NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion field hockey standout, Shelly Behrens, recently became just the third ODU field hockey player to win a national championship as a student-athlete and as a head coach. Behrens led Millersville to their first-ever Division II NCAA Championship, which was also the first-ever NCAA Championship for a women's sport for the Marauders.
Behrens joins Christy Morgan and Laura Molliken as the only ODU players to win a championship title as a student-athlete and a coach. As a player, Morgan helped lead the Monarchs to three national championships (1982, ‘83, ‘84) and became the first person in NCAA field hockey history to win a championship as a player and coach when she led the JMU Dukes to a national title in 1993. Moliken’s Old Dominion teams compiled a 98-4-1 record from 1989 to 1992 and won three consecutive NCAA Championships. As a head coach, she led Ursinus to a Division III National Championship in 2006.
The Marauders compiled a 20-3 overall record and shutout LIU Post, 1-0, in the title match to claim the championship trophy. Under Coach Behrens, Millersville has notched a 85-56 record, two NCAA Tournament appearances and three Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championship appearances. Following the 2014 season, the squad also set school records for wins (20) and shutouts (13).
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.
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.
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