Skip to main content
Penn State

Penn State fills women's lacrosse coaching vacancy with splash

nate-mug-10.12.14by: Nate Bauer05/21/25NateBauerBWI
penn-state-fills-womens-lacrosse-coaching-vacancy-splash
Penn State has hired Kayla Treanor as its new women's lacrosse coach. (Photo Credit: Jeffrey Camarati-USA TODAY Sports)

Penn State has filled its women’s lacrosse coaching vacancy in dramatic fashion. Wednesday afternoon, the program announced via press release the hiring of Kayla Treanor as its next head coach.

“I’m honored to be named the head coach of Penn State Women’s Lacrosse,” said Treanor. “I want to thank Pat Kraft and the entire athletics department for their trust in me and for the significant investment they’re making in this program. Penn State is committed to winning at the highest level, and so am I. Our sights are set on bringing a National Championship to Happy Valley, and I’m excited to lead this team into a new era of success.”

Treanor has extensive experience with those levels of success. A former player at Syracuse and coach there for the past four seasons, she is a four-time, first-team IWLCA All-American, three times named a finalist for the Tewaaraton Award and the IWLCA Attacker of the Year in three of her collegiate seasons. Beyond the college realm, Treanor also had great success on the international stage with the United States. Twice, her team won gold medals during the 2017 and 2022 World Championships,

Turning to coaching, Treanor spent four years at Boston College as an assistant and associate head coach before going back to Syracuse in 2022. There, she helped guide her alma mater to back-to-back NCAA semifinals the past two seasons, tapping out in the second round of this year’s tournament. Under her leadership, Syracuse had IWLCA All-Americans including first-teamers Katie Goodale and Emma Tyrrell, plus the NCAA single-season draw control record holder, Kate Mashewske.

Seeking out a replacement for Missy Doherty, who retired after 14 seasons leading the women’s lacrosse program at Penn State, the Nittany Lions will move forward with Treanor at the helm.

“We are thrilled to welcome Kayla Treanor to our Penn State family as our women’s lacrosse head coach,” said Kraft. “Her unparalleled experience as both a player and coach make her the perfect leader for our program. I know Kayla will elevate our program to new heights after seeing firsthand her passion for developing student-athletes, championship mindset and commitment to excellence.”

The Penn State women’s lacrosse team went 7-9 this past season, going 5-3 in conference play. Their last NCAA Tournament appearance was in 2024 when they went 11-8 overall for the season.

Talk about it with our premium members in the Lions Den message board, here!



You may also like