Women's Lacrosse

Carla Hesler
	Lacrosse (W) - Head Coach New Hampshire '82 Ninth Season chesler@smcvt.edu 802.654.2634

Carla Hesler, the winningest coach in program history, enters her ninth season as the Purple Knights' women's lacrosse coach in 2009. Hesler has guided the program to a 57-60 record in eight seasons, tying her with Marikate Kelley for the most victories by a head coach in the program's 26-year history.

In 2008, Hesler led the Purple Knights to a program record-tying nine wins, as the team went 9-7 and advanced to the Northeast-10 Conference Semifinals following a quarterfinal win at Merrimack College.

After going 3-9 in her first year in 2001, Hesler's 2002 team recorded eight wins, the greatest increase in victories from the previous season since the 1983-84 teams did the same under Todd Wadsworth. In 2003, Hesler guided the Purple Knights to a 7-6 record, the program's first winning campaign since 1999, and followed that up with a program record-tying nine victories and another winning season in 2004. In 2005, Hesler's squad went 6-7, earning yet another berth in the NE-10 Conference playoffs, and she followed that up with an 8-6 campaign in 2006, and a 7-8 season in 2007.

Hesler, a Lynnfield, Mass., native, brings a strong lacrosse background to the Purple Knights program. She owns a 93-94 record in 13 seasons as a collegiate lacrosse coach, serving as the head coach at Old Dominion University in 1983, Colgate University from 1986-89, and now as head coach at Saint Michael's. Colgate was the New York State Women's Collegiate Athletic Association runner up in both 1986 and 1987 under Hesler.

A 1982 graduate of the University of New Hampshire, Hesler played both field hockey and lacrosse, serving as captain of the lacrosse team in both her junior and senior seasons. She was named to the New England Collegiate All-Star team in 1980.

She has served as an assistant lacrosse coach at five institutions, including Northeastern University, Boston College, Yale University, and Princeton University before working with Saint Michael's team in 2000. While at Yale, she helped the Elis win the 1991 and 1994 ECAC Championships.

In addition to her duties as women's lacrosse coach, Hesler had guided the Saint Michael's field hockey team to a 114-76 record over 10 seasons while advancing to the Division II National Semifinals in 2000 and 2001. The squad also won the NE-10 Regular Season Championship outright in 2000 and tied for the title in 2001. In 2000, Hesler was named NE-10 Coach of the Year as well as the NFHCA North Regional Coach of the Year. She holds a career record of 202-179-8 in a combined 22 years years at Colgate, Yale, and Saint Michael's.

Hesler also is a 2007 graduate of the NCAA Women's Coaches' Academy, and resides in Burlington.

Hesler's Year-by-Year Results

Year	School	Wins	Losses	Notes
1983	Old Dominion	0	11
	Totals (1 Year)	0	11
1986	Colgate	12	4	NYSWCAA Runners-Up
1987	Colgate	9	8	NYSWCAA Runners-Up
1988	Colgate	5	7
1989	Colgate	10	4
	Totals (4 Years)	36	23
2001	Saint Michael's	3	9
2002	Saint Michael's	8	9	NE-10 Semifinals
2003	Saint Michael's	7	6	NE-10 Semifinals
2004	Saint Michael's	9	8	NE-10 Semifinals
2005	Saint Michael's	6	7	NE-10 Quarterfinals
2006	Saint Michael's	8	6
2007	Saint Michael's	7	8	NE-10 Quarterfinals
2008	Saint Michael's	9	7	NE-10 Semifinals
	Totals (8 Years)	57	60
	Career Totals (13 Years)	93	94

Cara Gorman
	Lacrosse (W) - Assistant Coach Maryland '03 Second Season 802.654.2634

Cara Gorman, a two-time NCAA Division I National Champion, joins Saint Michael's College for her second season as an assistant coach with the women's lacrosse program in 2009. She helped lead the team to a 9-7 record in 2008, tying the program record for victories in a season as the Purple Knights advanced to the Northeast-10 Conference Semifinals.

Gorman spent the previous three seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Vermont under head coach Jen Johnson. She also served as an assistant coach at Utica College during the 2004 season.

Gorman, a former goalkeeper, was a four-year letterwinner at the University of Maryland. During her career, the Terripins won back-to-back National Championships, and earned three Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) titles. During the 2002 season, Gorman led the team in save percentage and saves in one contest.

A native of Amsterdam, N.Y., Gorman graduated from Maryland in 2003 with a degree in psychology. She was a four-year ACC Academic Honor Roll selection, and Maryland Scholar-Athlete. She was also inducted into Maryland's chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation's oldest and largest academic honor society.

Kate Lipton
	Lacrosse (W) - Assistant Coach Vermont '08 Second season klipton@smcvt.edu 802.654.2709

Kate Lipton, a 2008 University of Vermont graduate, returns for her second season as an assistant coach with the Saint Michael's women's lacrosse program in 2010. She also completed her second season as an assistant coach with the Saint Michael's field hockey team in 2009, and is the Purple Knights' first full-time assistant women's lacrosse and field hockey coach.

Lipton was a star field hockey player at Vermont, where she was a two-time co-captain and earned America East All-Conference and All-Academic honors. She garnered the squad's Most Improved Player award as a senior, and was named to the NFHCA Division I National Academic Squad all four seasons.

In lacrosse, Lipton served as a director and coach of the 2006 Shelburne (Vt.) Lacrosse Camp, where she advertised and planned for the week-long program for kids ages 8-14.

An elementary education major at UVM with a 3.76 grade point average, Lipton was a student teacher at John F. Kennedy Elementary School in Winooski (Vt.) in the spring, and has also served as a substitute teacher at the school. Originally from Newton, Mass., and now residing in Salem, Mass., Lipton was a lacrosse and field hockey standout at Newton North High School.

Her full-time position at Saint Michael's is funded in large part by the NCAA Division II Coaching Enhancement Grant (CEG). The purpose of the CEG is to address the issues of access, recruitment, selection and long-term success of women, ethnic minorities and other individuals in Division II who seek to overcome hiring barriers by providing grant money for the creation of assistant coaching positions in Division II.

Saint Michael's is one of 18 Division II institutions nationwide chosen to take part in this pilot program, and the only institution in the 16-member Northeast-10 Conference, of which Saint Michael's competes in 17 sports. Saint Michael's was selected based on its commitment to inclusiveness and recognition of the important roles of the senior woman administrator (SWA) and faculty athletics representative positions in the management of the department's affairs, and its engaged and active student-athlete advisory committee.

"We are thrilled that Saint Michael's College was selected for this grant program to provide a full-time coaching opportunity for women and/or ethnic minorities," said Geri Knortz, Saint Michael's Athletics Director and SWA, upon Lipton's hiring. "I have no doubt that Kate will do an outstanding job in her role as full-time assistant, and her presence will benefit the women's lacrosse and field hockey programs immensely, as well as further her career development in coaching."

"Hiring a full-time assistant coach is an extremely positive step for both the women's lacrosse and field hockey programs," said Carla Hesler, the winningest coach in Saint Michael's women's lacrosse history who enters her 10th season in 2010, in addition to her 11th season as field hockey head coach in 2009. "I'm excited that Kate has this opportunity to display her commitment and dedication to these young women, and I'm excited to get the chance to work alongside Kate in both sports."