West Essex’s Jill Cosse is the 2025 Field Hockey Coach of the Year

Jill Cosse’s mind was elsewhere. It was, after all, the umpteenth time this season she was taking care of the laundry in her basement. Then, she grabbed a shirt and froze. Her daughter’s field hockey jersey. “I broke down in tears and I thought, holy moly, I only get two more games to wash this uniform,” she said. Cosse realized she needed to slow down. While her coaching career was nearing the end of its 29th year and will continue next fall, the high school career of her youngest daughter, Adelaide Minnella, was almost over. Just two games were left, potentially, after a 2-0 win over Warren Hills in the North Jersey, Group 2 semifinals. Cosse, her daughter and the rest of the West Essex squad won both to secure another state championship, the seventh in a row. Her daughter scored the game-winning goal on both occasions and both victories resulted in major career milestones for Cosse. The nail-biting 2-1 win over West Morris in the sectional final was Cosse’s 900th between her field hockey and girls lacrosse careers. The 2-0 victory against Point Pleasant Boro in the state final, in which her daughter scored both goals, was her 600th as a field hockey coach. She became just the fourth coach in state history to reach that mark and because of that, Cosse is the 2025 Coach of the Year. West Essex Head Coach Jill Cosse on the sideline against Point Pleasant Boro in the NJSIAA Group 2 Though winning a championship isn’t anything new for Cosse or the program, it was the 23rd in its history after all, the road to the result was. In 29 years, Cosse never had a senior class consist of just one player. That one senior was her daughter and despite deploying a roster with 10 sophomores and freshmen, West Essex still remained one of the stronger teams in the country. All of the success came despite losing four All-State players over the past two years and four seniors total entering 2025. In the summer, the team was dealt another blow in losing Tessa Delvescovo for the year with an ACL injury. It was a rare moment where some serious questions arose concerning how the team would remain among the state’s best. It’s not surprising that there were a few speedbumps once the season began, namely a 1-4 run against out-of-state teams and a 2-1 loss against Oak Knoll, one of its biggest rivals. Delvescovo’s absence also put more strain on the offense. This group regularly scored north of five goals per game, but the 4.52 average it put up was the lowest since 2018. Cosse helped get the team through the hardships and the team rolled to the end of its season on a nine-game winning streak. “It was like that get comfortable being uncomfortable kind of thing and that’s what we said,” Cosse explained. “You just have to get the job done and figure out how to muster through. It’s a good lesson. It’s funny, all these lessons are such good, important life lessons, but the kids, that was it. This is what the season is going to be.” Her daughter led the way, posting 54 goals and 130 points, as the only senior captain but everyone else around her raised their games. Field Hockey: Oak Knoll vs West Essex on October 7, 2025 West Essex head coach Jill Cosse warms up her players before the field hockey game against Oak Knoll at Oak Knoll Fields in Chatham, NJ on Tuesday. October 7, 2025John Jones | For NJ Advance Media They all had a tight bond and it took them over some of the biggest hurdles the program has seen in a long time. And West Essex is still that same powerhouse because of it. “They loved Addie and she loved them back with all they could give her. And that relationship that we normally have with more seniors, it just fused us together as a team,” Cosse said. “For me, I tried to play a lot more fun team games than I normally do. I tried to make sure that everyone felt even more love than normal because you had to make up that space that was not filled by other seniors.” In a way, the win over Point Pleasant Boro in the state final was the end of an era. It was the last of six consecutive years in which Cosse was able to coach her daughters. Her oldest daughter, Evangeline, graduated in 2023 and is playing field hockey at Villanova, where Adelaide is headed. Once both are reunited on the collegiate field, there’s going to be a piece missing back home. “Every parent who sends a kid off to college or trade school or wherever, they go, there’s a blanket on the couch, there’s shoes all over the floor, and you go, ‘let it be. I’m not going to get this,’” she said. “There’s emptiness. There’s a noise in silence. I’m definitely not ready for that, but I don’t know how I’m going to fill that space.”

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West Essex Regional High School Athletics

WEST ESSEX’S JILL COSSE IS THE 2025 FIELD HOCKEY COACH OF THE YEAR

BRIAN BOBAL

NJ ADVANCE MEDIA | 12/11/2025