Head Field Hockey Coach - Shelly Behrens

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Millersville University Director of Athletics Peg Kauffman named Elizabethtown native and Lower Dauphin graduate Shelly Behrens as the program’s head coach on August 7, 2008. With 19 years of coaching in the collegiate ranks--including 10 as a Division I head coach--Behrens brings a wealth of experience and extensive recruiting contacts to Millersville.

Behrens is coming off a successful one-year stint at Oneonta State where she quickly transformed the program with a 10-9 overall record and a second-place finish in the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC).

“Being from Central Pennsylvania and a graduate of Lower Dauphin, I am very familiar with Millersville University and the Millersville field hockey,” said Behrens. “It’s a great opportunity to be closer to my family and take the program to a level where it hasn’t been in some time. It will be a unique situation for the players and me, but we are ready to hit the ground running. We will play high-energy, fast-paced, attacking style. I know the student-athletes will respond.

“I am well aware of the history at Millersville," Behrens continued. "There is such a great tradition of field hockey players in the Harrisburg and Lancaster area,” said Behrens. “I hope we can start attracting so of the top players to Millersville. I am excited because Peg (Kauffman) and I are on the same page and have a shared vision for the program. We are going to go after the local talent, get them in our uniform and bring back the rich tradition of Millersville field hockey.” 

Behrens established herself as a winning head coach at the game’s top level by building Virginia Commonwealth into a competitive program. She amassed 33 victories in five seasons and led the team to back-to-back 10-win seasons in 2003 and 2004. The 2003 season marked the first time the Rams reached double-digit wins in a season in over a decade. The squad also recorded six straight wins, which was the longest streak since the 1992 season that included an 11-game streak. The following season, the Rams went 10-9, which was the first winning season for VCU since 1992.

Behrens was selected as the Colonial Athletic Association Coach of the Year in 2003 and the program also produced the first of two-straight conference rookie of the year award-winners. Also during her tenure, Carlot Verloop set school records for points in a season (44) and goals in a season (20).

Prior to taking over at Virginia Commonwealth, Behrens spent four years as the head coach at the University of Richmond, from 1997 to 2001. Behrens led the Spiders to their first-ever victory in the CAA tournament during her first season and twice led the team to the semifinals of the league championships during her tenure.

Behrens was also a Division I assistant for eight years, coaching in the NCAA Tournament three times.  Her collegiate coaching career began at Penn State in 1989 as an assistant. While there, she helped the Nittany Lions to an 18-3-1 record and an NCAA berth.  The following year, Penn State compiled a 21-4 overall mark and advanced to the NCAA semifinals.

Following her time at Penn State, Behrens moved to James Madison for a two-year stint before becoming an assistant at Northeastern, where she was part of the 1994 Huskies’ squad that finished 16-5-1 and captured the America East Championship.

Behrens has also been heavily involved in USA Field Hockey at both the national and developmental levels.  She served as the goalkeeping coach on the U.S. team that won a silver medal at the 1999 Pan American Games and the national squad that competed in the 2000 Olympic Qualifier Tournament in Milton Keynes, England. She has worked with the U-21, U-18 and U-16 teams as well.

Behrens received a bachelor’s of science degree in education from Old Dominion in 1988. She was a standout player, serving as the starting goalkeeper for the Monarchs for four-straight seasons and received first team All-South Region honors during her junior and senior seasons.  She was a member of four teams that reached the NCAA Tournament. The 1984 team won the national championship and the 1985 team finished as the national runner-up. Behrens also competed on the United States’ U-21 Junior National Team.