Montclair State University Athletics

The most successful head coach begins her 18th season with the MSU field hockey program. Gottung stepped down in March 2015 after 13 seasons.

When Gottung took over in 2002, Montclair State had a career program record that was 27 games under the .500 mark with four postseason appearances. When she stepped down, Montclair State was 112 games over the .500 mark (a 139-game swing) and with 14 postseason trips, including the only five NCAA Division III Tournament appearances in program history.

Named the 16^th coach in program history, Gottung led Montclair to the postseason 10 times, including all five of those aforementioned NCAA Division III Tournament appearances. Averaging nearly 16 wins per season, she has won over 75 percent of her games while posting a 201-62 mark that includes the top five single-season win totals.

Over 40 players were named to the All-Conference Team under Gottung's watch with 30 of her players named All-Region. In addition she coached 12 of the 13 All-Americans in MSU history including First Team selections Megan Ulicny (2003), Megan Bosland (2012) and Stephanie Lewis (2013). In addition, MSU has sent 14 players to the NFHCA Division III Senior All-Star Game.

Two years, Gottung added to her impressive resume leading MSU to its second straight 20-win campaign while reaching the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive season. The Red Hawks went 21-2 and captured their second NJAC title in as many years edging The College of New Jersey 1-0 in the championship contest. MSU spent the entire season in the NFHCA Division III Top 20 Poll and was ranked No. 1 for several weeks including the final poll heading into the NCAA Tournament. Returning to the NCAA Tournament, Montclair State advanced to the “Elite 8” falling one step shy of a return trip to the NCAA Division III Field Hockey Championship.

Gottung was chosen as the NFHCA South Atlantic Region Coach of the Year for the second time in as many years.

In 2012, Gottung led Montclair State to one of the best seasons not only in program history, but in its athletic history. The Red Hawks became the first female team to play for the national championship as MSU advanced to the title game of NCAA Division III Field Hockey Championship in Geneva, NY. Finishing the year as the national runner-up, Montclair went 22-2 which included a 20-game winning streak, the fourth-longest in athletic history. For two months MSU was unbeatable sweeping its way through its NJAC schedule that featured a 5-1 victory at previously unbeaten, third-ranked and defending national champion The College of New Jersey, 5-1 in Ewing that snapped the Lions’ 24-game winning streak. One month later the Red Hawks claimed their first conference championship beating Rowan 3-0 in the title contest to earn its second straight NCAA Tournament berth.

Montclair defeated Christopher Newport and Rochester in the NCAA Regional at Salisbury University to earn its ticket to the Final Four at William Smith College. The Red Hawks blanked Mary Washington 4-0 in the national semifinal before falling to Tufts in the championship game. The loss however could not diminish a season that saw MSU reset its single-season mark for wins while finishing No. 2 in the final NFHCA rankings.

MSU collected numerous awards for its outstanding campaign which included six chosen to the NJAC All-Conference Team. Four players were selected to the NFHCA All-Region Team with three honored with All-America accolades. Bosland was named the NFHCA South Atlantic Region Player of the Year and the program also collected honors for its work in the classroom as Bosland and Abby Erler, recipient of the NCAA Elite 89 Award at the national tournament, were named to the prestigious Capital One Academic All-America Team.

Gottung also collected some hardware for herself as she was named the NJAC and NFHCA South Atlantic Coach of the Year winning each award for the third time in her career.

The 2011 saw Montclair State storm out of the gate winning its first 14 games shattering the school mark for the best start to a season. The Red Hawks, ranked in the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Top 10 throughout most of the year, also went 5-1 in the league and reached the inaugural NJAC Championship Game. Despite falling to eventual national champion TCNJ, the Red Hawks earned an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament, its first in six years. Montclair would make the most of its return to the national tournament topping Rhodes College in the opening round before falling to Salisbury University to complete the year at 19-3, the 19 victories a new single-season record. Gottung was named NJAC Coach of the Year for the second time.

Named the 16th coach in program history, Gottung led the Red Hawks to a 12-6 record and a berth in the ECAC Division III Mid-Atlantic Tournament semifinals in her first season of 2002, falling 2-1 in overtime to Rensselaer. That loss set the stage for the 2003 season. The Red Hawks went 15-5 (tying the school record for wins in a season at the time) and reached the NCAA Division III Tournament for the first time. MSU won its opening-round game by defeating New England College, 7-1, before falling to eventual national runner-up Middlebury College, 3-2. For her efforts, Gottung was named the NJAC Coach of the Year and the South Atlantic Region Coach of the Year by the NFHCA. In 2004, Gottung guided Montclair State to its fifth consecutive post-season tournament as MSU qualified for the ECAC Tournament and finished 12-7.

The 2005 campaign saw Gottung guide Montclair State to the best season its 49 years of field hockey. The Red Hawks went 17-3 and spent the entire season ranked in the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Top 25, reaching as high as the number five ranking. For the second time in three seasons the Red Hawks qualified for the NCAA Division III Tournament and reached the second round. The success on the field translated into numerous accolades for her players as MSU placed five on the NJAC All-Conference Team, three on the South-Atlantic All-Region squad and two on the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division III All-America Team. On October 11, Gottung became the all-time leader in coaching victories as she earned win No. 49 when the Red Hawks edged Susquehanna, 2-1 surpassing Donna Olson for the top mark.

The next season Gottung added to her already successful coaching resume at MSU as she led Montclair to its second consecutive 17-3 season with all three losses coming to by a goal to ranked teams, including a 4-3 overtime defeat to eventual national champion Ursinus College. The Red Hawks would capture the ECAC Mid-Atlantic Championship again and placed five players on the All-NJAC squad, including the conference's Attack and Goalkeeper of the Year.

In 2007, Montclair posted a 15-6 mark and were ranked in the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Top 25 throughout the season, capping it off by winning its second straight ECAC Mid-Atlantic title as the Red Hawks edged FDU-Florham 2-1 in the championship game.

Six years ago was just another of what has become the norm for the MSU field hockey program. The Red Hawks went 15-6 against one of the nation’s top schedules finishing the 2009 campaign with a flourish. Over the final six contests, Montclair allowed just two goals and posted shutouts over the final four games as it swept its way to the ECAC Division III Mid-Atlantic Championship for the third time in four years. The 15 victories marked the sixth time in the last decade that Montclair had captured that number of wins in a season.

Gottung came to Montclair State from Trinity College in Connecticut where she served as an assistant coach for both the field hockey and women’s lacrosse teams.

Gottung graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in history from American International College in Springfield, MA in 2000. She earned her master’s degree in American Studies from Trinity in July 2002.

At AIC, Gottung was a four-year letterwinner and a three-year captain in field hockey, and a three-year letterwinner and one-year captain in lacrosse. She earned Northeast-10 All-Conference honors in field hockey in 1999, and was selected as an Academic All-American following the 1997 and 1999 field hockey seasons and the 1999 lacrosse campaign.

Gottung was awarded an ECAC Merit Medal in 2000 and earned awards at American International for excellence in civics, history and education as an undergraduate.

Gottung also spent three seasons as head coach of the MSU women’s lacrosse team. She compiled a 29-16 mark, taking the Red Hawks to the postseason for the first time in 2004.