Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 8/16/23
From Staff Report
Colorado Mesa Interim Director of Athletics Joan McDermott has officially announced the hiring of Ashley Delaney (Pottsgrove) as the head coach of the Maverick women’s lacrosse program.
Delaney assumes the head coach role of the Division II program after serving as the assistant coach at CMU since August 2019. She replaces former women’s head coach Shannon McHale, who departed in July for the same position at Lenoir-Rhyne University.
Delaney left Pottsgrove as the school’s all-time leader in points and goals scored, garnering three First Team All-Area selections.
In her four years as the assistant coach at CMU, Delaney was primarily responsible for running the midfield and defense for the Mavericks. Over the last couple of years, she helped develop defender Kelsey Viger into the second IWLCA First Team All-American in program history, as well as the RMAC Defensive Player of the Year in 2023. The Mavericks had an 82 percent clear percentage, corralled 52.5 percent of draw controls and allowed fewer than 10 goals per game during the 2023 season.
Prior to her time at CMU, Delaney coached at NCAA Division III Muhlenberg College in Allentown and coached at the club level in Southern California. Delaney played college lacrosse at LIU Brooklyn from 2011-2014, accumulating 33 goals as a midfielder for the Division I Blackbirds.
With Delaney on staff, the Mavericks finished last season at 11-6 overall with a 9-1 RMAC record and a share of the RMAC regular season conference championship, the first in program history. The Mavs also reached the finals of the RMAC Tournament for the third consecutive season.
Delaney is not the only Pioneer Athletic Conference alum to serve as head coach at Colorado Mesa. The CMU men’s program is coached by Troy Moyer, a Boyertown grad.
