This article appears in the December issue of Lacrosse Magazine. Don't get the mag? Join US Lacrosse and its 300,000-plus members today to start your subscription.
Best of 2009
Male
Player | Female
Player | Male
Performance | Female
Performance | Male
Coach | Female
Coach| Game
| Comeback
| Breakthrough
| Look | Mainstream
Moment | Fan
'09 Rewind: Lauren Paul, Female Coach of the Year
If there is such a thing as stepping into a firestorm as a first-time coach of an NCAA finalist, Paul
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Franklin and Marshall's Lauren Paul, a 2003 F&M grad, won the NCAA Division III women's lacrosse championship in her first year as a head coach. © Brendan Bush |
may have done just that.
The Diplomats had lost the 2008 national championship game to
Hamilton and, soon after, longtime coach Anne Phillips to Division
I Yale.
Paul, a 2003 F&M grad, stepped in and steadied the ship,
directing the Diplomats to a 21-1 record and their second NCAA
title in three years. F&M avenged two losses along the way,
defeating Hamilton in the NCAA tournament and beating Salisbury,
which handed the Dips their lone regular-season defeat, in the
final.
The IWLCA named Paul its Division III Coach of the Year.
What will she do for an encore?
HONORABLE MENTION
Kelly Amonte Hiller, Northwestern
Whatever message Hiller sent Katrina Dowd with a three-game stint
coming off the bench was received by Northwestern’s eventual
leading scorer.
Sue Heether, Team USA
Heether transitioned a past-its-prime U.S. program into an
athletic team that avenged the 2005 loss to Australia.
Cathy Reese, Maryland
Reese took a youthful Terp team to an unbeaten regular season, the
ACC championship and within a goal of the NCAA final.
