In her 28 seasons at Lynchburg College, head coach Enza Steele has established a program that is a conference powerhouse and a consistent national tournament participant. She has accumulated an overall record of 385-169-11 at LC, third-best among active NCAA Division III coaches.
Under Steele, Lynchburg has won 10 Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) titles and made eight NCAA Tournament appearances. Steele has been named ODAC Coach of the Year six times, and earned her 300th career win at Lynchburg with a 1-0 victory at Washington & Lee University on Oct. 5, 2001.
The Hornets won both the conference regular-season and tournament titles in 2006 and advanced into the NCAA Division III Tournament. The 2004 and 2005 seasons were also highly successful, as Lynchburg combined to go 31-12 overall (16-1 in the ODAC regular-season), captured the regular-season conference title both years and entered the NCAA Tournament in 2005. In 2001 the Hornets enjoyed their finest season in program history, advancing to the NCAA Division III Tournament’s round of eight. LC posted a 21-2 record and won the ODAC regular-season and tournament titles. In 2002, Lynchburg again won the ODAC regular-season title with a 9-0 conference record and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. The Hornets finished 17-4 as Steele was named the state’s field hockey coach of the year.
Steele guided the Hornets to the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) national runner-up finish in 1981. Lynchburg has also won a pair of regional titles and one Virginia State Championship under Steele. In all, her teams made three appearances at the AIAW national tournament and advanced to the finals of the ODAC tournament on 18 occasions.
Steele is also active at the national level, having served on numerous NCAA and all-America selection committees. She has been active in the national poll process and was a developer and organizer of the Senior All-Star Game. In addition, she has served as a head coach and site director at many Olympic developmental camps.
A native of Pompton Lakes, NJ, Steele received her M.S. from Ithaca (NY) College and her B.S. from William Paterson (NJ) University. She currently serves as the senior women’s administrator at Lynchburg and is an associate professor in the School of Health Sciences and Human Performance.
Sarah Nolan returns to the Lynchburg field hockey staff for her second campaign after a stellar career at Division I Davidson College. She is the Wildcats’ career leader in saves (542) and led the Northern Pacific Field Hockey Conference (NorPac) the last three years in stops. In Nolan was the 2003 and 2004 NorPac Defensive Player of the Year and tried out for the national team where she was selected to the Elite Performance Training Squad. She graduated from Davidson with a psychology degree and is pursuing her masters’ degree at LC in community counseling.
Fleming returns to Lynchburg after graduating this spring with a degree in elementary education. She was a four-year letter-winner for the Hornets and started all 83 games in her career. Fleming was a three-time first-team all-ODAC player along with earning first-team all-American honors in 2004, and womensfieldhockey.com named her an All-American after the 2005 campaign. She finished her career with 91 goals and 30 assists, ranking second in LC history for career goals, second for goals in a season (33 goals), fourth in career assists, and second in career points. Fleming is pursuing her early childhood special education degree at Lynchburg.
For more information concerning Lynchburg College Field Hockey, please contact head coach Enza Steele at (434) 544-8492 or by email at steele@lynchburg.edu.
