Saint Rose names first head coach
ALBANY, N.Y.» Kaitlin Gaghan has been named the first women’s lacrosse head coach at The College of Saint Rose. Gaghan will start immediately preparing the Golden Knights for their debut season in the spring of 2020.
“I am excited to announce the addition of women’s lacrosse to our sport sponsorship at Saint Rose as well as introducing our head coach, Kaitlin Gaghan,” said Cathy Haker, Director of Athletics and Recreation. “Kaitlin has invaluable experience as a successful NCAA Division II student-athlete who knows what it takes to be competitive in women’s lacrosse in the Northeast and nationally. Her extensive coaching experience at many levels of play, combined with her enthusiasm and love of the sport, should be great assets as she recruits the inaugural women’s lacrosse class to Saint Rose.”
Gaghan brings a wealth of experience to Saint Rose. She played collegiately for three years at LIU Post University after spending her first year at Quinnipiac. Gaghan was part of two East Coast Conference championship teams and helped lead the Pioneers to a pair of NCAA Tournament berths, including a 2014 national semifinals appearance. A starting midfielder and defender, she was recognized as an ECC ScholarAthlete and was named to the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association Academic Honor Roll.
Gaghan, who was enrolled in a dual degree program, obtained her master’s in history and secondary education from LIU Post in 2016. She earned the Senior Thesis History Award and the History Prize for Excellence in a Dual Program, in addition to the Robert Gardner Endowed Scholarship in History. She was also a member of Phi Alpha Theta.
Gaghan began her coaching career as an assistant at Northeast-10 Conference rival Pace University in August of 2016. She held that position for a year, before serving as the program’s interim head coach last fall. Gaghan helped develop a pair of All-Americans along with three All-Region and six All-Conference performers throughout her tenure with the Setters, who were ranked among the nation’s top-20 squads every week.
Gaghan spent this past spring as the head women’s lacrosse coach for the Greenwich, Connecticut public school district. She was honored as the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference Co-Coach of the Year and helped lead Greenwich to the FCIAC tournament semifinals.
Gaghan has also worked at the professional level. She spent the past year as an administrator with the Baltimore Ride of the United Women’s Lacrosse League. She has furthermore coached at the club level with the Soundcrosse Lacrosse Club in Wilton, Connecticut and the Long Island Yellow Jackets Lacrosse Club.
The College’s sponsorship of women’s lacrosse allows it to join one of the NCAA’S fastest growing sport memberships. The number of Division II teams has grown from 22 to 107 and the number of participants has increased from 513 to 2,494 within the past 10 years according to the most recent NCAA Sports Sponsorship and Participation Rates Report.