June 22, 2012

AMHERST, Mass. - Syracuse graduate and current U.S. National Team member Shannon Taylor has been named an assistant coach for UMass Field Hockey, head coach Carla Tagliente announced on Friday. Taylor, who was recently named to the U.S. roster for the 2012 Olympics in London, will join the Minutewomen on the sidelines this fall.

"Shannon's experience playing on the international level and at an Olympic Games will be exceedingly valuable to our program," said Tagliente. "She is highly competitive and knows what it takes to win at the highest level. As a player, she was one of the most prolific goal scorers at the collegiate level and her penalty corner shot is arguably the best in the country. We continually strive to provide the very best opportunities and resources for our student-athletes and the addition of Shannon to the current staff supports that endeavor. We feel very fortunate to have Shannon on board, and we wish her the best in the upcoming London Olympics."

"I am extremely honored and excited to become a part of a great athletic and academic program at UMass," said Taylor. "I am thankful for the opportunity and eager to learn from the experiences of Carla and Roz to help further educate our student-athletes on and off the field."

With 71 caps to her credit, Taylor comes to UMass with a wealth of international experience, having been involved with the U.S. National program since 2006 when she was selected to play for the U.S. U21 squad and was invited to participate in USA Field Hockey's High Performance Training program. Taylor was first named to the U.S. Women's Development squad in 2009 and then subsequently named to the U.S. Women's National Team in 2010. She helped the 2011 Pan American Team to their first-ever gold medal with a first-place finish in Guadalajara, Mexico, thus qualifying the team for the 2012 London Olympic Games.

After beginning her collegiate career at Richmond, Taylor transferred to Syracuse where she earned Longstreth/NFHCA Division I All-America First Team, womensfieldhockey.com All-America First Team and All-BIG EAST First Team honors as a senior in 2008. She led the nation in goals (31) and points (79) in her final year of collegiate competition and was a finalist for the Honda Broderick Cup.

The 2008 BIG EAST Tournament Most Outstanding Player and 2006 Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Year, Taylor amassed 218 career points over her four seasons combined with the Orange and the Spiders on 80 goals and 40 assists in 89 career contests. As a junior at Richmond in 2006, Taylor led the A-10 in goals, points and game-winning goals and ranked fourth nationally in points per-game and goals per-game. She set the Spiders' all-time career points record, as well.

A native of Midlothian, Va., Taylor earned a degree in Rhetoric and Communications from Syracuse in 2008.