Head Coach
Brandy Michael enters her 14th season as head coach in 2022.
The Blue Jays faced five nationally-ranked opponents in 2017 and earned a 2-1 victory over then-No. 16 Muhlenberg on Sept. 9. They qualified for the Landmark tournament as the No. 4 seed, ending the season with an 8-10 overall record after a 3-0 loss to No. 11 Catholic in the semifinals.
Michael took the Blue Jays to conference championship games four times in five seasons between 2012-16 and finally captured the title that had been eluding her in 2016. Elizabethtown defeated Susquehanna, 1-0, on its home turf at Wolf Field to win the Landmark Conference Championship and give the program its first conference title in more than 25 years.
Michael and the Jays suffered near misses in 2013 and 2015, each season closing with one-goal losses in conference championship games, but this past season the script changed. Picked second in the Landmark Preseason Poll, Elizabethtown maneuvered through the Landmark to complete its first unbeaten conference regular season (7-0) since going 5-0 in the MAC Southeast League in 1991, a feat that earned Michael Landmark Conference Co-Coach of the Year honors.
The top-seeded Blue Jays escaped Goucher's upset bid, 2-1, in the semifinals before taking down No. 3 seed Susquehanna on Nicole Leaf's double overtime goal in the championship game for their first conference championship since 1987.
E-town received the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Field Hockey Championship and was selected to host a first round game against Kenyon in its first national tournament appearance since 2006. Though the Blue Jays suffered a 2-1 overtime defeat to the Ladies, they produced the program's 12th consecutive season of double-digit victories, finishing 14-5.
Michael, a standout player for the Blue Jays from 1999-2002, guided her alma mater to back-to-back conference championship games in 2012 and 2013. Elizabethtown's title game appearance in 2012 was its first since 2001, Michael's sophomore season.
Elizabethtown took a step forward in its second season in the Landmark after falling in the conference semifinals in 2014. The 2015 Blue Jays went 6-1 in the league and secured the top overall seed in the Landmark Championships. E-town defeated Scranton 2-0 on Wolf Field to advance to its first Landmark title game, but came out on the wrong side of a 2-1 decision against nationally-ranked No. 19 Catholic.
2014 marked the Jays' first in the Landmark Conference after decades in the Middle Atlantic Conference and Commonwealth Conference. The Blue Jays earned the No. 2 seed in the Landmark Conference Field Hockey Championship after an 11-7 season, but fell to third-seeded Juniata, 2-1, in double overtime of their semifinal matchup.
Michael's teams finished with identical 14-6 records in 2012 and 2013. Following the 2013 season, one in which E-town finished with a conference-best 7-1 record and captured the Commonwealth Conference's top seed heading into the conference tournament, Michael was named Commonwealth Conference Coach of the Year for the first time.
Michael has coached 31 all-conference players, eight all-region recipients and 2012 All-America Third Team selection Nadine Yunginger. Three players: Taylor Alwine (2014), Halley Donlin and Leaf (2016) have accepted invitations to play in the NFHCA North/South Senior All-Star game under Michael. The head coach represented Elizabethtown in the all-star game during her playing career back in 2002.
The 2012 season was one to remember, as the Blue Jays opened the season with a 2-1 win over No. 10 Franklin & Marshall and followed it up with big wins over rival Juniata (1-0) and No. 13 Lynchburg (2-1). Yunginger, one of the first players to spend an entire season with Michael, broke the school's single-season assists (17) and career assists (38) records. The career assists record stood for the better part of two decades, while the single-season mark was toppled for the first time since 1986.
The Blue Jays spent seven weeks nationally-ranked in the Penn Monto/National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division III National Coaches Poll during the 2013 season, elevating as high as 14th on Sept. 18.
Michael guided the Blue Jays to a 10-7 record in 2011, with four of the team's defeats coming by one goal and three to nationally-ranked opponents (two in overtime). Her first year in charge was also a success, with the Blue Jays going 11-7 and reaching the conference tournament.
Michael, formerly Espenshade, is a 2004 graduate of Elizabethtown College. She led the team in goals with 13 in 2000 and 2002 and finished her career with 32 goals and 77 points. Michael was named All-Commonwealth Conference First Team, NFHCA All-South Atlantic Region Second Team and team Most Valuable Player as a senior in 2002.
In 2006, Michael returned to the program as an assistant coach under Sharon Sweger. The Blue Jays went 44-18 in Michael's three seasons as an assistant, qualifying for the conference tournament each year and the NCAA tournament in 2006. Elizabethtown finished the 2008 season ranked 13th in the final NFHCA Division III Coaches Poll.
As a scholastic student-athlete at Lower Dauphin High School, Michael was a member of the Falcons' 1998 state championship team. In addition to her coaching experience at Elizabethtown, Michael was a head coach in the US Field Hockey Association Futures program and served as an assistant coach at Northern York High School.
Michael holds a USA Field Hockey Level 1 coaching and attacking principles certifications.
| BRANDY MICHAEL YEAR-BY-YEAR COACHING RECORD |
|
Overall |
Conference |
|
| Year |
School |
Wins |
Losses |
Pct. |
Wins |
Losses |
Pct. |
Postseason |
| 2009 |
Elizabethtown |
11 |
7 |
.611 |
5 |
2 |
.714 |
Commonwealth Conference Semifinals |
| 2010 |
Elizabethtown |
14 |
5 |
.737 |
5 |
2 |
.714 |
Commonwealth Conference Semifinals |
| 2011 |
Elizabethtown |
10 |
7 |
.588 |
3 |
3 |
.500 |
Commonwealth Conference Semifinals |
| 2012 |
Elizabethtown |
14 |
6 |
.700 |
6 |
2 |
.750 |
Commonwealth Conference Runner-up |
| 2013 |
Elizabethtown |
14 |
6 |
.700 |
7 |
1 |
.875 |
Commonwealth Conference Runner-up |
| 2014 |
Elizabethtown |
11 |
7 |
.611 |
5 |
2 |
.714 |
Landmark Conference Semifinals |
| 2015 |
Elizabethtown |
11 |
7 |
.611 |
6 |
1 |
.857 |
Landmark Conference Runner-up |
| 2016 |
Elizabethtown |
14 |
5 |
.737 |
7 |
0 |
1.000 |
Landmark Conference Champions
NCAA Division III Championship First Round |
| 2017 |
Elizabethtown |
8 |
10 |
.444 |
4 |
3 |
.571 |
Landmark Conference Semifinals |
| 2018 |
Elizabethtown |
13 |
6 |
.684 |
5 |
2 |
.714 |
Landmark Conference Semifinals |
| 2019 |
Elizabethtown |
6 |
13 |
.316 |
4 |
3 |
.571 |
Landmark Conference Semifinals |
| 2020 |
Elizabethtown |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
season canceled due to COVID-19 |
| 2021 |
Elizabethtown |
7 |
11 |
.389 |
3 |
4 |
.429 |
|
| 2022 |
Elizabethtown |
7 |
10 |
.412 |
3 |
4 |
.429 |
|
| COACHING TOTALS |
| 14 Seasons |
Elizabethtown |
140 |
100 |
.583. |
63 |
29 |
.685 |
|
| 14 Seasons |
|
140 |
100 |
.583 |
63 |
29 |
.685 |
|
Updated 11/18/22
