Shane Unger enters his fifth season as the Gannon men’s and women’s water polo coach in 2022-23. Unger was hired on November 29, 2018, and began his coaching duties with the women’s 2019 season. In the fall of 2019 he coached his first season with the men’s program.
Unger owns a 39-16 record as the head coach of the men’s water polo program. That includes three straight CWPA Division II Championships in three seasons along with a pair of Mid-Atlantic Western Region crowns and one runner-up finish. This past year Gannon earned its highest finish ever at the Mid-Atlantic Conference Water Polo Championships, coming in sixth.
On the women’s side, the Golden Knights are 29-52 overall while reaching the semifinals in the Western Water Polo Association Championships in 2021, and finishing seventh this past year in the same event. Gannon finished with eight wins in his first season in 2019, the most victories since 2013, and bettered that with a 10-14 ledger this past year. He has a combined record of 68-68.
In the fall of 2019, Unger coached his first season with the men's team, guiding the Golden Knights to an 18-4 overall record, tied for the second-most wins in school history. The Golden Knights finished 6-0 in MAWPC action and remained undefeated vs. MAWPC West opponents in regular season play since joining the conference in 2015. Gannon opened the year with back-to-back wins vs. Mercyhurst and Penn State Behrend at the W&J Invitational, and following a loss, picked up a 16-10 win vs. Salem at the Laker Invitational to embark on a 10-game winning streak. The streak finally came to an end with a 16-11 setback to Iona. Gannon proceeded to begin another winning streak, running off six wins in a row before heading to the MAWPC Championship hosted by Bucknell.
Gannon's 6-0 finish in MAWPC West play earned a them a first round bye in the MAWPC West Championship tournament. The Knights faced crosstown rival Mercyhurst in the semifinals and cruised to a 12-6 win over the Lakers to advance to the West Championship. Gannon sought revenge in the championship vs. a McKendree team which had knocked the Golden Knights out of the tournament in the 2018 season. The Knights went on to win 15-14 for the program's second MAWPC West Championship.
Gannon earned the No. 7 seed in the MAWPC Championship and finished in seventh place after beating La Salle, 15-9, for the second time in 2019.
In his first year at the helm, Unger led several players earn postseason awards. Freshman goalkeeper Jacob Hollo was named the MAWPC-West Rookie of the Year, while collecting first team All-Conference honors, MAWPC-West Rookie of the Tournament honors, and MAWPC-West All-Tournament first team accolades.
Drago Marjanovic was also a first team All-Conference selection while becoming just the fourth player in program history to earn ACWPC All-America First Team honors. Marjanovic was also named to the MAWPC-West All-Tournament First Team and the MAWPC All-Tournament Second Team.
Tony Squeglia and Jack Donnelly also represented the Golden Knights on the MAWPC-West First Team, while Donnelly and Anthony Squeglia were named to the MAWPC-West All-Tournament team.
Awards piled in during this past season, as well, after a 14-10 finish that saw the Golden Knights claim their fourth straight CWPA Division II Championship, clinching the title with a 14-9 win over Salem. Robert Bolmanski was named the Tournament MVP while Unger was selected the Coach of the Tournament for the second straight time. Bolmanski was joined on the All-Tournament team by Tony Squeglia and Marjanovic.
Gannon would run its winning streak to six straight games with a pair of victories to claim the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Western Region Championship and earn a berth in the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Championships for the second time in three campaigns. The Golden Knights jumped out to a big early lead then held off a late McKendree rally for a 15-13 victory. It was the third straight year Gannon and McKendree squared off for the title.
Navy, the second seed, would hand the No. 7 Golden Knights a 20-13 defeat in the opening round, but the next day Gannon surprised No. 6 Johns Hopkins 13-9 for their first-ever win on day two. While the season came to a close with a narrow 9-7 setback against Bucknell in the fifth-place game, the sixth-place finish was the best ever after a pair of seventh-place showings.
Bolmanski was named the MAWPC West Region Most Valuable Player and was one of five Golden Knights to earn all-conference recognition. He was joined on the first team by Marjanovic and Hollo. Squeglia and Vlad Mickic were accorded second team honors. Marjanovic was previously named the MVP of the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo West Region Championship.
The women’s 2022 campaign ended with a 10-14 finish, the most wins since the 2014 team picked up 13 victories. Gannon ended the season on a positive note with an 11-8 win over crosstown rival Mercyhurst in the seventh-place game at the WWPA Championships. The win over the Lakers was the third of the year for Gannon.
Nicole Wiemken capped a brilliant career by earning All-American honors for the third time. The Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches named Wiemken to the 2021-22 Division II Women's All-America Team for the third time as an honorable mention selection. She previously was a first team selection in 2021 and earned second team honors in 2020.
Wiemken became Gannon first three-time ACWPC All-American. She was previously named to the WWPA All-Tournament second team. She was a three-time All-WWPA selection after earning second team honors in 2022. Jade Strickland was named to the All-Freshman Team.
Both the 2020 and 2021 women’s seasons were impacted by COVID 19. In 2021, Gannon posted a 4-14 record in a season that featured several cancellations. Seeded fifth in the WWPA Championships, Gannon upset third-seeded McKendree, 9-8, and earned a berth in the semifinals before losing to Salem.
Honors in 2021 included Wiemken receiving first team ACWPC All-American honors, along with Wiemken and Campbell Ruh named to the WWPA All-Tournament first team and Libby Tirak landing on the second team.
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In the women's 2020 season, Unger led the Knights to a 7-8 record prior to the early end due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Included in the wins was a 26-11 triumph over Wittenberg, setting the school record for goals in a game. The 2020 campaign came to an end due to the pandemic following a 2-1 weekend at the Grove City Invitational.
Three players earned all-conference honors. Wiemken was named a WWPA First Team selection, while Kelly Fehr was a Second Team choice and Ruh was named an honorable mention pick. Wiemken was named a ACWPC All-American for the first time, landing on the second team, while Fehr, Ruh, and Julia Kreidinger were named honorable mentions.
Unger joined Gannon following the conclusion of the 2018 men's season, and led the women's water polo team to an 8-16 record in 2019. The Knights finished with a perfect 4-0 record in conference play.
His first win with the Golden Knights was a 17-11 victory over La Salle on Feb. 17, snapping a six-game losing streak. Shortly after that win, Gannon went to the W&J Invitational and finished 3-1 on the weekend with wins vs. Washington & Jefferson, Salem, and McKendree. Gannon's biggest win of the year was a 21-6 triumph over W&J.
The Golden Knights picked up a 9-5 win in the first round of the WWPA Conference Tournament to move on to the semifinals. Gannon eventually dropped a game to the No. 1 seed UC San Diego and finished the tournament in fourth place.
Fehr was named to the WWPA Second Team and the WWPA All-Tournament First Team. Ruh was a WWPA honorable mention pick, while Wiemken made the WWPA All-Freshman Team. Ruh also earned WWPA All-Tournament Second Team and ACWPC All-America Second Team accolades.
Unger has spent over a decade teaching water polo, including coaching with the Socal Water Polo Foundation since 2005. He spent time as a shooting specialist and strength and conditioning coach, and coached both boys and girls teams at various age groups.
In addition, Unger has many years of experience as a head coach of high school programs in California, most recently as head coach at Fullerton Union High School. Prior to that, he was the head boys and girls coach at Tustin High School from 2011-16, and spent two years as head coach at El Modena High School.
A native of La Habra, California, Unger received his associate degree from Mt. San Antonio in Walnut, California in 1996. He was a two-sport athlete for the Mounties, playing water polo as well as suiting up as a left-handed pitcher. He then received his Bachelor of Science degree in Kinesiology in 2010 from Cal State Fullerton, and earned his Master's Degree in Education from Hope University in December 2018.
Unger and his wife, Katie, reside in Erie with their two daughters, Kylie and Kassidy.
