By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 8/25/24
Long-time Penncrest assistant and alum Evan Pettit was accepted as the Lions’ head boys’ lacrosse coach Thursday night at a Rose Tree Media school board meeting .
Pettit was an assistant at Penncrest for 21 years under veteran coach Wayne Matsinger, who retired after the spring season following a career that spanned 36 years.
Pettit, who starred at attack and midfield at Penncrest and is 10th all-time at Elmira College in goals and points, also has coached with NXT and for more than 20 years with the Rose Tree Optimist youth program.
“One thing I knew I always wanted to do was coach,” said Pettit, a Social Studies teacher at Penncrest High.
Pettit answered these questions:
Why did you want this job? “I wanted to coach at PHS ever since my dad taught me about this game. Playing and coaching lacrosse has been a dream of mine. Since I also played at PHS I have always been excited to contribute to the program in any way, and now as the head coach, it is definitely the fulfillment of a dream I’ve had since graduating college. I just love being a part of our community and lacrosse is the most enjoyable way I feel I can contribute to it.”
What is your general coaching philosophy? “For me it’s really all about positivity. As a teacher and coach, I think student-athletes respond and perform best when they have a positive attitude. That starts with the coaching staff. Keeping things upbeat and positive is what I think is most important to being a successful coach.”
What are your goals? “We have high expectations every year. We play in a super competitive public schools league, the Central League, and the kids are getting competitive opportunities every single game. Our expectations are to make the playoffs every year and compete for district and state titles.
Matsinger retired after 25 years as head coach and 11 as an assistant to Jef Hewlings. In his 25 years as head man, Matsinger accumulated 316 wins, five Central League titles, one PIAA championship (2014), one District 1 AA title (2021), and a runner-up finish in districts (2022).
“With Coach Hewlings and then having coach Matsinger here so long, we established a winning tradition,” said Pettit. “The coaches have tried to do things the right way and that makes it easy for me. Expectations are high and with this tradition we look to continue in the same path.”
