Niki Miller

Niki Miller is the current Head Field Hockey Coach at Wagner College.

Niki Miller is entering her second season as the head coach of Wagner College's newly-added field hockey program 2020, after completing her first season at the helm.

Under Miller's leadership, freshman Hannah Meyer finished third in the NEC in points per game (1.31) and earned the season's final rookie of the week of offensive player of the week honors following a four-goal performance in the season-ending 5-0 win over conference member Merrimack.

Miller, a native of Washington, NJ, comes to Grymes Hill by way of Northeast Conference (NEC) rival Sacred Heart University, where she served as an assistant coach for the field hockey team under head coach Sydney Van Der Merwe for the last two seasons.

"We are truly excited to welcome Niki to the Wagner athletic family," said Hameline. "Her impressive coaching background and accomplishments as a high-caliber player, combined with local recruiting ties, make her the ideal individual to lead us into the new field hockey era at Wagner."

During her tenure with the Pioneers, Miller oversaw the teams' offensive development, implementing strategies for practices and games, resulting in a 62.5% increase in goals from 2017 to 2018. She also played a pivotal role in off-campus recruiting, successfully attracting more than 10 commitments from high school athletes.

"This is an awesome opportunity, to begin my college head coaching career at Wagner College," said Miller. "Wagner has a foundation in place to be successful, in addition to excellent academics and a tremendous location, both huge assets in recruiting."

"My goal is to make a positive impact on the student-athlete experience, both on and off the field," Miller added. "I will have high standards for my players academically, and community service is very important to me, so we will be visible within the community. I can't wait to get on campus and begin interacting with our players"

At Sacred Heart, Miller played an integral role on a coaching staff that placed heavy emphasis on academics, resulting in a high level of performance by Pioneer student-athletes' in the classroom, achieving the second-highest overall GPA in NCAA Division I Field Hockey. Twenty of her 24 student-athletes would earn National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) All-Academic Team honors.

Miller's field hockey background includes serving as a head coach for both the USA Field Hockey Futures and Fairfield County United Field Hockey Club teams. Her main goal with both of these organizations was to help develop young players and prepare them for the next level of field hockey. Three of her athletes from the USA Field Hockey Futures went on to attend the USA Field Hockey Juniors national camp.

Prior to embarking on her collegiate coaching career, Miller was a standout field hockey athlete at the University of Massachusetts – Amherst. In her time there, she helped lead the Minutemen team to three Atlantic 10 Championships and three NCAA Tournament berths, having reached the Sweet 16 twice and the Elite 8 once. She was appointed captain of the team her junior and senior seasons and was named to the Atlantic 10 All-Tournament team in her final season.