mass., Murtagh earned all-league honors in all three as a junior and senior in 1976 and 1977, respectively. She captained the basketball and field hockey teams both of those years, but her star rose particularly on the hardwood, where she was a Parade All-American and a Boston Globe All-Scholastic selection in 1976.
Murtagh’s myriad athletic talents took her to the University of New Hampshire, where she earned four varsity letters in both field hockey and basketball, and three more in softball. It was in Durham that field hockey would finally become her calling card, as the energetic two-way midfielder earned First-Team All-American recognition in both her sophomore and junior seasons (1979-80).
It would not be the last national recognition for Murtagh; over four years with the U.S. National Team, she played two years with the Under-21 National Team, and in 1980 was part of the U.S. National Training Squad, which goes to the nation’s top 30 players.
Murtagh graduated UNH with a degree in physical education in 1981, and a business minor would lead her to complete her 10 ten years later at Northeastern. By that time, she had already led Northeastern field hockey to three NCAA Tournament appearances in her first three seasons at the helm. Beginning her career with a three-year stint at Bentley College, Murtagh took over Northeastern before the 1988 season and immediately guided the Huskies to 11 NCAA Tournament showings in her first 11 seasons, including Final Four finishes in 1988, 1994 and 1995.
Her time since has been no less successful. With 19 seasons with a .500 winning percentage or better, Murtagh captured four successive conference championships on two separate occasions, en route to a career record at Northeastern of 333-183-10. With 17 victories in three years at Bentley, her win over Hofstra in the 2011 CAA Tournament marked the 350th of her career.
With that kind of success, the awards have rightly followed. A six-time conference coach of the year, Murtagh has presided over an amazing 13 First-Team All-Americans, including two-time honorees Denise Nasca and Mari Creatini, the program’s all-time single-season goals leader. And the future remains bright: just last season, junior forward Crystal Poland took home first-team laurels, after placing second in the nation with 26 goals.
Since 1987 Murtagh has directed the Elite Field Hockey Camp, which will be held this year at Bentley College in July. Murtagh also serves as the national chair of the National Field Hockey Coaches Association All-American Committee. She lives in Rowley, Mass.
