LORETTO, Pa. – The Saint Francis women’s lacrosse program will have one of the most accomplished coaches in the sport manning the sidelines this spring. Tracy Coyne will be the program’s next head coach, the school announced Tuesday.
Coyne is a 29-year head coaching veteran and a two-time IWLCA National Coach of the Year.
In her 15 seasons at Notre Dame, Coyne turned a first-year program into a national power, making six NCAA tournaments and winning a Big East championship in 2009. She was named the Big East Coach of the Year in 2006 and 2008 and the IWLCA National Coach of the Year in 2006 after leading the Fighting Irish to its first NCAA final four appearance.
“We are excited to have Tracy join the Red Flash Family and lead our women’s lacrosse program,” said Director of Athletics Susan Robinson Fruchtl. “Tracy brings a wealth of knowledge, connections and experience to SFU. Her many connections in the recruiting world of lacrosse will help our program continue to advance. We are anxious to have Tracy positively impact our student-athletes with her knowledge and wisdom. We feel we have a great group of student-athletes in our program who have a growth mindset and they will strive to improve in the Northeast Conference under Tracy’s guidance and mentorship.”
Coyne’s coaching career began at Denison University where she led the Big Red to two NCAC championships in two seasons.
From there she took over as the head coach at Roanoke College, winning ODAC championships in five of her seven seasons and reaching the final four in 1992, when she garnered her first IWLCA National Coach of the Year award.
After 14 seasons and 147 wins at Notre Dame, Coyne spent time as an assistant coach at Duquesne and Dartmouth and the head coach of Washington & Jefferson College and most recently at George Washington from 2015-2019.
For her career, Coyne is the seventh all-time winningest women’s lacrosse coach in NCAA Division I history with 287 wins and has made 12 NCAA tournament appearances with six conference championships.
She was honored with the 2012 IWLCA Diane Geppi-Aikens Award for lifetime achievement and is an honorary member of the Notre Dame Monogram Club. She has coached 48 All-Americans, three ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-Americans and two Tewaaraton finalists.
Coyne also has experience at the international level, where she served as the head coach of the Canadian national team from 1999-2005, earning fourth-place finishes at the 2001 and 2005 World Cups.