Widener University Athletics

Erica Crell is in her seventh year as an assistant field hockey coach at Widener. She assists head coach Larissa Gillespie with all aspects of the program with an emphasis on the training and development of the defenders and goalkeepers.
 
A plethora of Pride defenders and goalkeepers have been recognized for their efforts on the field and in the classroom over the past three seasons under Crell’s guidance. Five players have earned All-MAC Commonwealth postseason laurels,  most recently Sabrina Roberto garnering Second Team accolades in 2017. The list also includes Hannah Dinsmore making the first team in 2013, and both goalkeepers who have been regular starters over the past three years have picked up postseason awards. Maggie Karmeris has been named a CoSIDA Academic All-American twice, while Mikayla Ninos has been named to the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Team and has earned All-MAC Commonwealth Honorable Mention status.
 
Before coming to Widener, Crell served as an assistant coach and goalkeeping specialist for three seasons at Delaware. She played a big role in the program’s amazing turnaround in 2009 in which the team captured the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament title and earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament. 
 
Prior to Delaware, Crell served in a goalkeeping consultant positon at Lebanon Valley College from 2003 through 2007 and helped lead the team to the 2004 ECAC Tournament. In 2003, she landed her first college coaching position as an assistant coach specializing in goalkeeping for Princeton University. In this role, she helped the team win the Ivy League title and earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
 
In addition to her experiences at the collegiate level, Crell served as a goalkeeping coach for the Cherry Hill West, Montgomery, and Lenape High School teams in New Jersey. She also worked with the USFHA Future’s Program from 1998-2009, serving as the head goalkeeping coach in New Jersey and later served as an assistant and head coach for the program in Pennsylvania and Delaware.
 
Aside from coaching, Crell has written books on goalkeeping.  Her first book is entitled “Mastering the Net: Field Hockey Goalkeeping Basics” and she also wrote “Thinking Outside the Box: Fixing and Enhancing Techniques in Goalkeepers.” In addition, Crell has also worked in advertising and marketing for several Fortune 500 pharmaceutical companies.
 
Crell also excelled as a student-athlete at the scholastic and collegiate levels. She most notably helped the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers capture the 1997 ECAC championship after spending her first two years as a member of the Old Dominion field hockey team. In addition, Crell broke school records for least numbers of goals allowed in a season (10) and most saves in a game (26) at Cherry Hill West High School to later become the youngest athlete to be inducted into the school’s athletics hall of fame.
 
Crell, who also coaches a local club team in the offseason, graduated from Rutgers in 1999 with a bachelor’s degree in English and a minor in biology.  She is a USFHA Level II certified coach and currently resides in Wilmington, Del. With her husband and two children.