First Class

he Desrosiers
coach the
ountry’s no. 8
women’s
hockey team.

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TRENDSETTERS

Teamwork Is Everything

Some self-proclaimed “forever single” people can’t imagine waking up next to the same person every day for the rest of their lives. Shannon Desrosiers, 27, not only wakes up next to the same person every day, she also goes to work with him. That’s because she and her husband, Matt, 29, are co-head coaches of Clarkson University’s women’s hockey team.

So, which came first: the job or the marriage? The marriage. Shannon and Matt met as students at St. Lawrence University in Canton, N. Y., where they both played hockey. They went on to be assistant coaches at Clarkson and married in July 2006. When former head coach Rick Seeley left in April 2008, the couple was hired to lead the team.

“It was nice they had faith in us,” says Shannon, as if there’s nothing out of the ordinary about it. When further probed,

the loyal coach says, “Well, our motto at Clarkson is ‘defy convention,’ so I guess we’re doing just that.”

The team and the rest of the sta are OK with it, too. “We haven’t really had any negative reactions,” Shannon says. “Of course, there are always jokes about it, but we keep things very professional.

“I think we complement each other really well. He probably yells [at the team] more. But I yell at him more,” she says with a laugh.

Hopefully all that yelling will pay o . The team was ranked No. 8 in the country last year. “We’re very excited about this year’s potential. We’re a young team, with nine freshmen,” Shannon says. “But our goal is to stay in the top 10.”

18 rrıve • January/February 2009 • .