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Newberry College

Newberry, SC 29108
South Carolina Southeast
Private Small Developing team
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Tommy Kelly

Tommy Kelly enters his second season at the helm of the Newberry women's lacrosse program after joining the team for the 2022 season.


In his first season with the Wolves, Kelly led the team to the best record in program history (11-8), and he coached three all-conference performers and a South Atlantic Conference Freshman of the Year. The program witnessed several firsts in Kelly's first season at the helm, including 26 program records, the team's first ever victories over Limestone and Lenoir-Rhyne, and the program's first ever postseason win in the SAC Tournament.


Prior to Newberry College, Kelly inherited a winless program at Davis & Elkins College (W.Va.), and he led the Senators to their first winning season in school history in 2019 and a playoff appearance in 2021. While at Davis & Elkins, Kelly coached 11 All-Conference players as well as a Mountain East Conference Freshman of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year.


He also served as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Slippery Rock University (Pa.), where he developed a defense that allowed 6.8 goals per game while also making the playoffs for the first time in school history in 2017.

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Nick Cotter

Director of Athletics Ralph Patterson announced the addition of men’s lacrosse as Newberry’s 20th NCAA Division II sport on Jan. 20, 2017 and the hiring of Nick Cotter to lead the program into its first season of competition in the spring of 2018.


Cotter is in his fifth season at the helm of Newberry men's lacrosse. He coached the Wolves to a 10-7 record in the 2022 campaign with a 6-4 record in conference play, including a win over at the time 18th ranked Mount Olive (13-12) on the road. Newberry finished the season on a three-game win streak to clinch the fifth seed in the SAC Tournament where they faced no. 16 Queens in the quarterfinal.


The men's lacrosse team earned their best conference record under Cotter in 2021. The Wolves went 7-5 overall and 6-4 in the South Atlantic Conference. Newberry played five ranked opponents in 2021 and defeated #15 Limestone 13-7 for their first win over a ranked opponent. Newberry closed the

season out with three-straight wins with 20 or more goals. Cotter coached five all-conference award winners.


The Wolves went 3-3 in a 2020 season that was abruptly canceled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. They had opened the season with an 11-9 home win over Chowan, adding wins over Emmanuel (19-8) and Davis & Elkins (24-6), which set a program record for goals.


Cotter led the Wolves to a historic 2019 spring season by reaching the quarterfinals in the South Atlantic Conference Tournament. The Wolves finished 10-6 (4-4 SAC), with an impressive 6-2 record on the road.


In his first season at the helm, Cotter led the Wolves to a 4-11 record, including a three-match home win streak that saw them top Alderson-Broaddus (11-7), Chowan (14-10) and Palm Beach Atlantic (9-4).


Cotter had a remarkable collegiate playing career as a three-time All-American at Dowling College that led the Golden Lions to their first-ever Division II national title game appearance in 2006. He has spent the last three seasons as an assistant coach at Saint Leo University in Florida, where he helped the 2016 Lions to a 9-5 overall record and a final ranking just outside the top 20 in the coaches’ poll.


Cotter has also made a collegiate coaching stop at Mercyhurst North East and served as a player/coach with the Charlotte Copperheads of the Professional Lacrosse League. His playing career came to an end following the 2015 season and included stints with three National Lacrosse League franchises as well as teams in two other leagues.


The Ontario native enjoyed his best professional seasons in the NLL, which is an indoor league that includes five American and four Canadian franchises. In a career spanning five NLL seasons, Cotter scored 48 goals and recorded 43 assists in 48 professional games. Cotter recorded his best season in 2010, scoring 20 goals and dishing out 14 assists in 13 games in helping the Boston Blazers advance to the NLL’s Eastern Division Semifinal.


“I’m thankful that Newberry has given me the opportunity to come in and start the program from scratch,” said Cotter. “I look forward to contributing to the winning culture here and joining the Newberry family.”


“We had an outstanding pool of applicants,” said Patterson, “and Nick's name kept coming up from people we had conversations with in our search. We're excited that he's joining the Newberry College family. We look forward to watching him build a great lacrosse program.”


Cotter spent three seasons learning under the tutelage of Brad Jorgensen, who is the only head coach in Saint Leo history and ushered the program into varsity competition prior to the 2006 campaign.


“Nick has a ton of offensive knowledge,” said Jorgensen. “He led the best man-up unit in Division II Lacrosse last season, bringing his unique playing and coaching experience to the field. He’s a tireless recruiter with deep ties in Canadian and Junior College lacrosse as well. He is uniquely prepared to start Newberry's lacrosse program from scratch.”


“Coach Jorgensen has been a great influence on my coaching career,” Cotter said. “He’s taught me the ins and outs of how to build a program. He started a program from scratch and now they’re consistently ranked in the top 15. I’m ready to try to do the same thing at Newberry.”

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