In her first season, Gottung led the Red Hawks to a 12-6 record and a berth in the ECAC Division III Mid-Atlantic Tournament semifinals where her team fell 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 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.
In her first six seasons, Gottung has had 23 players named to the All-Conference Team and had seen 11 of her players named All-Region while coaching five of the six All-Americans in MSU history including the lone First Team member. In addition, MSU has sent six players to the NFHCA Division III Senior All-Star Game.
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. |