Rowan Lifer Lindsay Delaney Fostering Family Atmosphere

Days before the final game of the 2003 season, the realization finally sank in for Lindsay Delaney (née Hanson).

She always had the mindset of looking toward the future, but as a senior with only one game remaining on the schedule, there was no longer anything up ahead. It dawned on Delaney, named the 2003 Division III Defensive Player of the Year by the Women’s Lacrosse Club of South Jersey, that this would be the last competitive lacrosse game of her career.

She called her friend, teammate and future Rowan Hall of Famer Maggie Goodman Reed to talk about how she couldn’t believe that would be it.

In that contest against Salisbury — which eventually played in the NCAA tournament regional final — Goodman Reed scored multiple goals. Delaney can remember the visual of her friend pointing across the field to her after each score.

Rowan ultimately lost the game 9-8, but Delaney said the effort of her teammates was the best end-of-year gift she could have received. She knew Rowan would be OK without her in the future.

What she didn’t know, though, was that Rowan wouldn’t be without her for very long. In 2005, Delaney rejoined the program, serving as an assistant coach for three years before becoming the program’s head coach in 2008. The 2025 season is her 18th in charge of the Profs, the second-most in program history behind her own coach, Mary Marino, and the team has gotten off to the best start ever.

“I couldn’t imagine my life without Rowan in it,” Delaney said. “I feel so proud to be a part of this program as an alum but also so lucky and honored that they chose me in the first place. I just feel it’s my job to work, every day, really hard for the girls and give them my best effort. I have no desire to go anywhere else. Why would I?”

Delaney wanted two things from her college experience: she wanted to play both lacrosse and field hockey, and she wanted to follow in her father’s footsteps and be a teacher and coach. Her father, Tom Hanson, taught and coached football at Camden (N.J.) High School. She described him as a player’s coach, one that was compassionate toward his players, and in turn, they would “run through a wall for him.”

When Delaney went through the recruiting process, Rowan was the only school that gave her the opportunity to play both sports. Rowan has a highly regarded teacher education program, and as a bonus, it was also close to home.

After graduating, Delaney got a high school teaching job at her alma mater, Collingswood (N.J.) High, and Marino asked her to stay on at Rowan as a part-time assistant. When Marino retired, Delaney was only 25 years old. She wasn’t the heir apparent to the position. The athletic department told her she would have to go through the process like any other applicant. So she did.

The athletic director at the time, Joy Solomen, eventually chose Delaney as Marino’s successor. Delaney said she wants to make everyone, including the alumni, proud. She still feels an immense amount of self-inflicted pressure, but it is also what drives her.

“They took a risk,” she said. “I wasn’t a head coach somewhere else. I didn’t have a huge background. But I knew Rowan, I knew the school and I knew the kids that went there. I know the recruiting area. I knew we could compete at the highest level.”

The gamble has paid off.

Delaney is the winningest head coach in Rowan history. She’s taken her teams to six NCAA tournaments, four of which came in her first four seasons. Her defenses have recorded two of the only three shutouts in team history. Her teams have set single-season records for goals scored (302 in 2023) and team wins (14 in 2018 and 2023).

This season, Rowan won the first eight contests of the year, setting a new record for the best start to a season. The Profs are now 9-1 with the bulk of their NJAC schedule on the way.

Senior midfielder Molly Green, who has broken program records for caused turnovers and draw controls in a career, said Delaney has helped her make such big individual contributions, which has led to team success.

“She has given me the complete freedom to play my style. I like to take risks. I like to be aggressive,” Green said. “Sometimes, a coach could try to reign that play in. I think she’s completely let me do my own thing, which is something I really appreciate. I, personally, don’t like to be restricted. I like to play off my instincts. She’s allowed me to be myself.”

The fondness players have for Delaney extends beyond the playing field. At the end of every season, she invites the team to her house for a barbecue and party — “the last moment the team each year all gets to spend together.” Green said it would be easy to do something at school or in the locker room, but the fact she hosts everyone at her own home shows how much she cares.

Delaney has been fortunate enough to celebrate with her players. In addition to the end-of-season parties, she’s been invited to weddings, and recently, she got to meet the newborn daughter of one of her 2016 graduates.

She’s been there for the difficult moments, too. She’s helping one of her former players through a divorce. She also helped graduate student and captain Sophia Schiavo get through one of the toughest moments in her life. One week after the completion of Schiavo’s junior year, her younger brother, who was 10 years old at the time, was riding his bike when he was hit by a car. She described it as a “life or death” moment.

Schiavo said she felt selfish celebrating her successful season while her brother fought for his life, but she said Delaney talked with her about the importance of mental health, and her coach told her something she will never forget.

“Talking to somebody doesn’t show signs of weakness. It shows strength,” Schiavo said. “The amount of support that I felt from her alone was just immense. It was something I could never imagine getting from a coach, somebody that’s outside your family but makes you feel like family because of everything they’ve done for you.”

Schiavo’s brother is 50 percent blind, but she and her family are just grateful he is still alive.

Delaney is used to a coach’s players being a part of the family. She grew up with her father’s football players as part of her world, and now, her son has the same experience. Three alumnae still have keys to her house after babysitting her son once they graduated.

Delaney takes pride in being someone her players, past and present, can come to, no matter how long it’s been since they last talked. It’s important to her because in the same way she supports her players, her players supported her when she needed it most.

In June 2023, Delaney’s father died suddenly. He cut his leg, got a blood infection and passed in three days. In her darkest moment, she leaned on her team.

“I want them to know they can always come home, that Rowan is always going to be there,” she said. “Every one of them was there for me. As much as they’ve needed me, in my growing up here, I’ve needed them, too. They’ve all made me better. They’ve all been there for me in my lowest moment. … We know the program is about more than wins and losses.”

After a subpar 2024, the eight victories to start 2025 already matched last year’s win total. The Profs have victories over Stevens and Christopher Newport, programs they lost to a year ago and are perennially ranked nationally.

Schiavo planned to stop playing after last year but returned for a fifth season because she knew it could be a special year with so much talent coming back. She’s glad the team has produced a product to make Delaney proud.

“She’s always been a great mentor for me,” she said. “I’m not only happy for the girls we get to experience this together, but I’m happy for her that she finally gets the wins attached to her name and gets the credit she deserves.”

For her part, Delaney said she’s just part of the program, and that there have been so many great people involved in her journey. She credited to her players and her assistants, Lindsey Kate-Smith and Nicole Valianti.

The latter was the 2011 NJAC Defensive Player of the Year and one of Delaney’s former players. She’s one of the many Delaney protégés that have gone on to coach lacrosse at some level. When her father died, Delaney went back and counted 42 former players that went on to be coaches at the college, high school, youth or club levels. Some of them went back home to Rowan just like she did.

That’s her favorite part of the program. In many ways, she’s the shepherd of it all.

“I get to coach at the place I love,” she said, “These girls and women on this team are just great kids. They work so hard in the classroom, they’re great in the community. ... I just feel lucky.”