# Penn State Nittany Lions women's lacrosse

The Penn State Nittany Lions women's lacrosse team is an NCAA Division I college lacrosse team representing Pennsylvania State University as part of the Big Ten Conference. They play their home games at Panzer Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania.

## Coach

The Nittany Lions have been coached by Missy Doherty since 2011. Doherty was a 1997 graduate of the University of Maryland, where she won 3 national titles and amassed a 68–2 record playing lacrosse there. She spent time as an assistant coach at Vanderbilt, Brown, and Princeton from 1998 to 2003, playing an important part of Princeton's back-to-back national titles in 2002 and 2003. In 2004 she became head coach at Towson, and the next year led the Tigers to their first NCAA tournament appearance in school history, which resulted in a one-goal loss to #5 Georgetown in the first round. Doherty's Tigers made three more appearances in 2008, 2009, and 2010 before she moved to State College in 2011 to coach the Nittany Lions. While at Towson she amassed a 79–46 record.
After a rebuilding 2011 season, Doherty led Penn State to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in seven years in 2012, and the quarterfinal for the first time in thirteen years as well. Penn State has made seven straight NCAA Tournament appearances under her watch from 2012 to 2018, including five quarterfinals and back-to-back Final Fours in 2016 and 2017.

## Historical statistics

*Statistics through 2018 season

## Individual career records

Reference:
| Record | Number | Player | Years |
| Goals | 271 | Marsha Florio | 1982-85 |
| Assists | 137 | Maggie McCormick | 2012-15 |
| Points | 380 | Marsha Florio | 1982-85 |
| Draw Controls | 278 | Jenna Mosketti | 2013-16 |
| Saves | 735 | Lee Tortorelli | 2002-05 |
| Save % | .725 | Jody Field | 1976-79 |
| GAA | 3.51 | Jody Field | 1976-79 |

## Individual single-season records

| Record | Number | Player | Year |
| Goals | 79 | Marsha Florio | 1985 |
| Assists | 51 | Megan Smith | 1990 |
| Points | 109 | Marsha Florio | 1985 |
| Saves | 219 | Lee Tortorelli | 2004 |
| Save % | .748 | Jody Field | 1979 |
| GAA | 3.10 | Jody Field | 1977 |

## Seasons

Statistics overview :
| Season | Coach | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason |
| Unaffiliated (1965–1972) ||||||
| 1965 | Margaret Fringer | 2-1 | | | |
| 1966 | Virginia Harpster | 0-1 | | | |
| 1967 | Virginia Harpster | 0-3-1 | | | |
| 1968 | Ellen Perry | 5-1 | | | |
| 1969 | Ellen Perry | 1-5 | | | |
| 1970 | Ellen Perry | 2-4 | | | |
| 1971 | Ellen Perry | 1-5 | | | |
| 1972 | Ellen Perry | 3-4-1 | | | |
| USWLA (South District) (1973–1980) ||||||
| 1973 | Ellen Perry | 3-5 | | | |
| 1974 | Gillian Rattray | 7-1 | | | |
| 1975 | Gillian Rattray | 8-2 | | | |
| 1976 | Gillian Rattray | 8-1 | | | |
| 1977 | Gillian Rattray | 9-1 | | | |
| 1978 | Gillian Rattray | 14-0-1 | | | USWLA National Champions |
| 1979 | Gillian Rattray | 17-0 | | | USWLA National Champions |
| 1980 | Gillian Rattray | 14-1-2 | | | USWLA National Champions |
| AIAW (1981–1982) ||||||
| 1981 | Gillian Rattray | 13-2 | | | AIAW Fifth Place |
| 1982 | Gillian Rattray | 14-3 | | | AIAW Third Place |
| NCAA Division I (Independent) (1983–2001) ||||||
| 1983 | Gillian Rattray | 14-2 | | | NCAA Semifinal |
| 1984 | Gillian Rattray | 12-2 | | | NCAA Quarterfinal |
| 1985 | Gillian Rattray | 14-4 | | | NCAA Semifinal |
| 1986 | Susan Delaney-Scheetz | 16-2 | | | NCAA Runner-up |
| 1987 | Susan Delaney-Scheetz | 17-2 | | | NCAA Champions |
| 1988 | Susan Delaney-Scheetz | 15-4 | | | NCAA Runner-up |
| 1989 | Susan Delaney-Scheetz | 19-1 | | | NCAA Champions |
| 1990 | Julie Williams | 13-5 | | | NCAA Quarterfinal |
| 1991 | Julie Williams | 14-4 | | | NCAA Semifinal |
| 1992 | Julie Williams | 11-5 | | | NCAA Quarterfinal |
| 1993 | Julie Williams | 11-5 | | | NCAA Quarterfinal |
| 1994 | Julie Williams | 9-6 | | | |
| 1995 | Julie Williams | 12-6 | | | NCAA Semifinal |
| 1996 | Julie Williams | 11-5 | | | NCAA Quarterfinal |
| 1997 | Julie Williams | 10-6 | | | NCAA Quarterfinal |
| 1998 | Julie Williams | 10-8 | | | |
| 1999 | Julie Williams | 15-5 | | | NCAA Semifinal |
| 2000 | Karen Schnellenbach | 8-9 | | | |
| 2001 | Suzanne Isidor | 8-10 | | | NCAA First Round |
| NCAA Division I (American Lacrosse Conference) (2002–2014) ||||||
| 2002 | Suzanne Isidor | 8-9 | 4-2 | | |
| 2003 | Suzanne Isidor | 9-8 | 5-1 | | |
| 2004 | Suzanne Isidor | 6-11 | 3-3 | | |
| 2005 | Suzanne Isidor | 12-5 | 5-1 | 2nd | NCAA First Round |
| 2006 | Suzanne Isidor | 8-8 | 4-1 | 2nd | |
| 2007 | Suzanne Isidor | 9-8 | 0-4 | 5th | |
| 2008 | Suzanne Isidor | 5-12 | 0-4 | 5th | |
| 2009 | Suzanne Isidor | 9-8 | 2-2 | T-2nd | |
| 2010 | Suzanne Isidor | 10-7 | 1-4 | T-4th | |
| 2011 | Missy Doherty | 10-8 | 3-2 | T-2nd | |
| 2012 | Missy Doherty | 12-7 | 3-2 | 3rd | NCAA Quarterfinal |
| 2013 | Missy Doherty | 14-7 | 4-1 | T-1st | NCAA Quarterfinal |
| 2014 | Missy Doherty | 10-8 | 3-3 | T-3rd | NCAA First Round |
| NCAA Division I (Big Ten Conference) (2015–present) ||||||
| 2015 | Missy Doherty | 16-5 | 4-1 | 2nd | NCAA Quarterfinal |
| 2016 | Missy Doherty | 14-7 | 3-2 | T-2nd | NCAA Semifinal |
| 2017 | Missy Doherty | 17-4 | 5-1 | 2nd | NCAA Semifinal |
| 2018 | Missy Doherty | 10-10 | 3-3 | 3rd | NCAA First Round |
| Total: | Total: | 537-263-5 (.671) | | | |
| National champion   Postseason invitational champion   Conference regular season champion   Conference regular season and conference tournament champion  Division regular season champion  Division regular season and conference tournament champion  Conference tournament champion ||||||

## Postseason Results

The Nittany Lions have appeared in 25 NCAA tournaments. Their postseason record, not counting third place games, is 23–23.
| Year | Seed | Round | Opponent | Score |
| 1983 | -- | Quarterfinal Semifinal Third Place | Penn Delaware Massachusetts | W, 12-2 L, 5-7 W, 7-6 (ot) |
| 1984 | -- | Quarterfinal | Delaware | L, 9-10 |
| 1985 | -- | Semifinal | Maryland | L, 11-12 (3ot) |
| 1986 | -- | Semifinal Final | Temple Maryland | W, 8-7 L, 10-11 |
| 1987 | -- | Semifinal Final | Virginia Temple | W, 14-9 W, 7-6 |
| 1988 | -- | Quarterfinal Semifinal Final | Northwestern Lafayette Temple | W, 12-6 W, 8-6 L, 7-15 |
| 1989 | -- | Semifinal Final | Temple Harvard | W, 9-3 W, 7-6 |
| 1990 | -- | Quarterfinal | Temple | L, 4-9 |
| 1991 | -- | Quarterfinal Semifinal | Lafayette Virginia | W, 11-9 L, 5-10 |
| 1992 | -- | Quarterfinal | Virginia | L, 5-11 |
| 1993 | -- | Quarterfinal | Princeton | L, 7-11 |
| 1995 | -- | Quarterfinal Semifinal | James Madison Maryland | W, 11-7 L, 7-12 |
| 1996 | -- | Quarterfinal | Princeton | L, 9-13 |
| 1997 | -- | Quarterfinal | Maryland | L, 2-6 |
| 1999 | -- | First Round Quarterfinal Semifinal | West Chester #4 Princeton #1 Maryland | W, 23-7 W, 9-7 (ot) L, 13-17 |
| 2001 | #13 | First Round | #4 Dartmouth | L, 7-9 |
| 2005 | #7 | First Round | North Carolina | L, 6-7 (3ot) |
| 2012 | -- | First Round Quarterfinal | #8 Towson #1 Florida | W, 15-8 L, 2-15 |
| 2013 | #7 | First Round Second Round Quarterfinal | Canisius Massachusetts #2 Northwestern | W, 14-13 W, 12-9 L, 7-15 |
| 2014 | -- | First Round | Princeton | L, 13-16 |
| 2015 | -- | First Round Second Round Quarterfinal | Johns Hopkins #7 Virginia #2 North Carolina | W, 14-11 W, 13-11 L, 8-11 |
| 2016 | -- | First Round Second Round Quarterfinal Semifinal | Winthrop #2 Florida #7 Penn #3 North Carolina | W, 16-6 W, 14-13 (ot) W, 8-4 L, 11-12 |
| 2017 | #4 | Second Round Quarterfinal Semifinal | James Madison #5 Princeton #1 Maryland | W, 19-14 W, 14-12 L, 10-20 |
| 2018 | -- | First Round | Penn | L, 14-15 (2ot) |
| 2023 | -- | First Round | Stony Brook | L, 8-12 |