What a year it was....

What a year it was...

For those of you who follow March Madness, you probably look forward to the video montage CBS puts together at the close of the men's championship game. Set to the song "One Shining Moment', the piece reflects on the highs and lows of the frenzied field of 65 (soon to be 68).

As we turn out the lights on another school year, we felt it fitting to look back at 2009-2010 -- another banner year for the University of New England Nor'easters.

Here is our version of 'One Shining Moment.'

Certainly one of the lasting memories from '09-'10 will be the show of emotion from the women's basketball team (see above photo) as the final horn sounded in Big Blue's victory over Regis in the TCCC championship game. Head coach Anthony Ewing's club won a school-record 23 times, en route to the Nor'easters first trip to the Big Dance since 2001.

And how about that numblingly cold evening in November when UNE captured the ECAC New England field hockey championship? Senior Taryn Flagg tallied her third goal of the match 2:13 into overtime to set off a wild celebration under the lights on Barbara J. Hazard Field. Joan Howard and her crew ripped off a program-best 16 wins on their way to the school's first ECAC title.

Several other teams posted impressive seasons along the way. The women's lacrosse team turned a four-win '09 season into a 12-win campaign in 2010 -- the greatest turnaround in NCAA Division III during 2010. The men's soccer team came up with double-digit wins for the first time since 1997, while the women were on the winning side of the ledger 15 times for the second consecutive season. The softball team ripped off its fourth straight year of 20 or more wins, and the swim squad sent a competitor to the ECAC Championship for the first time.

Individually, this space might not be enough for all Big Blue's accomplishments. Flagg was the field hockey program's first all-American, while teammate Anne Cowles was voted TCCC Woman of the Year. UNE boasts four TCCC Senior Scholar-Athletes of the Year, four players/rookies of the year, and a pair of coaches of the year. (click here for a complete listing of all of the award winners)

At a place where academics and athletics goes hand-in-hand, UNE lived that mantra once again, placing a staggering 51 student-athletes on the TCCC Academic All-Conference Team, 10 more than the institution with the next-highest number.

Years down the road when Big Blue loyalists reflect on 2009-2010 chock full of championships individual accolades, it will be tough not to say, 'what a year it was.'