By Patrick McHugh
Liz Centofanti has always been a person who likes to give back.
The senior goalie for the field hockey team has learned a lot playing the game she loves and wants to share her knowledge with others some day as a college field hockey coach.
“I love sports and I’ve had such a good experience that I want to give back to the sport,” she said. “My coaches had such a big impact on me as a player and I think I could do the same thing for future players.”
Northeastern assistant coach Zowie Tucker works primarily with the Husky goalies and Centofanti credits her with helping her improve.
Tucker began working with Centofanti when she was a high school freshman. Colleges took note of her skills and it became apparent she would be playing for a major college program. One person who was interested in her was Northeastern head coach Cheryl Murtagh.
“I first noticed Liz while she was playing for Waltham High because they had such a strong team,” Murtagh said. “Then she came to one of my camps and I was impressed by her talent.”
It would have been difficult for Murtagh not to notice Centofanti. The standout athlete earned 11 letters while at Waltham High School and in 2002 was named an NFHCA Northeast Region All-American. She led Waltham to four straight Greater Boston League titles and a 1999 Massachusetts Division I North Championship.
She also received recognition as a Boston Globe and Boston Herald All-Scholastic, as well as a three-time Greater Boston League All-Star and three-time News Tribune All-Star. Centofanti won medals in the Bay State Games, the 2002 Junior Olympics and earned an appearance in the National Futures tournament.
Centofanti said she was intrigued by Northeastern because of its success in field hockey and the close proximity to home. She is close with her family and she inherited her love of sports from them.
Her father Paul was the girls’ ice hockey coach at Waltham and now coaches the field hockey team there, where her younger sister now plays hockey. Centofanti used to play hockey when she was younger and said she wishes she had kept playing.
Despite her regret of leaving the ice, Centofanti became the starting goalie during her junior year and did not disappoint. Recording four shutouts on the year, she also had a shutout streak of almost 264 minutes that stretched over the course of five games.
As a captain in 2007 she finished third in the CAA in saves with 112.
Coach Murtagh was quick to point out her development as a Husky.
“She, without a doubt, matured quite a bit her last two years here,” Murtagh said. “She always had good technique for a goalie but she learned to become more aggressive in front of the net.”
As is typical with Centofanti, she looked for a way to help the other athletes at Northeastern. She spent three years on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, a group that works to improve the culture of student-athletes and assist each other with any problems that have arisen.
The committee consists of one or two representatives from each athletic team at Northeastern and meets once each week. The committee talks with members from the Athletics Department and looks to assist programs in need. At one point, the group raised money for a local charity.
Murtagh is not surprised to hear of Centofanti’s work to help others. As she explains it, Centofanti has always cared about the team aspect of sports.
“Liz has always been dedicated to the sport and to her team,” Murtagh said. “She really loves playing the game and gave everything she had for others. Even when she wasn’t starting she was supportive of her teammates and had a positive influence on other people. That’s something that is hard to find in a young athlete.”
While she waits to see if her dream of coaching field hockey will come true, Centofanti reflects on her experience playing at Northeastern.
“At first I wasn’t sure what to expect when I came here,” Centofanti said. “But I got to know my teammates very well and I had such a great career with the help of my coaches. This was a really good decision and I have no regrets.”
