Erin Shanahan Smoot was hired by Scott Tupper in March 2025 as an assistant coach for Penn Field Hockey.
Shanahan Smoot comes to University City after spending the last four seasons as an assistant coach at Michigan State.
In 2024, she recruited and guided Carmen Pucheta to Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Pucheta also became the first freshman in program history to be named to the All-Big Ten First Team.Â
During Shanahan Smoot's four years in East Lansing, Spartan players earned nine Big Ten honors – three in 2023 – and one National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) all-region selection.
She brings international coaching experience, serving as a USA Field Hockey youth coach since 2019. In 2022, Shanahan Smoot was selected to coach the U14 Nexus Championship team.
A graduate of the University of Virginia, she captained the 2019 Cavaliers to an 18-5 record as they reached the semifinals of the NCAA Championship. She played in four NCAA Championships during her career, was part of UVA's 2016 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) championship squad, and was twice named to the All-ACC Academic Team.
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Across her four seasons, Shanahan Smoot appeared in 86 games (51 starts), finishing with 19 goals and 12 assists for 50 points and was named to the NFHCA Senior Game roster in 2019. Following her time at UVA, Shanahan Smoot spent her graduate year playing for the Beeston Hockey Club while studying at Nottingham Trent University in England.
Shanahan Smoot was named to the 2019 U.S. Women's Development Squad and traveled to the Netherlands, competing against Scotland's National Team and Belgium's U-21 Team. In addition, she competed at the USA Field Hockey Young Women's National Championship.
She coached various age levels for the Gaels Field Hockey Club from 2014-18 and then at Focus Field Hockey from 2018-20 in Portsmouth, Va. In addition, she served as a camp coach at Virginia and at Severna Park High School in Maryland.
Shanahan Smoot earned her bachelor's degrees in political science and religious studies from UVA in 2020 and spent 2021 at Nottingham Trent University in England, where she worked on a master's degree in education while playing hockey in the club system.
