Hofstra Mourns Death Of Former Field Hockey Star

Jonel Boileau, a former field hockey star at Hofstra University, died late last week from lung cancer. She was 25 years old.

Boileau grew up in Kelowna in British Columbia, Canada, (about 200 miles northeast of Seattle) and came to Hofstra for college. While at Hofstra, Boileau joined the field hockey team, where she was a standout. She was a four-year letter winner on the team, from 2011 through 2014. She started all 80 games at forward, and recorded 48 goals and 18 assists for 114 points. She was the captain of the team her senior year, and when she graduated, she ranked third in goals, fourth in points and seventh in assists in the all-time Hofstra charts.

"The Pride Field Hockey Family and the entire Hofstra community is heartbroken over the loss of Jonel to cancer," Hofstra Head Field Hockey Coach Kathy De Angelis said. "Jonel came cross-continent to Hofstra in 2011 and made a tremendous impact on our team, our university and our lives during her time. She was an amazing athlete, an outstanding student and, most importantly, a tremendous person. Those who knew Jonel were blessed by her friendship and kindness and she will be dearly missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Boileau family and Jonel's many friends and teammates."

As a freshman, Boileau earned the Colonial Athletic Association All-Rookie Team honors before earning three All-CAA awards, including second team honors as a sophomore and first team accolades as a junior and senior. In her senior year, Boileau led the CAA in goals and points, and was named the Player of the Year. She earned National Field Hockey Coaches Association All-Mid-East Region honors three times including first team awards in 2013 and 2014 and second team accolades in 2012. She was also named the CAA Field Hockey Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2014 and was a fourt-time NFHCA National Academic Squad selection as well as a four-time CAA Commissioner's Academic Award recipient.

After she left Hofstra with an international business degree, Boileau attended the University of Massachusetts to earn her master's degree in sports management. While there, she worked as an assistant coach for the Amherst College field hockey team for two seasons.

Once she earned her master's, Boileau returned to Kelowna and was working as a marketing specialist for Stantec, an international design corporation.

A celebration of Boileau's life will be held in Kelowna on Dec. 29.

Photo courtesy Hofstra University