New Newark Academy Lax Coach
Excited To Now Lead Minutemen

LIVINGSTON- Newark Academy’s athletic programs have added a number of new coaches this school year as first-year Athletic Director Dave Pasquale has been working diligently to shape the leadership for the Minutemen teams moving forward.

Coming aboard at NA this past fall were four new head coaches with impressive backgrounds in their respective sports including Tom Battaglia, who is a veteran tennis teacher at a number of different levels, former Livingston High School District and Region wrestling champion John Kane, former Columbia University national championship fencer LeeAnn Coy, and ex-Cranford High School standout and former NA assistant softball coach Tessa Ferentinos.

Now add an experienced lacrosse coach to the list of new guiding forces for the Minutemen student-athletes as former Verona head coach Sam Coe is now on board to direct the Minutemen laxmen who will get underway with the official start of 2026 pre-season practice on Monday, March 9th.

Coe had guided the Hillbillies the past four seasons including last spring’s solid 11-7 campaign (5-1 in the Kimber Division for second place behind Cranford) following a 10-9 mark (4-2 in the Klank Division) the year before.

The 40-year-old Verona resident began his ascension in his favorite sport in the lacrosse hotbed of Baltimore, Maryland where he was a standout defenseman for the highly-regarded program at the McDonough School prior to a fine college career at Cornell University before then graduating from Brooklyn Law School.

A practicing public defender in Rockland County, N.Y., he comes from a sports-oriented household since his wife, former West Essex standout Sarah Miller, now known as Sarah Compton Coe, is the second-year head field hockey coach at Verona.

Coe quickly felt very comfortable on the Newark Academy campus when he spent time talking about the prospective position as head lacrosse coach  with members of the school administration, including Pasquale.

When the job was offered to him he knew that the time had come for a change in where he would be coaching this spring.

“It is never a good time to leave the players you have enjoyed coaching, and I greatly valued the relationship I had with my Verona players,” said Coe. “Once I visited Newark Academy it just felt like home to me.

“It is similar to McDonough as a non-public, independent school with academic excellence, including terrific programs in the arts, where I have some experience, and Dave is a tremendous person and superb athletic director who gets the big picture; and having been at Newark Academy before as a very successful coach, he understands fully how unique and special the school is as he has looked to reshape the athletic programs where he feels there is a need to do so.

“The previous coach Daniel Gold did a real nice job and he built the numbers back up from just 15 at one point to near 40, and he helped generate more interest in Minutemen lacrosse.

“I’m looking forward to working with I feel is a very good coaching staff in continuing to raise the level of our program, while at the same time making that process an enjoyable experience for the players.”

Coe is a modern-day lacrosse ‘junkie’ of sorts in that he lives and breathes the sport, including work on the club travel level with Evolution which has a draw in North Jersey communities including Verona, Montclair, Boonton and Pequannock.

“I am thrilled to announce that Same Coe has accepted our offer to be the new head coach of the Newark Academy boys lacrosse program,” said Pasquale. “After a thorough and extensive search, Coach Coe emerged as the clear choice to lead the program into its next chapter.

“Sam has had a decade of success as a varsity head coach, most recently turning around the program at Verona High School (2022-2025), and prior to that at Pearl River High School (NY) from 2016 to 2019.

“Coach Coe also has considerable experience at the Club Level with Evolution Lacrosse (current), BBL, and Trilogy.”

Coe looks forward to the fact that a few key pieces from last season’s Newark Academy lax squad are set to return, including seniors such as last season’s leading scorer, Luke Betlow (61 goals, 13 assists for 74 points) and goalie Alec Marchand.

Also, an area of strength for the 2026 Minutemen will be in the all-important face-off area where two outstanding sophomores lead that position after superb performances as freshmen with the return of Zuva Chakabva (85 % faceoffs won in 2025) and Ethan Suwankosai (74 %).

Enhancing the strength of that strategic area of the sport in the upcoming season for the Newark Academy laxmen is that one of Coe’s lead assistant coaches is Kyle Matthews, who set Division III faceoff records during an All-American career at Montclair State University.

The two men had also worked together at Verona and with Evolution.

“I love how dynamic faceoffs can be for a team and how unique they are to the sport in that even if you might have a less-talented team than certain opponents, faceoffs can help make up for other shortcomings,“ said Coe. “Coach Matthews is terrific, and adds an important dimension to our coaching staff as do our other assistants, defensive coordinator Howard Shirley, and DJ Schuck.

“Coach Schuck teaches at Newark Academy, which is always a plus in terms of having someone available for the players during the school day.”   

Both Shirley, who is a teacher in Millburn, and Schuck were also members of the NA lacrosse coaching staff last spring.      

“There is real good lacrosse talent and smart student-athletes to help us continue to keep the Newark Academy lacrosse program on the rise,” said Coe. “I know that the coaching staff is excited about getting going with the new season, and hopefully some warmer temperatures continue to dominate as we get closer to March 9.”

NOTES- The Newark Academy lacrosse team will have an early March pre-season trip to Coe’s old stomping grounds in Maryland…Newark Academy is set to move up to Kimber Division this spring…AD Pasquale, who is a member of the NJSCA Coaches Hall of Fame, has extensive experience as both a coach and administrator as he continues with his first full year back at NA where it all began for him as the head boys basketball coach from 1993-2005, plus the head baseball coach for the Minutemen from 1995 to 2005…He was then the athletic director at Gill St. Bernard’s from 2005-2015 and then the Dean of Student Life at Gill from 2015 to last spring while completing the 2024-2025 school year at the Gladstone-Peapack-based private school…He was also Gill’s head baseball coach from 2012 to 2025…Coe and his wife Sarah are the parents of three children, Eleanor, 10; Arthur, 8 and Hazel, 1…Daniel Gold had coached the Minutemen laxmen for three seasons (2023-2025) with two winning seasons…Former NA Athletic Director Ted Gilbreath had also been the Minutemen’s head lacrosse coach for several seasons before leaving the Livingston-based private school in 2019 in order to accept a position at The Lovett School in Atlanta, Ga.