When Morgan Glassford played sports as a child, a familiar face roamed the sidelines.
Whether is was on the soccer field or the lacrosse field for Brandywine Majors club team, Glassford’s mother Betsy—a former player on the 1987 Bloomsburg University field hockey Division III NCAA championship team—was coaching her daughter.
“She was a big influence on me,” Morgan Glassford said. “She played in college and she obviously coached me throughout everything, so she was always outside practicing with me, having a catch with me. It was awesome.”
Through 11 games this season, the junior forward has a team-high 55 draw controls. Her 5.40 draw controls per game ranks No. 1 among Big East players and No. 9 in Division I.
In the Owls’ final nonconference game of the season, Glassford had a career-high 10 draw controls to help the team earn an 18-3 win.
“Having her on the circle this year is definitely a benefit. … This fall we were really connecting together and then it just grew over winter break and then into [the] season,” said senior defender Summer Jaros, who takes a majority of the Owls’ draws. “It’s nice. I can trust her. I put it somewhere, I know she’s going to get there.”
Glassford plays an all-around game, ranking third on the team with eight caused turnovers, while tying for fifth with 13 goals.
The junior, who has played in every game since joining the team out of Strath Haven High School in 2014 season, is one goal away from tying the career-high 14 she scored in her freshman and sophomore seasons.
“She’s got great speed through transition and when she has time and space in the offense, she tends to shoot the ball and score goals for us,” coach Bonnie Rosen said. “I think we have so many other people that right now are doing a lot of our scoring that the ball is not in Morgan’s hands that much to score goals … She’s doing all the other little things for us that are making the team function.”
Along with her mother, Glassford’s father, Scott, attended Bloomsburg, where he played tennis and played in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Championships in 1987 and 1989.
After playing for the Brandywine Majors, Morgan Glassford is now a coach for the 2018 team, alongside Swarthmore College coach Karen Borbee and her mother.
Borbee and Betsy Glassford previously coached Morgan Glassford on the 2013 Brandywine Majors team.
“I’ve always wanted to be a coach,” Glassford said. “I’ve always looked up to my coaches, so I wanted to be looked up to as well. I think I got a phone call one day and they offered it to me … I love doing it.”
The coaching experience also will allow Glassford to be with her mother again on the lacrosse field.
“It’s awesome,” Glassford said. “We just get each other, especially because she coached me so I know what she wants, she knows what I want, and it just works perfectly.”
Evan Easterling can be reached at evan.easterling@temple.edu or on Twitter @Evan_Easterling.
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