Shelley Sheiner, Winningest Kean Men’s Lacrosse Coach of All-Time

By Hector Morales | Published April 10, 2023

The Kean Men’s Lacrosse program started out in 1970 with former head coach and former director of Kean Athletics Hawley Waterman When he retired, he was the winningest coach in program history with 207 wins. Now one of his mentees changed history.

Current Cougars Head Coach Shelley Sheiner has surpassed his mentor with 208 wins, making him the winningest men’s lacrosse head coach in program history.

The Cougars were on the road at Newport, Rhode Island, and had a matchup against the Salve Regina University Seahawks and defeated them by the final score of 16-11. It was the 2nd meeting between these two schools, the last time going back to March 7, 2020.  

“It’s very surreal and it’s quite humbling because Coach Waterman was my coach and my mentor,” Sheiner said. “It’s always been his program and I’m just the caretaker of his program.”

The Cougars were off to a fast start by scoring 2 goals in the first eight minutes of the game by Sophomore attacker Nick Thorne and fifth-year midfielder Tommy Pellegrino. 

The Seahawks responded with a goal of their own, but that is all they would get as the Cougars scored 10 unanswered goals in the next 25 minutes of the game, bringing the score to the score 12-1. 

The Seahawks fought back in the second half by scoring five goals in the third quarter, but it was to no avail as the Cougars added four more insurance goals, three of them from the team’s goals and points leader, Connor Batjer. 

“Overall offensively we are doing a nice job and defensively we are starting to come together,” Sheiner said. “I’m happy from where we are at, but we still have levels to go like we still have some room for improvement.

Senior midfielder Anthony Porter collected seven assists throughout the game and now is the team leader in assists. 

“It was an awesome feeling getting the win and it was a huge accomplishment, especially for Coach Sheiner,” Porter said. 

Junior Goalkeeper Devin Reppert made 14 saves against the Seahawks and collected his 90 saves of the season. 

“It was a decent game, there was a lot that we needed to improve on for our defense,” Reppert said. “We need to get better at communication and team defense, but other than that our offensive guys played really well and they matched really well together. 

“It was a big achievement for him,” Reppert said. “I know after our game, he doesn’t look at it as beating previous coaches, he looks at it as the caretaker for the program.”

The Cougars congratulated Coach Sheiner on his accomplishments after the game as they improved their record 8-1 in the Colonial States Athletics Standings.  

“It’s amazing for Coach Sheiner and he deserves nothing less than to be the best,” Freshman attacker Dylan Johnson said.  “He always says it’s not about himself but the team, that’s just who he is and that’s why he accomplished this.”

The Cougars will head on the road once again to Owing, Maryland to match up against the Stevenson University Mustangs. Coach Sheiner hopes the Cougars stay consistent as they are half a season away from the Colonial States Athletics Conference tournament.

“It was awesome traveling with the team up to Rhode Island,” Johnson said. “Team chemistry is building every day and I think we all have been able to read each other on the field and be successful.”

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