Athletics > Field Hockey > Coach
Meet the Coach
Rebecca Begley
Head Coach
Now in her ninth season at the helm of Wheaton's field hockey program, and her first as senior woman administrator, Rebecca Begley has been an integral member of the athletic department since the fall of 2000.
Begley's squads recorded 28 wins between 2006 and 2007, the most during any two-year span in program history. During the past two seasons, the Lyons advanced to the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament semifinal round and qualified for the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Tournament.
From 2001-05, Begley also guided the women's lacrosse program to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances, two NEWMAC Tournament crowns and three regular season conference titles. In 2004, women's lacrosse set a school record for single-season wins with a 15-3 mark. Wheaton advanced to the NCAA Tournament national quarterfinal round. Leading the Lyons to five straight postseason appearances with a pair of NEWMAC Coach-of-the-Year awards, Begley compiled a 59-26 record.
Aside from coaching, Begley currently serves on the NCAA Virtual Focus Group, National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Awards & Hall of Fame Committee and ECAC Tournament field hockey selection committee. She has also chaired the NFHCA Coach-of-the-Year committee and was a member of the New England all-region women's lacrosse selection committee and Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) ethics committee.
Begley directs Wheaton's summer program for the NIKE Field Hockey Camp. A field hockey and lacrosse instructor at various summer camps from 1993-99, Begley founded a girls' day camp in 1993 as field hockey director in Merrimack, New Hampshire.
Prior to Wheaton, Begley spent two seasons as the assistant field hockey and women's lacrosse coach at Denison University in Granville, Ohio. While at Denison, the field hockey team captured consecutive North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) championships. In 1999, the field hockey team earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament with a 16-4 record. The women's lacrosse squad also won consecutive NCAC titles, with the 2000 team automatically qualifying for the NCAA Tournament.
Begley also brought head coaching experience in field hockey from Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, where her 1997 squad tied a school record for the most wins in a season (14-6). Additionally, she was responsible for assisting the head women's lacrosse coach in the spring of 1998.
A Concord, New Hampshire, native, Begley is a 1996 graduate of Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where she was a three-time all-region honoree and four-year letterwinner in field hockey. As a former center midfielder, she is among the all-time assists leaders at Dickinson. Begley earned a bachelor's degree in American studies with a concentration in Alaskan native studies.
The Begley File
| Year | Overall | League | Highlight(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 3-13 | 1-7 | -- |
| 2001 | 9-9 | 4-4 | NEWMAC Tournament |
| 2002 | 8-11 | 4-4 | NEWMAC Tournament |
| 2003 | 8-12 | 2-6 | NEWMAC Tournament |
| 2004 | 5-11 | 2-6 | NEWMAC Tournament |
| 2005 | 8-12 | 3-5 | NEWMAC Tournament |
| 2006 | 15-8 | 5-3 | ECAC Tournament |
| 2007 | 13-7 | 6-2 | ECAC Tournament |
| Totals | 69-83 | 27-37 | 8 Seasons |
Patricia Zini
Assistant Coach
Patricia Zini, an experienced high school coach, camp instructor and league director, begins her second season on the Wheaton coaching staff this fall.
Zini served as the junior varsity head coach and varsity assistant coach at Shepherd Hill Regional High School in Dudley during the 2005 and 2006 seasons. Each summer since 2001, Zini has been a head coach at the Tantasqua Regional High School camp in Fiskdale, where she also created a curriculum for the campers. In summer 2006, Zini coached at the Worcester State College camp after working the Connecticut Elite camp in Storrs, Connecticut, during summer 2004 and the STX camp in Amherst the prior summer.
In 2003, Zini founded the Turf Burn Field Hockey Summer League after receiving a grant from the Penn Monto Field Hockey Foundation. Since then, she has been the director for a league in which adults and high schoolers from Connecticut and Central Massachusetts compete. Additionally, Zini founded the Turf Juniors in summer 2005 and has run the six-week clinic for girls aged 10 to 14 since then.
A 2005 graduate of Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, Zini appeared in 37 games for the Bantams. As a senior, she started all 15 games and tied for the team lead with four assists while helping Trinity qualify for its first New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Tournament. Zini earned a degree in English and has been an assistant preschool teacher in the Head Start Program in Southbridge since October 2006.
Suevia Greloni Pierri
Assistant Coach
Suevia Greloni Pierri, a high-level field hockey player and experienced clinician in Argentina, joins the Wheaton staff for her first season this fall.
An assistant coach with the U18 Belgrano Athletic Club in Buenos Aires from 2001-03, Greloni Pierri was an instructor at Wheaton's camp this past summer and has instructed clinics in Argentina with such American colleges as Wheaton, Castleton State College, Drexel University, Mount Holyoke College and Muhlenberg College.
Greloni Pierri brings an abundance of experience as a player to the sidelines. Since 1998, when she was 14, Greloni Pierri has been a member of the Belgrano Athletic Club, which competes in Argentina's highest division. She played for her country's U21 national team from 2001-02 and for Buenos Aires' U16 squad from 1997-2000, helping it win the national tournament during her final season.
Greloni Pierri is a 2007 graduate of the University of Buenos Aires, where she majored in political science with a concentration in international relations.
This page is maintained by Scott Dietz. Last updated on 11/8/08.
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NEWMAC Tournament
8-Nov Wellesley 2, Wheaton 1 (OT)
1-Nov Wheaton 2, Smith 1 (OT)
Regular Season
30-Oct Wheaton 3, Wellesley 2
