The most accomplished goalie in the first 21 years of the women’s lacrosse program, Erika M. Blozie backstopped the Warriors to their first three post-season tournament appearances. A South Windsor native, Blozie started each of the team’s 71 matches in her career between 2001 and 2004.
In addition to lifting Eastern to a 46-25 overall record (19-5 in conference play) and three straight ECAC New England Division III tournaments – including the 2002 championship – Blozie amassed numerous individual honors which included inclusion in the prestigious IWLCA Farewell Lacrosse Festival North-South Senior All-Star Game in 2002 and selections to the IWLCA/US Lacrosse All-New England Region (the program’s first-such selection) and ECAC All-New England and All-Little East Conference teams twice each.
Blozie becomes the first defensive player from the program – third player overall -- to gain E-Club Hall of Fame honors, joining high-scoring offensive players Mo Deegan (2014) – a teammates for three seasons -- and fellow South Windsor native Erin Byrnes (2012).
During Blozie’s freshman season in 2001 under former head coach Kathy Railey, Eastern closed out its final season in the New England Women’s Lacrosse Alliance (NEWLA) by sharing the regular-season title, then won five of six regular-season matches in the first season of the Little East Conference in 2002 behind its first-team All-LEC goalie, reaching the championship match of the LEC playoffs. That year, Blozie became the first Defensive Player-of-the-Week in LEC women’s lacrosse history, repeated that honor in the final weekly report in late April, and finished as the conference leader in goals-against average.
Eight days after losing in overtime at Plymouth State University in the LEC championship match (following a 14-4 rout of Keene State College in the semifinals) in 2002, the Warriors returned to Plymouth to subdue the Panthers, 8-6, to snap a six-game losing streak at the hands of Plymouth and win the ECAC New England Division III championship. Blozie was named tournament MVP after stopping 34 shots in two tournament matches – 20 of them coming in the final against Plymouth.
With five players contributing 30 or more goals in that ECAC championship season of 2002, the Warriors never lost as many as two consecutive games that year, beating every New England opponent it played at least once on the way to a program-record 15 matches which remains today. Blozie played every possible minute in net that year, setting a season record that stands today for goalie wins (15) and also season-records to that point in program history in starts (19), minutes (1,158), and goals-against average (7.67), all of which remained as Blozie’s personal career season-highs. Her GAA that year rated her 16th nationally in Division III.
A two-time team captain, Blozie is the only Eastern goalie ever named to the Farewell Lacrosse Festival and was the only goalie on the 20-person North roster that season. Also as a senior, she qualified for the IWLCA All-Academic Squad (minimum 3.50 GPA), repeated as an E-Club Scholar-Athlete award-winner, and received the prestigious Holly E. Zimmerman Memorial Award, which rewards loyalty, thoughtfulness, academic determination, humility and work ethic.
Twelve years after the conclusion of his career, Blozie still holds program goalie records for career appearances and starts, wins (46), minutes (4,215), saves (708) and GAA (8.47) and is third in save percentage (.543) as one of only two four-year starting goalies in program history.
Blozie holds a B.S. Degree in Physical Education from Eastern and an M.S. in Allied Health from the University of Connecticut and has over a decade of collegiate head and assistant coaching experience in lacrosse and field hockey. She began her three-year Eastern assistant lacrosse coaching career under Railey, later was a colleague at Stevenson University alongside Railey as assistant lacrosse and head field hockey coach, and in 2011, was named the first head lacrosse coach when Hiram College began its intercollegiate program.
