The Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) inducted six coaches into the organization’s Hall of Fame this evening. The IWLCA Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony was held in conjunction with the IWLCA Annual Meetings at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
Missy Foote, Tina Sloan Green, Carole Kleinfelder, Sharon Pfluger, Cindy Timchal, and Marge Watson represent the inaugural class of inductees. Collectively, this group has over 172 years of collegiate coaching experience and have won almost 80 percent of their games.
Princeton University head coach Chris Sailer is the chair of the Hall of Fame committee and served as the Master of Ceremonies for the event.
“This was an incredible event! It was so inspiring to hear from these legendary coaches,” Sailer said. “Each of the honorees careers were so distinctive and unique to them, yet the common thread is their commitment to excellence, passion for the sport, and love for the people in their programs.”
2017 Hall of Fame Inductee Bios
Missy Foote served as the head women’s lacrosse coach at Middlebury College from 1978 through 2015, amassing a 422-114-1 record. That win total currently ranks second among all head coaches in Division III history. Her teams won the NCAA Division III championship five times (1997, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2004), qualified for the NCAA tournament 21 times, and advanced to the semifinal round in 14-consecutive years and on 17 occasions overall. Foote coached more than 35 first-team All-Americans, including 11 national position Players of the Year. She was named the conference’s Coach of the Year eight times during her tenure, taking home IWLCA National Coach of the Year honors five times (1994, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002). Foote is also a member of the US Lacrosse National Hall of Fame’s 2012 induction class.
Tina Sloan Green was Temple University’s head coach from 1975 – 1992 and collected 207 career victories in 18 seasons. She was the first African-American head coach in the history of intercollegiate women’s lacrosse, and led her team to three national championships, claiming the AIAW title in 1982 and the NCAA crown in 1984 and 1988. Sloan Green was named the National Coach of the Year in 1988. She is the founder of the Black Women in Sport Foundation and received the 2016 Spirit of Tewaaraton Award. Sloan Green was inducted into the US Lacrosse National Hall of Fame in 1997.
Carole Kleinfelder began her career as the head coach at Harvard University in 1979. Over the next 25 years, her teams compiled a 260-132-3 record, including a 15-0 run in 1990 when the Crimson won the NCAA Division I championship. Kleinfelder’s squads captured 12 Ivy League titles, including seven straight from 1987-1993, and qualified for three AIAW national tournament fields, and nine NCAA tournament fields. Kleinfelder served as President of the United States Women’s Lacrosse Association (USWLA) and was the first President of the IWLCA when the organization was formed in 1982.
Sharon Pfluger is the winningest women’s lacrosse coach in history, posting a career record of 494-55-1 and an .899 winning percentage as the head coach at The College of New Jersey. She has coached her squads to post-season tournament bids in every season and won 11 NCAA Division III national championships. A 13-time IWLCA Regional Coach of the Year, Pfluger was named the nation’s top coach by her peers in 1987 and 2004. Her players include 81 first-team All-Americans and 18 national position Players of the Year. She is one of just two female coaches (Pat Summitt being the other) featured in the NCAA Hall of Champions’ Legends of the Game display in Indianapolis. Pfluger was inducted into the US Lacrosse National Hall of Fame in 2007.
Cindy Timchal’s storied coaching career has seen her take three separate programs to the NCAA tournament, as she led Northwestern (1982-1990) to five post-season bids, Maryland (1991-2006) to 16 bids and eight NCAA championships, and the U.S. Naval Academy to five NCAA appearances, including a run to the semi-finals in 2017. Her career record stands at 491-129, good for a .792 winning percentage; her total career wins are second only to Pfluger. Timchal has collected six conference Coach of the Year awards, four in the ACC and two in the Patriot League. She has coached 13 national position Players of the Year, three Tewaaraton finalists and one winner of the award. Timchal was inducted into the US Lacrosse National Hall of Fame in 2012.
Marge Watson started the women’s lacrosse program at Ursinus College in 1957 and served as the head coach until 1981, posting a 199-19-9 record. Her .896 winning percentage is the second highest all-time (behind Pfluger), and her teams recorded seven undefeated seasons. Watson led Ursinus to national runner-up finishes in the 1979 USWLA National Tournament and the 1981 AIAW National Championship. She has a strong record of service, helping to found the Philadelphia Colleges Women’s Lacrosse Association in 1970 and receiving the inaugural IWLCA Lifetime Achievement Award (later renamed the Diane Geppi-Aikens Award) in 2000. Watson was inducted into the US Lacrosse National Hall of Fame in 2014.