WORCESTER—A record-setting field hockey star, a dominant football duo, and a pioneering women’s athletics administrator are among the six individuals set to be inducted into the Holy Cross Varsity Club Athletic Hall of Fame this fall.
The 2025 inductees include Maureen Connolly ’18 (field hockey), Jerry Dickinson ’09 (men’s soccer), Ed Kutschke ’86 (football), Megan Orr ’07 (women’s lacrosse), David Puloka ’01 (football, track and field), and honorary inductee Ann Zelesky.
The group will be formally honored during the Varsity Club’s annual dinner on Saturday, Oct. 25, at the Hogan Campus Center.
Record-setting performances and championship pedigrees
Connolly, one of the most decorated field hockey players in school history, starred for Holy Cross from 2014 to 2017. Her senior season saw her score 19 goals and add nine assists, breaking the school’s single-season record for points (47) and tying the single-season goal record. Over her career, she finished second in program history in both goals (50) and points (123), while earning three First Team All-Patriot League honors, three All-Northeast Region selections, and an All-ECAC nod.
Dickinson anchored the Crusaders’ back line from 2005 to 2008 and was named the 2008 Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year. A three-time team captain, he helped lead a defense ranked 20th in the nation in goals-against average that year. He graduated as the program’s all-time leader in minutes played (5,487) and started 67 games.
Kutschke, a standout defensive lineman from 1982 to 1985, earned First Team All-America honors as a senior. He posted 218 tackles, 23 for loss, and 18 sacks in his career—finishing second in school history for sacks upon graduation. His 11 sacks in 1985 set a then-single-season record.
Orr, one of the Patriot League’s most accomplished goalkeepers, led Holy Cross women’s lacrosse to conference titles in 2006 and 2007. A three-time Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Year, she graduated as the league’s all-time leader in saves (867) and was later named to its 25th Anniversary Team.
Puloka was a force in two sports for the Crusaders from 1997 to 2001. On the football field, he was a three-time All-Patriot League selection who racked up 155 tackles, 44 tackles for loss, and 19 sacks. In track and field, he broke school records in the indoor and outdoor shot put and the outdoor discus.
A champion for women’s athletics
Zelesky, the class’s honorary inductee, served as Holy Cross’ senior women’s administrator from 1989 to 2015. Under her leadership, Crusader women’s teams won 35 Patriot League titles and made 13 NCAA Tournament appearances. She previously received the Varsity Club’s Philip E. O’Connell Memorial Award for her service and has been inducted into multiple halls of fame across the region, including the New England and Massachusetts Basketball Halls of Fame.
More information on the Hall of Fame dinner, including ticket details, will be released soon.
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