Drexel University Athletics
Ciufo-Bennett Named Drexel Field Hockey Assistant Coach
1/14/2022 12:19:00 PM | Field Hockey
PHILADELPHIA – Drexel Head Field Hockey Coach Denise Zelenak has announced the hiring of 2010 grad, Susan Ciufo-Bennett, as the newest addition to her staff. Ciufo-Bennett will join Drexel as an assistant coach for the 2022 season.
"Nicky and I are very grateful for the opportunity to work with Susan again and know she is going to help us do great things with the players and program," said Zelenak. "Bringing home one of our own feels like the perfect move for our program right now. Her passion, hockey expertise and coaching skills are exceptional as proven by her continued success. Our team is fortunate to have someone of her caliber join our coaching staff."
Ciufo-Bennett is no stranger to the city of Philadelphia. She returns to Drexel after a brief stint with Chestnut Street neighbor, Penn, where she acted as the Quakers Director of Operations during the 2021 season.
"I am incredibly excited to be coming back home to Drexel University," said Ciufo-Bennett. "Denise and Nicky's vision for the future of Drexel Field Hockey aligns with my personal beliefs of what the program needs as we move forward into the next chapter. I have continued to be a big supporter of Drexel Field Hockey after my playing career and am looking forward to being able to continue to give back to my blue and gold family. Go Dragons!"
Prior to Penn, she had a successful tenure as the head coach at Temple. In her two seasons with the Owls, Ciufo-Bennett coached four All-Region and six All-Big East selections while guiding the team to the Big East tournament in 2020. She also had success in the classroom, graduating full classes each season.
She began her coaching with Division II Stonehill College where she was the head coach for four years. Ciufo-Bennett made a great impact from the start, winning the NE10 title and advancing to the NCAA Final Four in her first season. The success continued with two more NCAA tournament appearances in 2016 and 2017, while leading the nation in 2017 in goals per game and scoring average. She coached seven All-Americans, 20 All-NE10 selections, and the 2015, 2016 and 2017 NFHCA Players of the Year in Erika Kelly and Kacie Smith.
Ciufo-Bennett also has coaching experience with USA Field Hockey, Lehigh and was a graduate assistant at Drexel for two years post-graduation. In addition to furthering her time at her alma mater, she continued her playing career with the USA Indoor team from 2011-16, where she helped the team to a gold medal at the 2013 Rohrmax Cup and bronze at the 2014 Pan Am Cup.
During her playing days for the Dragons, she started all 82 games of her career. Ciufo-Bennett is second all-time with 140 points and 58 goals and tied third all-time in assists with 24. She helped lead Drexel to an impressive 19-4 record, its first ever NCAA Tournament and beat UCONN to advance to the Elite Eight in her junior season. The senior co-captain followed it up with 15 more wins in 2010 and a CAA Championship appearance.
Ciufo-Bennett capped off a record four years with 62 career wins as a Dragon in addition to being named an NCAA All-American, a three-time first-team All-Region, three-time first-team All-CAA, four-time CAA scholar-athlete, and the national record holder for longest point streak.
