The 2019 season marks Laura-Ann Lane’s 13th year has the Head Coach of the Gwynedd Mercy Field Hockey Program. She has led the Griffins to four-straight NCAA Division III Field Hockey Championship Tournament appearances winning the Colonial States Athletic Conference Championship in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2017. The squad also earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament in 2018.
With 24 years of field hockey coaching under her belt, coach Laura-Ann Lane is preparing for yet another successful season with the Griffins, who look to get back the Atlantic East Conference Championship crown.
She was named the Colonial States Athletic Conference Field Hockey Coach of the Year in 2007, in her first season at Gwynedd Mercy. Lane has brought the field hockey team to the CSAC Playoffs in each of the past nine years with eight-straight championship game appearances (2010-2017). Prior to their five conference titles, the Griffins also received two consecutive bids to the ECAC Mid-Atlantic Championships in 2009 and 2010. Under Coach Lane, the Griffins were part of the NFHCA All-Academic Team in each of her 12 seasons.
Coach Lane is originally from New Hampshire, coming to the Philadelphia are to attend Arcadia University (formerly Beaver College). While there, she played goalkeeper for the field hockey team and was named the 1988 Beaver College Softball Rookie of the Year. She also received the 1991 PIAWA Philadelphia Player of the Year in field hockey, among other highly-regarded recognitions.
After receiving her bachelor’s degree in biology, Lane became the assistant and subsequently head coach for Arcadia’s field hockey and lacrosse teams. While the field hockey head coach, they had four post-season appearances in her six seasons. She was named the 2002 PAC Coach of the Year and organized numerous community service and outreach activities with the team. She received her master’s degree in elementary education from Arcadia University in 2002.
In 2004, Lane was the head coach at Roanoke College in Salem, Virginia, where she helped led the team to the postseason on three occasions including a semifinal appearance. She then came back to the Philadelphia area to coach at Gwynedd-Mercy.
She is a summer camp coach for Merestead Sports Camp, an active member of the NFHCA, a summer 2008 Women’s Coaches Academy graduate, and is currently on the NCAA Regional Ranking Committee as well as the NFHCA South Atlantic Region All America Committee.
Overall Coach Lane has mentored over 40 PAC/CSAC All Conference Players, four STX/NFHCA All American players, over 46 Academic All-Americans, and nine ODAC all-league performers.
The Lane List
- A four-time conference coach of the year (2007, 2015, 2016, 2018)
- Mentored NFHCA All Region Players Maria Karidas (2011, 2013), Sarah Jackson (2012), Stephanie Bacho (2014), Kelly Kruk (2014), Melissa Russo (2015, 2016, 2017).
- Two-time NFHCA All American Melissa Russo (2016, 2017). Russo also was selected the 2017-18 CSAC Female Senior Scholar Athlete of the Year
- Over 60 all-conference student-athletes including five players of the year; Maria Karidas (2013), Katie O’Neill (2015) Melissa Russo (2016, 2017), Kaitlyn Lutz (2017), and Kathryn Lehman (2018). She also coached two rookies of the year; Karidas (2010) and Lauren Jani (2018).
- In 2017, Russo was nominated by the Colonial States Athletic Conference as its NCAA Woman of the Year candidate.
- In 2019, Maggie Walsh was awarded two prestigious honors at graduation; The Catherine McCauley Award (in recognition of the student's spirit of service, dedication to Mercy values and generosity in contribution to the good of others) and the Presidential Scholar Award (given to the undergraduate whose academic record is superior, and participates in and contributes to the university community. The selection of the winner is reserved for the President of the University)
- Hosts and coordinates Field Hockey clinics and summer camps.
- Her teams have enjoyed summer trips overseas: Bermuda (2014), Barcelona (2017), Cape Town (2020) where they are also able to give back in participating in local field hockey clinics.
- Off the field, she has accomplished the following:
Women Coaches Academy Class #14 2008
Women Coaches Academy 2.0 Class #3 2019
NCAA Senior Woman Administrator Forum 2019
Three-time member of the NCAA All American Committee
Current member of the NCAA Regional Ranking Committee
- Lane was the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) Mentor from 2007-2018.
- Her team’s participation in the campus wide 175 Acts of Mercy in the Fall of 2018, collecting over 300 toys for the Dominican Republic Nursing Trip during Spring Break.
- Lane notched her 100th career coaching victory on September 14, 2009 in the 5-1 win at Cedar Crest. She would get her 200th win on October 8, 2016 in a 6-0 score over Immaculata.
|
Overall |
|
Conference |
|
| Year |
W |
L |
|
W |
L |
Notes |
| 2007 |
13 |
7 |
|
7 |
3 |
PAC Tournament |
| 2008 |
7 |
12 |
|
5 |
4 |
CSAC Tournament |
| 2009 |
11 |
9 |
|
6 |
2 |
CSAC Semifinalists/ECAC Tournament |
| 2010 |
13 |
8 |
|
7 |
1 |
CSAC Finalists/ECAC Tournament |
| 2011 |
16 |
5 |
|
7 |
0 |
CSAC Champions/NCAA Tournament |
| 2012 |
15 |
6 |
|
6 |
1 |
CSAC Champions/NCAA Tournament |
| 2013 |
12 |
9 |
|
6 |
1 |
CSAC Champions/NCAA Tournament |
| 2014 |
15 |
6 |
|
6 |
1 |
CSAC Champions/NCAA Tournament |
| 2015 |
13 |
6 |
|
7 |
0 |
CSAC Finalists |
| 2016 |
13 |
6 |
|
7 |
0 |
CSAC Finalists |
| 2017 |
17 |
4 |
|
7 |
0 |
CSAC Champions/NCAA Tournament |
| 2018 |
13 |
7 |
|
5 |
0 |
AEC Finalists/NCAA Tournament |
| Total |
158 |
85 |
|
76 |
13 |
12 Seasons |
