Erin Coffey on a Roll with College Athletic and Academic Success
It was a special time for Erin Coffey this spring. The 2005 Huntington alumnus starred on the Quinnipiac University women’s lacrosse team alongside former Blue Devil Meghan Turner. The pair had been prevented from playing together last year while Ms. Turner recovered from a torn ACL. Finally united, the two proved to be a formidable combination. 
Ms. Coffey keeps getting better and better on the field. The 5’8, 20 year old has developed into a fine Division I player who has gained the respect of teammates and opponents alike. Her game continues to improve and with two years of eligibility remaining, she seems poised to become one of the top defenders in the northeast.
“I had a great year on the Quinnipiac lacrosse team with Meghan,” Ms. Coffey said. “We both started at defense and it meant a lot to be able to play with someone on the college level that I knew in high school.” After missing two seasons because of a serious injury, Ms. Turner returned to the field as a graduate student, playing while picking up a Master’s degree.
At Huntington, Ms. Coffey was a four-year member of the soccer, track and lacrosse teams. She captained the soccer and lacrosse squads, earning All-League honors in both sports. Her play contributed to a pair of Suffolk soccer crowns. She also was Huntington’s recipient of the Unsung Hero Award in lacrosse.
This year Ms. Coffey played in all 16 games, starting 15 of them. She came up 19 ground balls, drew eight charges and caused 14 turnovers, providing convincing evidence of her dynamic defensive play. She even managed to score twice and assist on another goal, taking seven shots in all, including four on goal.
Her 2007 season was a solid encore to a freshman campaign that saw Ms. Coffey play in every single one of Quinnipiac’s 16 games. In that first college season she scooped up 23 ground balls, drew eight charges and caused eight turnovers, making an immediate splash on the Hamden, Connecticut school’s campus.
Yes, all is going well for Ms. Coffey on the field, and in the classroom, too. “I made the deans list for the spring semester with a 3.74 GPA and was named the NEC (Northeast Conference) Defensive Player of the Week for the first week of the spring season,” she said with pride. She has fallen hard for the college game.
“I absolutely love playing college lacrosse,” Ms. Coffey said. “The amount of work and commitment that's required at that level of play can be overwhelming, but I would never give it up. It has helped me mature and grow as a person along with introducing me to lifelong friends. That is really how I feel about my entire college experience. There is so much work put into classes and assignments, but the end result of living independently, meeting all kinds of new people, and growing as a person makes everything worth it in the long run.”
Earlier this year, Ms. Coffey was accepted into Quinnipiac’s prestigious Masters in Education program that will result in her obtaining both undergraduate and graduate degrees. She will begin classes in the program in the fall semester. “I love school and have a great time being a part of the women's lacrosse team at Quinnipiac, as well,” she said.
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