Coaching Staff

Tina Mattera

Tufts University Field Hockey | Head Coach

Now in her 20th year, Coach Mattera has built Tufts Field Hockey into one of the elite programs in the country. Head coach of the 2012 NCAA Division III Field Hockey Champions at Tufts, Tina Mattera has directed the Jumbos to 11 NCAA appearances and five "Final Fours" during an outstanding coaching career. The 2012 national championship - a 2-1 victory against Montclair State - was the first NCAA title won by a women's team at Tufts. Mattera was voted National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) National Coach of the Year that season. The team was inducted into the Tufts Athletics Hall of Fame in June 2022. 

Christine Kemp

Wesleyan University Field Hockey | Head Coach

Christine Kemp is entering her fifth season as the head coach of Wesleyan field hockey after being hired in the summer of 2019. Upon her arrival, she also took on the role of assistant strength and conditioning coach for Wesleyan, a position she still holds entering the 2023 season.

The Cardinals achieved success right away in Kemp's tenure as she helped lead Wesleyan to five wins in her first season at the helm in 2019. Those five wins were the most for Wesleyan in a single-season since 2013 and among those five wins included a 1-0 upset of No. 5 ranked Tufts at home. 

Kemp comes to Wesleyan from Castleton University, where she spent the 2018 season as the field hockey head coach and led the Spartans to a regular-season record of 15-5 overall and 11-1 in the Little East Conference (LEC). In her first season as a collegiate head coach, Kemp's Castleton squad won the LEC regular-season championship as she was named the LEC Coach of the Year. She guided the team to a program-record 11-game winning streak while coaching three First Team All-LEC selections. Castleton was just 23-48 (.324) in the four seasons prior to Kemp's arrival, while the 15 wins in 2018 were the program's most in six years.

Before her stint at Castleton, Kemp spent five seasons at her alma mater, Skidmore College. While there, she helped lead the Thoroughbreds to an 80-27 (.748) record with three Liberty League Championships, two quarterfinal appearances in the NCAA Division III Tournament (2014, '16), and one national semifinal appearance (2013).

Her college coaching career began at Bridgewater State University, where she served as an assistant coach form 2011-13 while pursuing her master's degree. During that time, the Bears compiled a 31-11 (.738) record and won back-to-back MASCAC Championships, while qualifying for the ECAC Division III Tournament both years, reaching the semifinals in 2011 and the finals in 2012.

Kemp earned her bachelor's degree from Skidmore in 2011 following a decorated four-year playing career. She was a two-sport athlete who excelled in field hockey, while also serving as a captain of the basketball team her senior year. In field hockey, Kemp was named a three-time NFHCA All-American, three-time Liberty League Player of the Year, and two-time NFHCA North Atlantic Player of the Year. She holds the school records for most assists in a single season (22) and most career assists (62). As a senior, she led the team to its first-ever 20-win season and a trip to the NCAA Division III Final Four. She also ranked second in the country in assists per game in 2009 and 2010, and was fourth in points and sixth in goals in 2010. In 2011, Kemp received the Skidmore Senior Athlete Award and seven years later, she was inducted into Skidmore's Athletics Hall of Fame.

Aside from her collegiate coaching experience, Kemp also served as the futures head coach and site director for USA Field Hockey in 2018, where she developed individual skills, team game and offensive and defensive strategies in a training-only environment for U19 players. She also assisted in the start-up of the Thoroughbreds Club in March 2017, which is Saratoga County-based club program for interested field hockey players ranging in age from 7-18 years old.

Nicky Pearson

Bowdoin College Field Hockey | Head Coach

One of the most decorated coaches in the history of collegiate field hockey, Nicky Pearson has been the head coach of the Bowdoin field hockey team since 1996. In the years since she has taken over the team, the Polar Bears have established themselves as the premiere team in Division III field hockey, qualifying for the postseason every year, making Final Four appearances in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, and 2015; and reaching double-digits in wins in every year under Pearson's leadership.

Additionally, Pearson has coached the Polar Bears to four Division III Championships, earning titles in 2007, '08, '10 and '13. Seven times she has been honored as the NESCAC Coach of the Year (2000 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010), a conference record, and four times, in 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2013, Pearson earned her profession's highest honor when she was recognized as the Division III Coach of the Year following each of Bowdoin's national championships.

In 2007, she directed the Polar Bears to a perfect 20-0 campaign and NCAA Championship - the first by any team in school history. She has won the NESCAC Tournament Championship seven times - more than any other coach in conference history.

Pearson has established a reputation for developing players to their full potential. Her players have collected more than 50 NFHCA All-American awards and six players Heather Hawes ('99), Taryn King ('05), Lindsay McNamara ('07, '08), Ella Curren ('11), Brooke Phinney ('12), and Rachel Kennedy ('14, '15) have earned NESCAC Player of the Year recognition. Additionally, hundreds of players have achieved NFHCA Academic All-American status.

A native of Hereford (England), Pearson attended St. Mary's College of London, receiving her Bachelor of Education in Physical Education and Biology. While in England, Pearson was a member of the National Field Hockey Club Champions and competed at the European Club Field Hockey Championships in Frankfurt, Germany in 1990. Her accolades include All-England Women's Field Hockey Association Coaches Award and the British Weight Training Coaches Award.

Dani Kogut

Bates College Field Hockey | Head Coach

Danielle Kogut enters her 11th year as the head coach of the Bates College field hockey program in 2023 after assuming the position in June of 2013.

Kogut led Bates to its best NESCAC record in program history in 2019, as the Bobcats finished 10-6 overall and 6-4 in conference play. They are coming off another winning season in 2022, as the Bobcats went 9-7 and 5-5 in NESCAC action. Last year, Kogut led Bates to the program's first win over Bowdoin since 1984.

In 2017, she led Bates to its second straight winning season, the first time the field hockey team has posted back-to-back winning seasons since they posted five straight winning records from 1980-1984. The Bobcats finished 9-7 overall for the second straight year and their 5-5 NESCAC record was their best conference record since a 5-4 finish in 2002.

Since taking over the reins of the Bobcats’ program, Kogut has instilled a new culture of dedication in the team. In 2015, she led the Bobcats to the NESCAC Tournament for the first time since 2010. Bates also picked up its most victories in a single season since 2005. One of the Bobcats' biggest wins in 2015 was a 1-0 victory over previously undefeated and ninth ranked Babson.

In 2014, the team had two players named to the NFHCA Division III All-Region Team.

In 2013, Bates registered its best goals-against average since 2006 and demonstrated marked improvement over the second half of the season.

Prior to Bates, Kogut served as head coach at the University of New England for two years, compiling a 29-14 record, two postseason appearances and guiding the Nor’easters to the first Division III national ranking in program history. Before her stint at UNE, Kogut was an assistant coach at the University of Vermont, and at Bates’ NESCAC rival Tufts University before that.

“Representing Bates, a community and college founded in the richest traditions of exploration and intellectual growth, is an honor,” Kogut said at her appointment. “Having begun my coaching career in the NESCAC, I feel it is a once in a lifetime opportunity to be named the head coach at Bates, and I am truly grateful. I look forward to working with the student-athletes as together we build a winning program.”

When first hired by Bates, Kogut was cited by then Director of Athletics Kevin McHugh and the search committee for her innovative coaching, as well as her drive, intensity and enthusiasm.

“We were fortunate to have an extremely competitive pool of candidates, with five terrific finalists, and Dani proved to be the best of that great group,” McHugh said. “I am thrilled to have her join the Bates Athletics family, and look forward to the excellent coaching and leadership that Dani will bring to the field hockey program.”

Kogut was named the 2011 Commonwealth Coast Conference Coach of the Year, after leading the Nor’easters to a program-record 18 wins against four losses. UNE began the year with 13 straight victories and appeared in the National Field Hockey Coaches Association Division III poll for two weeks, including a No. 2 ranking in New England. The season came to a close with two overtime setbacks in the conference final (2-1 to Endicott) and an ECAC Championship semifinal (2-1 in 2OT to Mount Holyoke). In 2012 she led the Nor’easters to the semifinals of both the CCC and ECAC tournament semifinals.

Born and raised in Sturbridge, Mass., Kogut graduated from Stonehill College in 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. She played goalkeeper for the Division II Skyhawks, finishing her career as the team’s all-time leader in shutouts and earning Northeast-10 all-conference and all-academic honors.

After graduation, Kogut became an assistant coach at Tufts, while earning a master’s degree in child development. At Tufts, she was credited with playing a significant role in the transformation and development of the Jumbos’ defense, as Tufts compiled a 37-4 record with consecutive appearances at the NCAA Division III Final Four.

Kogut holds a level II coaching accreditation from USA Field Hockey. She is also director of Revolution Field Hockey Camps in Lake Forest, Ill., and Concord, Mass, as well as the Coaching Director of Coastal Field Hockey, a non-profit field hockey club in Saco, Maine.