My favorite sports event/memory/moment is ... was playing in the division III National Championship game with Montclair State University and getting the opportunity to continue to work and coach with a few former teammates through Centercourt Field Hockey!
Maura Johnston currently serves as the Head Field Hockey Coach at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison, New Jersey. In the 2019 season, her first as the head coach, the FDU Field Hockey program went 18-5, tired for most wins in a single season in program history. In addition to a record season, the Devils also picked up a MAC Freedom Championship and advanced to the sweet 16 round of the NCAA tournament.
Prior to FDU, the New Jersey native spent the 2019 campaign as an Assistant Coach and Coordinator of Student Athlete Development with the Stevens Institute of Technology. She helped guide the Ducks to a 12-7 record, including a 6-2 mark in the Empire 8 Conference. The Ducks qualified for the empire 8 Conference Championship, earning the No. 3 seed.
Prior to Stevens, Johnston served as a Graduate Assistant Coach at the Catholic University of America for two seasons. In 2017, the Cardinals coaching staff was named the Landmark Conference Coaching Staff of the Year. Catholic had six players garner All-Landmark Conference honors in 2017 while knocking off a trio of ranked opponents.
Additionally, Johnston served on the coaching staff at Montclair State University in the spring of 2016 and was a coach at the USA Field Hockey Futures Tournament, South East Storm Field Hockey Club along with McDaniel College, Misericordia University and Sandy Sticks field hockey camps.
Johnston was a four-year starter at Montclair State, where she led the Red Hawks to their first-ever NJAC Conference Championships in 2012 and 2013. Montclair marched all the way to the NCAA Championship Game in 2012. She was First-Team All-New Jersey Athletic Conference and selected for the NFHCA Senior All-Star Game.
In her four years at MSU, the Red Hawks went 72-14 overall, including a 14-5 mark in the competitive NJAC. A two-time team captain, Johnston played in 85 career games, making 68 starts. She totaled 33 goals and 21 assists which was good for 87 points while adding eight game-winning tallies. Her 87 points are seventh on the Red Hawks career-list, with her 33 goals tied for ninth all-time.
Johnston earned a Master of Science degree from Catholic in May 2018, with a capstone research project titled: What can the NCAA do to recruit and retain more female college coaches? A study to increase diversity in intercollegiate athletics. She also owns a Bachelor of Science degree from Montclair State with a major in health and physical education. Johnston holds a Level 1 USA Field Hockey coaching certificate and is a member of the Alliance of Women Coaches. In 2018, she attended the NCAA Division III Ethnic Minorities and Women's Internship grant orientation.