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By Mike Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
With field hockey back in full swing, Needham native and The Gunnery School product Mikayla Michals and the Providence College Friars are 1-1 through two games of the 2019 season. After falling to BC, 2-1, in the season-opener on August 30, the Friars took out No. 24 Maine (5-4) on September 1 to earn their first victory of the season, with Michals assisting on the game’s opening goal.
Michals, who was selected to the US National Development Team last summer ahead of her junior season, comes off a three-goal and three-assist campaign in 2018, despite battling injuries for most of the season. Michals earned a spot on the All-Big East Preseason Team after a stellar sophomore campaign in 2017, during which she finished second on the team in scoring with five goals and also racked a pair of assists.
A three-sport star in high school for both Needham (freshman/sophomore) and The Gunnery (reclassed-sophomore/junior/senior) in field hockey, ice hockey, and lacrosse, Michals surprisingly did not receive a Division I offer until her senior year. Michals did have Division III offers to play both field hockey and lacrosse, as well as ice hockey and lacrosse, but her decision to play field hockey at the Division I level at Providence appears have paid off, given the last three years of success she has experienced with the Friars and the National Development Team.
For funny and insightful sports analysis, follow Mike Flanagan on his personal Twitter @fLAno0.
