IWLCA Names National and Regional Coaches of the Year

Brower, Henning and Phillips all honored with national recognition

July 12, 2007

Courtesy of IWLCA

The Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches' Association (IWLCA) has named the National and Regional Coaches of the Year for the 2007 season. Anne Phillips from Franklin and Marshall College, Karen MacCrate Henning from C. W. Post, and Karin Brower from Penn were all honored as the National Coach of the Year for their respective divisions. Ten other coaches were also honored as a Regional Coach of the Year, including Northwestern's Kelly Amonte-Hiller, who coached the 'Cats to their third consecutive NCAA national championship, as well as Virginia's Julie Myers, West Chester's Ginny Martino and Salisbury's Jim Nestor, each of whom coached their respective teams to national runner-up finishes. Also honored were Katie Perine (Trinity College), Kim Christos (Drew University), Patty Kloidt (Hamilton), Wynne Lobel (Pacific University) and Lisa Miller (Syracuse).

Phillips led Franklin & Marshall to its first-ever NCAA women's lacrosse title, capturing the squad's first-ever Centennial Conference championship along the way. Her Diplomats established a new school record for wins in a season with 19 and ran its longest winning streak in program history to 21 games. F&M knocked off 10 IWLCA ranked opponents, including three in the top five. Those accomplishments come with an extraordinarily young team. Her roster featured just six seniors, only three of which are starters, and one junior. The sophomore class accounted for 201 of F&M's 296 goals this season. The squad has outscored its opposition 296-97 this year. Phillips is 36-5 in her last 41 games coached (over the past two seasons), including a phenomenal 21-0 this season that placed the Dips as one of two undefeated teams in women's lacrosse.

MacCrate Henning led C.W. Post to the NCAA Division II Championship for the second time in school history. The Pioneers were just one of two teams to finish the season undefeated. he eighth-year mentor moved her career record to 103-21, and picked up her 100th career coaching victory April 28 vs. Franklin Pierce. MacCrate Henning has led her teams to 11-plus victories in each of the last seven years, and to a record-tying six NCAA Division II Championship appearances. This year, the Pioneers allowed just one team to score in double digits all season and ranked as the nation's top-ranked scoring defense, allowing just 5.65 goals per contest. Karen was recognized as the Nassau County Sports Commission's College Coach of the Year (all sports) on April 30, as C.W. Post went 7-0 against ranked opposition throughout the campaign.

Karin Brower was at the helm of one of the nation's most dramatic turnarounds this season, leading her Penn team to its first Ivy League title in a quarter-century and its first NCAA berth since 1984. Brower coached the Quakers to a 15-1 record and a No. 2 national ranking behind a stifling defense that ranked second in the country.  In 2000, Brower took over a struggling Penn program that had gone 1-12 the year before. Steady improvement has marked her tenure since, culminating in the 2007 season which saw her team set program records in wins (15), winning streak (12 in a row) and highest national ranking (second).