24 June 2011

                The IWLCA has recognized 13 collegiate mentors as 2011 Coaches of the Year in their respective regions, with three being honored as National Coach of the Year. Divisional champions Carol Cantele from Gettysburg, Joe Spallina from Adelphi, and Kelly Amonte Hiller from Northwestern each led their teams to the NCAA title and were selected by their peers to receive the national recognition.

                In Division III, Cantele led her alma mater to their first NCAA women’s lacrosse title in school history, turning in possibly her best coaching performance to date by molding a team composed almost entirely of freshmen and sophomores. Despite the loss of 10 seniors and 18 letter winners from last season’s national semifinal team, Cantele, the 2006 IWLCA Coach of the Year, guided the Bullets to a 19-4 record, tied for the second-most wins in program history, and a runner-up showing in the Centennial Conference. In the NCAA Tournament, Cantele led Gettysburg to the fifth-highest goal total in NCAA playoff history in a 25-10 win over Adrian in the opening round. The Bullets downed Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and knocked out defending champion Salisbury to reach the national semifinals for the fifth time in sixth seasons. Cantele’s team ended Cortland’s 19-game winning streak in the semifinals to reach the national title game for just the second time in the 40-year history of the program. Against Bowdoin in the title game, Gettysburg won its first NCAA title in any sport. Cantele was also recognized as the Metro Region Coach of the Year.

                Six of Cantele’s colleagues were honored as Regional Coaches of the Year. Kate Livesay (Trinity), Sharon Pfluger (TCNJ), Jim Nestor (Salisbury), Kathy Taylor (Cortland), Liz Grote (Bowdoin), and Ginger Miles (Claremont-Mudd-Scripps) each earned a nod by the IWLCA. Livesay, representing the Berkshires Region, guided Trinity to arguably its best-ever season, as the Bantams navigated the nation's toughest schedule without a loss en route to a 14-0 regular season record.  In the NESCAC, Trinity won road games at eventual NCAA runner-up Bowdoin, Middlebury, Tufts, and Skidmore and won neutral site games against Colby and Union.  The Bantams defeated Williams, Tufts, and Colby a second time to take its first NESCAC crown, and downed Middlebury for the second time in the spring in the NCAA second round.  Trinity reached its fifth NCAA quarterfinal and its second in a row, while setting a program record for wins in a season with an 18-1 final mark.  

                Sharon Pfluger led The College of New Jersey to a record-breaking season as the Lions finished with a 20-1 record and advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament semifinals. TCNJ boasted a perfect 17-0 record during the regular season, which included a 5-0 mark in New Jersey Athletic Conference play to win the conference title.  Those 20 wins marked the first time in program's storied history a team reached the 20-win plateau. On the field, the team excelled at both ends of the field as the team’s offense set school records in points, goals and assists in a season, assists in a season, and points in a season. TCNJ also led the country in team defense allowing only 3.95 goals per game, 1.25 goals fewer than the team that ranked second. The Lions also led the country in scoring margin at 11.71.

                The 2011 season marked head coach Jim Nestor's 10th season at the helm for the Salisbury women's lacrosse program. Nestor led the team to its ninth-straight and 11th overall Capital Athletic Conference championship, which allowed the program to make its 12th NCAA tournament appearance. Two players from this year's squad were named to the All-American teams; Salisbury has now had 40 All-Americans since 1978, including 29 during Nestor's tenure.

                Third-year Cortland head coach Kathy Taylor led the Red Dragon women's lacrosse team to its best season in school history in 2011. Cortland equaled its best national finish with a tie for third at the NCAA Div. III Final Four. The Red Dragons won their 13th consecutive SUNYAC Tournament title, set a school record for wins in a season with their 21-2 record and matched the mark of 19 consecutive wins. Cortland also set school records in goals, assists and points, ranking second in Div. III in points with 547 scored as a team. The Red Dragons were also ranked in the top 10 in two other team categories and the top 20 in two more team categories. Taylor coached SUNYAC Player of the Year and a first team All-American junior Lindsay Abbott. With a three-year record of 52-12, Taylor has moved into third in career wins at Cortland and her .813 winning percentage is the best in school history.

                In the Pilgrim Region, Bowdoin head coach Liz Grote led the Polar Bear women's lacrosse team to its best-ever season in 2011, leading her squad to a program record in wins and the team's first-ever appearance in the Division III "Final Four". Grote paced the Polar Bears to 13-2 record (7-2 NESCAC) during the regular season, finishing second in the conference standings. After earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, the Polar Bears caught fire, rolling off four consecutive victories, including wins over previously-undefeated Trinity and TCNJ, who had entered the tournament as the top two ranked teams in the nation. Bowdoin advanced to its first-ever national championship game, where they lost to Gettysburg and finished as national runners-up. The 18 victories were the most-ever by a team in program history and the win in the national semifinals over TCNJ was the 104th of Grote's Bowdoin career. Three Polar Bears earned IWLCA All-American honors this spring while six captured IWLCA All-Region recognition.

                Miles, the West Region Coach of the Year, led the Athenas to their second straight SCIAC title and their fourth consecutive NCAA appearance in her second year as CMS head coach. For the second straight year, CMS won an NCAA First Round game at home (19-11 over Redlands) to advance to the regional where CMS lost to the eventual national champions, Gettysburg College, 18-11.  CMS finished the season 16-3 overall and 10-0 in SCIAC play.  The Athenas had eight All-SCIAC selections led by Sarah Dick's second straight selection as SCIAC Player of the Year.  Dick and Madi Shove were both named IWLCA First Team All-West Region and Third Team All-American.

                In Division II, Adelphi’s Spallina wrapped up another stellar season on the sidelines in Garden City. He lead the Panthers to a spotless record of 20-0 and the programs third consecutive NCAA Division II National Championship with a 17-4 victory in the title game. In addition Spallina was named the 2011 Northeast-10 Conference Coach of the Year and the Nassau County Sports Commission College Coach of The Year. Spallina also produced standout players as he had six athletes named both IWLCA First-Team All-American and Region and eight players earned All-Conference honors and three were named to the NE-10 All-Rookie team. He also groomed the NE-10 Player, Goalie and Defender of the Year. In four years at Adelphi, Spallina has a record of 73-2 and has earned three NCAA Titles.

                Limestone’s Scott Tucker earned Conference Carolinas and South Regional Coach of the Year after guiding Limestone to an 18-2 overall record for the second consecutive season, including winning the first 17 games of the year. Tucker also helped lead the Saints to a No. 3 IWLCA national ranking and first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division II National Championship Game. This year’s accomplishments were made even more impressive by the fact that he did so while starting six underclassmen, two of whom were freshman in key positions, two juniors and a pair of seniors after losing nearly every offensive statistical leader to graduation from the year before. Among the team’s accomplishments included victories over six nationally ranked programs and the first-ever NCAA Tournament victory, a 10-9 decision over No. 6 West Chester. Their only two losses came to ranked opponents, including No. 1 Adelphi in the national championship. The 18 wins tie the program record for victories in a season, as did the 17 consecutive wins in the regular season. They finished 2011 ranked second in win percentage and fourth in scoring defense with a mark of 7.00. Four of Tucker’s players were also selected as IWLCA Second-Team All-Americans.

                In Division I, Northwestern’s Kelly Amonte Hiller helped the Wildcats to their sixth title in the last seven years and picked up IWLCA Coach of the Year honors. Amonte Hiller’s club finished 21-2, with 20 of those victories coming against teams in the top 20 of the IWLCA Coaches Poll and 10 vs. the top 10. Perhaps one of the finest coaching moments of Amonte Hiller’s career came in the national title game vs. defending champion Maryland, where she called on freshman reserve Kerri Harrington to check Tewaaraton finalist Sarah Mollison, a plan that held Mollison scoreless in an 8-7 Wildcat victory. With only two seniors on the team seeing regular minutes, Amonte Hiller coached a young squad to its seventh consecutive American Lacrosse Conference championship.  She also mentored the sport’s Tewaaraton Award winner for the fifth time in six years in scoring leader Shannon Smith, as well as ALC Rookie of the Year Alyssa Leonard, who was in just her third season playing lacrosse. Amonte Hiller, now 175-28 in 10 years at the helm, helped NU finish the year ranked second nationally in points (415) and fourth in draw controls (15.13).

                Three other Division I coaches were honored as Regional Coaches of the Year. John Battaglino from the University at Albany led the Great Danes to the America East regular-season and tournament championships in his first season as head coach. UAlbany (18-1) made its first NCAA Tournament appearance since the program became a varsity sport in 1992. The Great Danes defeated Dartmouth in the first round, one of five wins over top-20 opponents, before losing to second-ranked and eventual national champion Northwestern in the NCAA quarterfinals. UAlbany was the lone Division I program to go undefeated through the regular season and earned a national top-10 ranking along the way. Under Battaglino's direction, UAlbany ranked second nationally in scoring defense, sixth in scoring margin, and 18th in scoring offense. Battaglino produced two IWLCA All-America selections this season.

               Loyola’s Jen Adams led the Loyola women’s lacrosse team to a school-record tying 17 victories in 2011 and a berth in the NCAA Quarterfinals. In just her third year at the school, she has helped the Greyhounds turn around from a 6-10 record the year prior to her arrival to 17-3 this season. Loyola won the BIG EAST Conference Championship by defeating Syracuse and Notre Dame in the tournament at Georgetown. The Greyhounds earned their first bid to the NCAA Championships since 2004 and won an NCAA game for the first time since 2003. Adams, the 2011 BIG EAST Co-Coach of the Year, led Loyola to wins in 12-straight wins to open the season. Loyola went 7-3 against teams ranked in the top 20 nationally. Under her guidance, Loyola led the nation in caused turnovers per game for the third-straight season, and and it was eighth in scoring margin.  The Greyhounds showed their balance by finishing 12th nationally in both scoring offense and defense, and several players ranked in the top-20 in NCAA Division I in various categories.              

                Amanda O'Leary led Florida to a 16-4 record in just the program's second year of existence. Under O'Leary, Florida reached as high as No. 2 in the IWLCA poll, won 14 consecutive games, accomplished an undefeated 11-0 home regular season and made it to the NCAA Quarterfinals. O'Leary was named the 2011 ALC Coach of the Year as Florida made it to the ALC Championship game and went undefeated in conference play. The Gators garnered two IWLCA All-America honors, including Kitty Cullen who was honored as the ALC Player of the Year, named IWLCA First Team All-America, and nominated for the Tewaaraton Award as only a sophomore. Cullen led the nation in scoring for the entire regular season and Florida was ranked in top-20 in five different statistical categories throughout the season. The Gators defeated seven IWLCA ranked opponents in 2011.

2011 IWLCA Coaching Awards

National Coaches of the Year

DIII: Carol Cantele, Gettysburg

DII: Joe Spallina, Adelphi

DI: Kelly Amonte Hiller, Northwestern

Regional Coaches of the Year

Division III