Brandy Michael

Title

Head Field Hockey Coach
Alma Mater

Elizabethtown '04
Email

michaelb@etown.edu
Office

Thompson Gym 108U
Phone

717-361-1412
Career Record

126-79

When the Elizabethtown College field hockey team opens its 2015 season, Brandy Michael will become the second-longest tenured coach in program history. Michael, whose teams have qualified for the postseason in each of her six previous campaigns, begins her seventh season on the Blue Jays' sideline this fall.

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, when Michael was a sophomore.

Two streaks carried on in 2014, the Jays' first in the Landmark Conference after decades in the Middle Atlantic Conference and Commonwealth Conference. Elizabethtown totaled 11 wins (11-7) for its 10th straight season of 10 wins or more and also participated in postseason play for the 10th consecutive fall. The Blue Jays earned the No. 2 seed in the Landmark Conference Field Hockey Championship, 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.

In her six seasons at the helm, Michael has coached 22 all-conference players, four all-region recipients and 2012 third team All-American Nadine Yunginger '13. Taylor Alwine '15, who played her entire career for Michael, was recognized with three all-conference first team selections, two All-Atlantic South Region honors and became the sixth player in program history to compete in the NFHCA North/South Senior All-Star game. Michael represented the College in the all-star game back in 2002.

The 2012 season was one to remember, as the Blue Jays opened the season with a 2-1 win over 10th-ranked Franklin & Marshall and followed it up with big wins over traditional rival Juniata (1-0) and 13th-ranked Lynchburg (2-1).

Yunginger, one of the first players to play her entire career for Michael, broke the school's single-season assists (17) and career assists (38) records. Yunginger broke a career record which 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 mentored the Blue and Gray 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).

Michael’s first year in charge was a success. The Blue Jays went 11-7 and reached the conference tournament. As a rookie head coach, Michael built on the program’s previous successes by leading Elizabethtown to its fifth straight season of 10 wins or more.

While the team prospered as a whole under Michael in 2009, four players were able to earn All-Commonwealth Conference honors, including First Team selections Julie Foster '11 and Caitlin Smith '10. Foster and Linsey Fasold '11 both earned First Team recognition in 2010.

The former Brandy Espenshade, Michael is a 2004 graduate of Elizabethtown. She served as an assistant coach for three seasons under Sharon Sweger and was an All-Commonwealth Conference and All-South Atlantic Region performer as a member of the Blue Jays.

Michael was the team's leading goal scorer, with 14, as a senior in 2002 and received second team all-region accolades. While assisting Sweger in 2008, Elizabethtown finished 13th in the final NFHCA Division III Coaches Poll.

For her career, Michael compiled 32 goals and 13 assists for 77 points. The Blue Jays advanced to the league playoffs in each of her final three seasons, including the Commonwealth Conference title game in 2001. She was a four-year letterwinner, team captain and voted the team's Most Valuable Player as a senior.

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.

Brandy Michael 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
Coaching Totals
6 Seasons	Elizabethtown	74	38	.661	31	12	.721
6 Seasons		74	38	.661	31	12	.721

Updated 8/10/15