Caitlin Hansen was named the second head coach in Saint Leo women's lacrosse history by Director of Athletics Francis X. Reidy in June 2017. The end of the 2025 season marked Hansen's eighth season leading the Lions. During this stretch, the Lions have compiled a 75-48 record and in 2024 the program earned its first postseason victory with a 15-9 win over #15 Embry-Riddle in the SSC Quaterfinals. In the last three seasons, Hansen has led Saint Leo to three Sunshine State Conference (SSC) tournament appearances including two straight years with a semifinal appearance. Hansen was recognized for her efforts in 2024 by her SSC women's lacrosse coaching peers as they voted her the 2024 SSC Coach of the Year.
Under Hansen’s direction, the Green and Gold have produced 27 All-SSC selections along with three Lions named the SSC Freshman of the Year (Ashlee Wilsynski, Maria Palomba, and Jessica Harclerode) and in 2025 Maria Palomba made program history becoming the first Lion to earn multiple "of the Year" honors as she was named the 2025 SSC Midfielder of the Year. The Green and Gold have boasted 10 Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) All-South Region honorees and eight All-Americans with Hansen at the lead.
Fast Facts
Alma mater: Bryant, 2008
Seasons coached: 12
Coaching record: 125-71 (.638)
Seasons coached at Saint Leo: 8
Record at Saint Leo: 75-48Â (.610)
By Season at Saint Leo
2025: Saint Leo finished the 2025 season with a 13-6 record and a 3-4 SSC record. The Lions cruised through non-conference action going 10-2 and went 70-3 at home. Saint Leo earned its first top-10 ranking cracking the IWLCA's top-10 in the week two polls, rising as high as number six midway through the season. Saint Leo advanced to the SSC Semifinals for a second straight season following a come-from-behind 11-10 win at #6 Lynn. Milestones became a common theme in 2025. Maria Palomba set the conference's career record for draw controls finishing her career with 517 as well as being named the SSC Midfielder of the Year and becoming the second Lion to earn All-SSC honors all four years. Palmoba, Jana Nuss, Holly Hill, Meredith Eitel, and Abby Richards all earned All-SSC honors. Palomba also became the first Lion to earn IWLCA All-America first team honors.Â
2024:Â Saint Leo excelled in 2024 finishing the season with a 12-6 overall record and a 5-2 SSC record. The Lions finished the season matching its highest SSC finish in program history with a third place finish. Saint Leo earned hosting rights for the SSC tournament and earned its first postseason win with a 15-9 win over #15 Embry-Riddle. Jana Nuss, Fiona McLaughlin, Jessica Harclerode, and Maria Palomba all earned All-SSC honors. McLaughlin became the first Lion to earn All-SSC honors all four years. Hansen was recognized by her SSC women's lacrosse coaching peers as they voted her the 2024 SSC Coach of the Year, a first in program history.Â
2023: Saint Leo's season ended with a 10-7 record. Despite missing out on the SSC Tournament, multiple players again finished with SSC Honors. A lion once again was named as Freshman of the Year with Jessica Harclerode earning the honor. Ashlee Wilsynski, Fiona McLaughlin, Maria Palomba, and Reagan Buhrman were all named in the All-SSC Second Team.
2022: The Lions finished the season with a 7-11 record including a 4-3 record in the SSC. A couple of the players finished with SSC Honors. Maria Palomba was named SSC Freshman of the Year and All-SSC First Team, and Fiona McLaughlin was named in the All-SSC Second Team. The team's season finished in the SSC Tournament Semi-Final.
2021: Put together a 5-5 overall record, going 3-3 in the Sunshine State Conference (SSC) during a shortened season. Despite only 10 games played, Hansen saw six Lions honored with all-conference awards, including the program’s first-ever Freshman of the Year accolade in Ashlee Wilsynski. The honors kept coming as the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) named attacker Ashlee Wilsynski, midfielder Delaney Chrisco, and defender Ashley Salvett All-South Region First Team members. In addition, junior captain, Marisa Souchak was named the Yeardley Reynolds Love (YRL) Unsung Hero by the One Love Foundation.
2020: The new decade cut short Hansen’s third season at the helm due to COVID-19. The 2020 Lions registered a 4-3 overall record, finishing as the no.19 in the nation polled by the IWLCA. Hansen and Lions also saw Ashley Salvett named the first women’s lacrosse All-American in program history as the Inside Lacrosse Women’s Maverick Division II Media All-America among the two defensive honorable mention selections.
2019: Hansen led the Lions to a historic 2019 that featured a 13-0 start, setting the program’s best start record, during a 13-4, 2-4 SSC finish. During the exciting run, Hansen saw Ashley Salvett earn the title of SSC Defensive Player of the Week (2/18/19) followed by the program’s first-ever SSC Offensive Player of the Week in the form of Janee DeLuca (3/4/2019). The Saint Leo record books were marked constantly. Leslie Ferguson became the program’s all-time point leader with 177 while also becoming the Green and Gold’s all-time scorer with 141 goals. Kaylah Walstad became the Lions’ all-time assist leader with 51 while earning the program’s second highest point count with 140 under Ferguson. On the other side of the field, Delaney Chrisco and Ashley Salvett etched their names into the single-season record book. Chrisco earned a season-best 34 caused turnovers followed by Salvett with 30. Finally, the single-game points and goals records are now set by Ferguson with 10 points and seven goals against Palm Beach Atlantic (4/6/19). Hansen also saw Sarah Pierson claim the draw control game-record with 11 against Montevallo (3/24/19) followed by Chrisco with 10 at Tampa (4/17/19).
2018: During her first season, Hansen led the Lions’ to the program previous best season start showcasing six-straight wins. Under her leadership, Saint Leo closed the 2018 season with an overall record of 11-6, 2-4 mark in the SSC. On March 14, she saw the Lions’ earn the program’s first-ever national ranking by US Lacrosse, naming Saint Leo No. 19 among Division II competition. Saint Leo continued to grab national attention, climbing to No. 15 on April 4. Hansen saw multiple school records fall in both the game and season categories among a handful of career milestones reached by her student-athletes. To wrap up the inaugural year, Saint Leo earned three SSC all-conference honors.
Coaching History
Hansen came to Saint Leo from Johnson & Wales University in Providence, R.I., where served as the head coach for four seasons, after taking over the Wildcats' club program. She capped that run by leading JWU to a 16-5 record in 2017, including a 9-0 conference record and the Great Northeast Athletic Conference championship. The Wildcats advanced to their first NCAA tournament berth, after earning the No. 11 ranking in the New England regional poll.
Hansen was tabbed as the 2017 GNAC Women's Lacrosse Coach of the Year, with nine Wildcat players, all recruited by Hansen, receiving All-GNAC honors. The 2017 player honors also included GNAC Goalkeeper of the Year for junior Marianna Consiglio, while senior Lydia Knapp was the only player out of the conference named to the All-Region squad.
Over her four years at the helm of Johnson & Wales women's lacrosse, Hansen posted a 50-23 (.685) overall record as head coach.
Hansen has also served as a coach with the Team Elevate New England club women's lacrosse program since 2013. Based out of Providence, Team Elevate is one of the nation's top club lacrosse organizations.
Prior to accepting the position at Johnson & Wales, Hansen served as an assistant coach at her alma mater, Bryant University for the 2009 through 2011 seasons. During that span, Bryant reclassified from Division II to Division I and joined the Northeast Conference, with Hansen assisting with on- and off-campus recruiting, practice preparation, game film breakdown and opponent scouting reports, and travel logistics.
Hansen also worked in the Bryant Admissions office from 2011 to 2013, recruiting prospective students from New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and western Massachusetts.
Personal History
Hansen is a 2008 graduate of Bryant University with a degree in Communications and was a four-year letter winner with the women's lacrosse program. A 2007 All-Region honoree, Hansen was a two-time All-Northeast 10 selection and three-times named to the Academic All-Conference team. She is tied for second among Bryant's all-time (DI + DII) points leaders with 195, and is third among all-time goals leaders with 161.
