Former Division I head coach Amanda Janney Misselhorn, the recipient of the 2024 USA Field Hockey Humanitarian Award, is set to begin her second season as Penn State Harrisburg field hockey's head coach in 2025.
The only head coach in program history, Misselhorn led Penn State Harrisburg field hockey into NCAA competition during the program's inaugural season in 2024. Under her leadership, the Lions put together an historic fall that saw them win nine games during their debut campaign before making a run to the semifinal round of the United East Championship Tournament. Under her guidance, six players earned United East All-Conference honors, including first-team plaudits for Alexis Nasuta, Kylie Rife, and Natalie Rocuskie, while Sadie Cook, Rachel Lane, and Macenzie Mulholland secured second-team all-conference recognition. Rocuskie and Anna Moyer were named to the Field Hockey Analyst Division III Watchlist and Penn State Harrisburg climbed as high as No. 28 in the Field Hockey Corner RPI Rankings.
Following her first campaign at Penn State Harrisburg, Misselhorn was honored as the recipient of the USA Field Hockey Humanitarian Award presented annually to an individual who has transcended the game of field hockey and achieved something inspirational to us all. This individual has used field hockey to better themselves, his/her community and beyond. Under Misselhorn's tutelage, Maggie Kutz became the first student-athlete with Down Syndrome to play NCAA field hockey. Kutz, a member of Penn State Harrisburg's career studies program, started her first game in 2024, helped break down barriers throughout her career and served as a reminder that field hockey is about so much more than wins and losses.
A 14-year veteran at the NCAA Division I level, Misselhorn served as head coach at Indiana University for four years after spending a decade as head coach at Temple University. Prior to taking the reins at Penn State Harrisburg, Misselhorn served as the head coach at nearby Warwick High School after a two-year stint as head coach at Donegal High School. Prior to her time in the high school ranks, she spent four seasons at Indiana after leading the way at Temple for 10 years.
During her time with the Hoosiers, Misselhorn led her squad to the most Big Ten victories in a single season in program history in 2015 and guided IU to back-to-back Big Ten Tournament appearances in 2015 and 2016, respectively. Under Misselhorn's tutelage, standout Kate Barber became just the second player in program history to earn National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) All-America First-Team honors.
Across 10 seasons at Temple, Misselhorn racked up 114 victories and built the Owls into a program that made 10 straight postseason appearances and achieved success on the national level, including a final ranking of No. 14 in the NFHCA Coaches Poll in 2014. While there, she guided three players to all-America recognition and coached five Atlantic 10 Players of the Year, as well as 16 regional all-Americans.
Before securing her first head coaching position in the college ranks, Misselhorn contributed as the top assistant at the University of Pennsylvania for two seasons, including a 2004 campaign that saw the Quakers win an Ivy League Championship and garner a top-20 national ranking. She began her college coaching career as an assistant at James Madison University in 2002 and contributed to a squad that made an NCAA Tournament appearance after being ranked as high as No. 4 in the nation that fall.
Prior to her career in coaching, Misselhorn was a four-year player at Wake Forest University. While there, she tallied 21 goals and 17 assists. She also competed as a member of the USA Indoor National Team and helped the squad win gold at the 2010 Women's National Indoor Championship.
Misselhorn graduated Cum Laude from Wake Forest in 1999, studied Higher Education Management at UPenn, and earned her Health and Physical Education teaching certification from Eastern University in May 2024.
