Chronicles of Z – Regional Head Coach Focus
By Stephen Zerdelian
There is always change within the coaching ranks but this off-season in the East region has not yielded much in that area. Only one coaching spot switched hands from the end of last winter to the start of this one yet there were a couple of significant losses due to specific circumstances.
The coaching talent drain in the region has been notable in recent years and now the East will have to do without two of its best coaches, Trisha Brown and Jackie Hartzell. Stonehill reclassified to Division I and takes Brown (with 403 wins in 23 seasons) with them while Hartzell lost her job thanks to the University of the Sciences being absorbed by St. Joseph’s University. (Hartzell did land a new coaching gig at Division III Arcadia University, for those wondering). Add their departure from the region to the losses in recent seasons of Barbara Stevens, Gina Castelli, Karen Haag, Kim Lusk and others, and clearly the region has undergone an evolution. This was always bound to happen, and, in many ways, it is a necessity.
How does the region look in coaching terms as we embark on the 2022-’23 season? Let’s take a look. This is by no means a ‘ranking’ but rather a snapshot of where the coaching constituency stands at the moment. Keep in mind that many coaches didn’t get the chance to win any games during the COVID season of 2021, so their win totals are lower than they might otherwise be. (FYI - coaching win totals below refer to the number attained by the start of this season).
Icon status/Veterans
While some brilliant and long-serving coaches are no longer part of the region, there are still some high-profile names to remember… The winningest coach in the region is Jefferson’s Tom Shirley, who opens his 34th season in the City of Brotherly Love with 672 wins at the school and has won 20+ games twenty-four times (including eight of the last nine years). He took the Rams to the NCAA’s for the eleventh time last March and has his outfit among the region’s best again… Joe Pellicane is in his second stint at Molloy and can boast of 558 overall victories in his head coaching career (276 at Molloy). Pellicane has also been at it for more than thirty years (add in his assistant coaching seasons and the ledger climbs to over forty years) and has an appearance in the D2 national title game on his resume (Dowling in 2013)… Carrie Seymour helms defending regional champion Pace, where she also won the 2001 regional. She is entering her 31st season in Pleasantville and passed the 500-win plateau last winter. With thirteen 20+ win campaigns, Seymour stands among the region’s most prolific coaches… Although Kerry Phayre has yet to win a regional, the veteran Assumption mentor always has a competitive team. Entering her 27th season as a Greyhound, Phayre has 405 wins in Worcester (422 overall) and seven NCAA bids under her belt.
Long-time coaches with more than a decade at their current spots
A variety of coaches are mainstays at their institutions and continue to build stellar career resumes… Kristen Hutchison starts her 16th season as AIC’s head coach, where, of course, she played and was an assistant coach, reaching the Elite Eight in both of those roles. 229 wins dot her head coaching resume, and she has guided the Yellow Jackets to a trio of NCAA berths since taking over… Karen Pinkos had her best team yet at Southern New Hampshire last season and comes into her 18th season with 216 wins and a rising program… Bet Naumovski has been at Queens for a dozen years now and has racked up 132 wins in that time. She took the Knights to the 2017 Elite Eight and after a dip the program shows signs of a renaissance lately… Bill Diener opens his 13th season at Dominican with another CACC North contender. The Chargers have won 162 games under his direction and in the COVID season of 2021 won the CACC title and were the #1 seed in the NCAA regional… Steve Fagan guides another CACC North team, Felician, where he starts his fifteenth season and can look ahead to another year of contention. Fagan has won 125 games as Golden Falcon mentor… Mark Swasey’s second stint at Franklin Pierce has yet to bear fruit like his first one did, when the Ravens made a pair of Elite Eight showings. Over the span of his previous ten years at FPU, though, Swasey has won 147 games and shown the ability to recruit successfully internationally.
Young Veterans
The young veteran category includes some very talented coaches who have enjoyed success, some of whom may eventually rise into the icon status/veterans categories… Daemen’s Jenepher Banker has won 100 games as she enters her seventh season at the controls. A regional title in ’21, a regional final appearance last year and consistent success in the ECC sets Banker up to rise rapidly through the ranks… Corey Boilard led Saint Anselm to their first Elite Eight in 2019 and starts his sixth season on the Hilltop with 75 wins… Entering his sixth season at Post, Jon Plefka has the Eagles flying high as the dominant team in the CACC North. The former professional baseball player has 65 wins on his resume and hopes to find a break-through to CACC and/or NCAA tourney success this season… The leading scorer in Southern Connecticut history is their head coach, Kate Lynch. The former All-American, who played a vital role in the Owls winning the 2007 NCAA D2 title, has taken to coaching like a duck to water. Lynch had previous stops at CCRI and Molloy and enters her eighth season at SCSU with 89 wins and a growing reputation… Bill Cleary is only in his second season at St. Thomas Aquinas but is a veteran of the coaching game, having had success at Wilmington, Bloomsburg and Colgate over the years. Cleary won 14 games last year at STAC and has a shot at reaching the 300-win mark overall this year as he comes into play with 283 victories… Jim Connolly is entering his fourth year at Chestnut Hill and has quickly built a formidable program. The Griffins made their first NCAA tourney appearance last March and seem set to be a factor in the CACC with the former Philadelphia University star running the show… Jazz Perazic has overseen a period of sustained growth at Georgian Court and led her team to the 2021 NCAA’s. The former professional player has 63 wins in her previous eight years at GCU but has won double digits in three of the last four campaigns… Bethann Burke broke the Goldey-Beacom record for wins with her first victory this season (her 95th) as she guides the Lightning into battle for the ninth straight term… Debbie Buff opens her fourth season at New Haven with 46 wins but her background has a number of impressive stops on it, including a successful seven-year spell at D2 Wheeling Jesuit… Shannon Bollhardt has posted 68 wins at St. Michael’s, where she enters her tenth season… Kevin Clifford’s run at Roberts Wesleyan has produced 59 wins, an ECC title and an NCAA bid in 2021. He starts his fifth campaign at RWC having crafted winning seasons thrice in the previous four years… Scott Lagas marshalled Mercy to their best season since 1997 (by far!) be nailing down 11 wins last year. The fifth-year mentor hopes to continue the momentum gained last time out and rise in the ECC… John Nakpodia has slowly built the roster at the University of the District of Columbia, where he begins his sixth season with 35 wins as head man… Nicole Sarcone ushered the transition to Division II for the College of Staten Island, where she is beginning her fifth season. Sarcone has 42 wins overall and shows a lot of promise as she gains experience… Christie Conforti has had a journey so far in her young coaching career. The Caldwell head coach debuted with 13 wins last year but was the leader at fellow CACC North program Concordia for eight years before that institution closed their doors in 2021, so while still getting acclimated at Caldwell, she is not inexperienced… Bernadette Laukaitis returned to her alma mater, Holy Family, and has won 32 games in two full seasons (with one lost to COVID in between). She won 23 games as head coach at D3 Cabrini before a successful ten-year run as an assistant at Penn, so she brings a lot of good DNA to the Tigers… Vanessa Watson also starts her sixth winter at Bloomfield after a great career as a high school head coach… Mike West begins his second year at Bridgeport but can call upon four seasons of experience at Chestnut Hill, where he won 56 games… Rashidi Aikens kicks off his fifth year at Alliance University (formerly known as Nyack College) as his rebuild of the program continues.
New or New-ish
The final group of coaches includes a wide spectrum of folks. Some of these coaches have extensive assistant coaching backgrounds but minimal head coaching experience. While that makes them relatively new in their posts, it does not preclude quick success for their programs… Longtime Bentley assistant C White annexed the NE10 title in her true first season, winning 19 games and making an NCAA tourney visit… Mary Grimes led Le Moyne to 17 wins and an NCAA bid during her first winter with the Dolphins and has a bright future ahead… Sade Jackson returned to her alma mater Adelphi last season and gained a dozen wins while getting her feet beneath her… Whitney Edwards, after a number of stops as an assistant, is entering her third year at the College of Saint Rose and starting the process of building the roster… Kerry Jenkins had to start from scratch last year at Wilmington and continues the task of building a respectable program with the Wildcats this term… The only rookie head coach in the region is D’Youville’s Ali Bouman. She comes to the party after assistant coaching roles at Davenport (her alma mater), Gannon and Minnesota-Duluth, and after a playing career which lasted five years and ended in Australia in 2018.