Jane Goss, former associate director of athletics, was a part of the athletic staff at Shippensburg since 1967 when she joined the faculty of the health and physical education department and took the reins of head coach of the field hockey and women's tennis teams. After achieving great success as field hockey coach, she relinquished her duties as coach to devote her full attention to the women's athletic program in 1983.
A native of Elizabethtown and a West Chester graduate, Goss made her biggest impact as a coach in the sport of field hockey. In her first five years at the helm Shippensburg put together three undefeated seasons and compiled a 20 game undefeated streak. Among the wins was a 2-1 victory over Penn State.
In 1976 Goss put together a five-year stretch of excellence unmatched in the team’s history. That year the Lady Raiders began a 27 game undefeated streak that extended into 1978. During that streak the team won 22 games and tied five. The 1977 team went 11-0-3 and the 1978 squad ended up 9-4. That set the stage for a national title.
In 1979 Shippensburg won the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) Division III national championship. Shippensburg compiled an overall record of 16-2-3, including six wins in the AIAW tournament. The Lady Raiders beat Franklin & Marshall 1-0 in the title game.
In 1980, Shippensburg won the Virginia Tech tournament and finished second in the PSAC, losing to Lock Haven on penalty strokes, following a tie through regulation and overtime. Lock Haven used to compete on the Division I level at that time. Shippensburg was upset in the AIAW tournament and finished the year with a 12-4-2.
In 1981 Goss moved into athletic administration and following the 1982 season, she retired from coaching. In her 16 seasons at the helm, Shippensburg compiled a record of 117-46-22 for a .692 winning percentage.
As associate director of athletics Goss oversaw the strengthing of women’s athletics at Shippensburg. The schedules of all the teams were expanded, and more scholarship money was made available to female athletes. Since 1983, Shippensburg’s women’s teams have won 16 PSAC championships in various sports and have competed in numerous NCAA tournaments and championship events.
