The 2020 season saw the Quakers go 2-3 before all 2020 Ivy League spring sports were canceled on Wednesday, March 11 due to a nationwide outbreak of coronavirus COVID-19. During the year, Penn scored victories over No. 10 Duke and Saint Joseph’s. Abbott saw two players, Sean Lulley and Dylan Gergar, rank in the top-25 in the country in points per game and Gergar was also 11th in the nation in goals per game (3.80).

In his first season with the Red and Blue, Abbott guided an attacking unit which set a school record with 239 goals scored. Three different players surpassed the 60-point plateau for the Quakers, led by Adam Goldner who set a new single-season scoring record with 56 goals. Four of Penn's offensive players earned USILA All-American honors, including Sam Handley who set program records for goals (35), assists (26) and points (61) by a freshman en route to becoming the first rookie in program history to earn first-team All-American honors.

Abbott came to Penn after spending seven years at Colgate where he oversaw three of the eight most prolific scoring seasons in the Raiders program’s 87-year history. In 2017, Abbott’s final season on staff, Colgate scored 178 goals in 15 games, an average of 11.9 goals per game which is sixth in program history.

Abbott began his career at Colgate as an assistant coach prior to the 2012 season, and was promoted to Associate Head Coach following the 2015 season.

Colgate made two NCAA Championship appearances during Abbott’s tenure, in 2012 and 2015—the Raiders were quarterfinalists in 2012—and was Patriot League regular-season champion both of those years. The Raiders finished the 2012 season ranked No. 8 in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse media poll, and Abbott’s offense that season shattered school records in goals (236), assists (129) and points (365). After the season, Peter Baum was the Tewaaraton Award recipient as the nation’s top college lacrosse player.

Prior to Colgate, Abbott spent five seasons as an assistant coach at SUNY Cortland where he was the recruiting and offensive coordinator. He helped lead the Red Dragons to the 2009 NCAA championship, along with three-straight title game appearances from 2007-09 and other NCAA tourney runs that reached the semifinals in 2010 and quarterfinals in 2011.