Raenee Savin enters her 20th season as head coach of the LIU field hockey team in 2022.
During the 2021 season, the Sharks appeared in the Northeast Conference championship and finished the season 4-3 in conference action. Three players earned all-conference honors: Sammy Bell, Rachel Vellis, and Felicia King were placed on the second team.
On October 22, 2021, Savin earned her 200th win as a head coach with a 3-0 shutout versus Sacred Heart.
In a challenging 2020-21 season, Savin led the program to a 4-1 NEC record in a shortened spring season. The Sharks earned a No. 2 seed to the NEC championship game, led by NEC Rookie of the Year Sol Espona. And senior Sammy Bell earned All-NEC honors for the second straight season.
LIU's first year as the Sharks in 2019-20 saw the team go 4-2 in NEC action, earning a postseason bid.
After 16 seasons at the helm of Division II LIU Post, Savin boasted an overall record of 183-117. She became the all-time winningest coach in LIU Post field hockey history in 2011.
To close out the final season of play at the NCAA Division II level in 2018-19, Savin guided the Pioneers to a 13-5 overall record, a 12-3 Northeast-10 Conference record and advanced to the semifinals in the NE10 tournament in 2018. Savin’s squad led all of NCAA Division II in goals per game with 3.61, points per game with 9.28, and scoring average with 3.58. In addition, Savin mentored the Pioneers’ all-time leader in goals and points, Emily Miller, who closed out a stellar career leading the nation in assists per game with .83. Savin led a team that was nationally ranked throughout the 2018 season, and closed out the campaign ranked sixth in the nation.
In 2014, Savin became the seventh coach in the history of NCAA Division II field hockey to lead her team to at least two NCAA Championship games and the sixth coach to travel to the National Championship in back-to-back years. Savin's club finished 18-4 and won the Northeast-10 regular season championship for the second consecutive season. The green and gold were selected to participate in the NCAA Tournament where they knocked off Stonehill in the national semifinals, exacting revenge over a club that had beaten them in Brookville just 12 days earlier. Once again, the awards came streaming in for the team, as four players received All-NE-10 accolades, including NE-10 Player of the Year Keliann Margiotta. The junior forward also won Player of the Year honors from Synapse Sports and the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference, and was an All-American selection by Synapse and NFHCA/Longstreth. Graduate student Dani Crouse took home NE-10 Defensive Player of the Year laurels and also received the ECAC Defensive Player of the Year Award. An All-American in her own right, Crouse was also the inaugural winner of the NFHCA Division II Scholar-Athlete Award for maintaining a 4.0 grade-point average.
Not to be outdone, Savin was rewarded with the NE-10 and NFHCA East Region Coach of the Year Awards, marking the second straight year that she had taken home Coach of the Year honors.
The Pioneers recorded an unforgettable 2013 campaign as an associate member of the Northeast-10 Conference, winning 21 straight contests en route to an NE-10 title and a spot in the NCAA Championship game. The team finished with a 21-1 overall record, marking the best season in program history. Additionally, Savin became the first coach in the history of the Pioneers field hockey program to notch 100 wins, a mark she achieved in a 2-1 win over St. Michael's on October 20.
Savin’s teams have traditionally achieved great success in the classroom, receiving the NFHCA Division II National Academic Team award on a consistent basis. In 2010, the team finished with a 3.48 GPA - the second-highest team GPA in the nation. The team received the honor once again in 2014, compiling a team grade-point average of 3.24. In addition, Dani Crouse was dubbed a Scholar of Distinction for completing a perfect 4.0 GPA in the fall semester.
Savin became the 10th head coach in LIU Post field hockey history in November 2002, after serving for four seasons as an assistant coach under former head coach Jessica Hammer. During Savin’s tenure as a Pioneer assistant, the team put together three consecutive winning seasons from 2000-02, including appearances in the postseason ECAC Tournament in 2001 and 2002.
A versatile athlete during her four years at LIU Post, Savin played for four seasons with the Pioneer field hockey squad, seeing action for virtually every moment of her collegiate career. Savin also competed for four years on the LIU Post softball team, helping the squad reach the NCAA Regionals during her final three seasons.
Savin graduated from LIU Post with a degree in Physical Education in May 1999 and completed her master’s degree in Special Education in 2004. Savin and her husband, Andy Wetstein, along with their daughter, Sydney, reside in Nesconset, N.Y.
