Former Hofstra women's soccer star Diane Caldwell competing for W-League title while training for Pride field hockey season

 Courtesy Hofstra Athletics Communications

Former Hofstra women’s soccer star Diane Caldwell is keeping plenty busy this summer on the pitch and with a field hockey stick. As Caldwell gets set to play field hockey for Hofstra this fall while attending graduate school, the Balbriggan, Ireland native has continued to pursue soccer by playing for the Hudson County Quickstrike Lady Blues semi-professional club who will be in the USL W-League semifinals on July 29.

Caldwell, who played soccer for Hofstra from 2006 to 2009 and is now pursuing masters in physical education, has been spending her summer thus far housed with her Hudson County teammates at Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh, N.Y. In the midst of taking part intense daily practices and workouts with her W-League squad, Caldwell has also found the time to practice her technical and tactical field hockey skills each day. When Hofstra field hockey head coach Kathy De Angelis agreed to let Caldwell play semi-professional soccer this summer with the Quickstrike it was understood that field hockey would not be far from her mind.

“When I was leaving she said to me ‘if I see you over summer you better have your stick on you at all times,” said Caldwell, who last played field hockey at Mount Temple Comprehensive School in Dublin. “Over spring I really did try and work on improving my game and that definitely helped me having that spring under my belt.”

“We were very clear to the fact that if we were giving her this opportunity that she put a real commitment to playing as much hockey while also playing soccer,” said De Angelis. “It is really about the perseverance to be a dual athlete at that level.”

Caldwell, who has competed for the Ireland national soccer team, describes her experience with the Quickstrike as the highest level of the sport she has ever played and is hoping it can someday lead to an opportunity to play professionally in the WPS. If the Quickstrike manage to make it to the W-League championship on July 31 in Santa Clarita, Calif. Caldwell will have a chance to play before a national television audience on Fox Soccer Channel. The dual athlete will then turn her attention solely to field hockey when the Hofstra sticklers begin pre-season practice on Aug. 11 in preparation for the season opener on Aug. 28 against Boston University.

Hofstra women's soccer star Diane Caldwell to play field hockey for Pride in 2010

Picture courtesy Hofstra Athletic Communications

On Nov. 6 when the Hofstra women’s soccer team’s 2009 season ended in heartbreaking fashion after a 2-1 overtime defeat to UNC-Wilmington it brought incredible heartache for senior defender Diane Caldwell, who suddenly saw her Pride career playing the sport she loved come to a close. The pain still lingers from that early November defeat on the turf of Northeastern’s Parsons Field but Caldwell’s Hofstra’s collegiate career is now being resurrected with a stick.

The Ireland native has earned a spot on Hofstra’s field hockey team and will play for head coach Kathy De Angelis in the 2010 season while she attends graduate school. Caldwell, who played field hockey for Mount Temple Comprehensive School in Balbriggan, Ireland, decided to workout with the Hofstra sticklers last spring and after impressing the coaches with her athletic play in the backfield has been added to the roster for the 2010 season.

“When my four years were up with soccer I was obviously a little disappointed because you don’t want it to end so soon but having [ a chance to play field hockey] gives me another year to enjoy and stay here at Hofstra,” said Caldwell, who played soccer for the Ireland National Team in 2008. “To go into a Division I program is not going to be easy by any means but it is a new challenge for me and I am just looking forward to it because it is these challenges that make life exciting.”

Caldwell brings Irish “Pride” to Hofstra

When senior defenseman Diane Caldwell first suited up for the Irish national team in early 2006 she got an early introduction to the Hofstra women’s soccer family that has formed in the Emerald Isle. While competing for her native country she played with Hofstra red-shirt senior Edel Malone and former Pride women’s soccer players Dolores Deasley, Elaine O’Connor, Kariena Richards and Casey O’Driscoll, who all played a huge influence on her decision to head to land on Long Island.

“They really encouraged me to come here,” said Caldwell of how the large make-up of Hofstra women’s soccer players competing for Ireland brought her to Hempstead. "[Playing at Hofstra] has met my expectations and more."

Caldwell has adapted well to her surroundings at Hofstra on and off the field and is hoping to extend her senior season as long as possible. The physical education major tallied Hofstra’s winning goal in a 1-0 triumph over George Mason last Friday night on a corner kick with 7:35 remaining in the game. Caldwell’s senior leadership has been a major factor in the Pride’s number three ranking in the National Soccer Coaches Association Mid-Atlantic Region following a 7-3-1 start and 4-0 in the Colonial Athletic Association heading into home games this weekend against Old Dominion and William & Mary.

One word that would sum up Caldwell’s many attributes is “versatility” as since first arriving at Hofstra in 2006 the Balbriggan, Ireland native has played forward, midfield and her final college soccer season on defense. Head coach Simon Riddiough opted to move Caldwell to defense in order to solidify a backline that graduated some key starters from a year ago.

“She just wants to play and wants to win,” said Riddiough. “She is very unselfish.”

Caldwell got a taste of NCAA tournament play during her sophomore year in 2007 when Hofstra defeated Ohio State before dropping an overtime heartbreaker to Penn State in the second round. With her desire to win and return to the NCAAs, she will perform whatever tasks are asked of her. “Because I am so versatile I’ll play wherever,” she said. “I’ll play in goal if I have to.”