|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Stanford women’s lacrosse coach Danielle Spencer announced the additions of Nicole Flores and Megan Whittle to her coaching staff on Wednesday.
Flores will serve as the defensive and recruiting coordinator while Whittle will be the Cardinal’s offensive coordinator. Both coaches were assistants to Spencer at Dartmouth last season, where the trio led the Big Green to an Ivy League title and the program’s first NCAA appearance in six years.
“Individually we are good, but together we make a great team,” Spencer said of the staff. “I am humbled that Nicole and Megan trust me enough to move across the country with me; and I am grateful to have this impact in their coaching careers. The future is bright for Stanford Lacrosse.”
“I am ecstatic for the opportunity to join such an amazing institution and family,” Flores said. “I would like to thank Danielle Spencer. Stanford is a dream job and I can’t wait to get started. I’m excited to join the Pac-12 and be a part of the Home of Champions.”
“I am thrilled to join the Stanford family,” Whittle said. “I want to thank Danielle for believing in me and helping guide me in my transition from player to coach. I’m grateful for the opportunity to continue coaching with such an amazing staff every day and to begin working with the talented, hard-working women at Stanford.”
Spencer and her staff inherit a Stanford program that finished 13-6 and reached the NCAA tournament for the second straight year. The Cardinal returns its top four scorers, as well as nine of 11 starters and its starting goalkeeper.
Flores comes to The Farm with 10 years of coaching experience, including the last two with Spencer at Dartmouth.
In her first season in Hanover, the Big Green went 11-5 and made the Ivy League Tournament for the first time in five seasons, and the following year, she worked with Spencer and Whittle to lead Dartmouth to an Ivy title and the NCAA Tournament.
Prior to her stint with the Big Green, she was a member of the coaching staff at Trinity. In her one season, the Bantams reached the Division III national semifinals.
The Branford, Conn. native’s time at Trinity followed a stint at Bowdoin College, where she worked from 2014-16. During her time with the Polar Bears, she was part of a staff that helped lead the program to the 2015 New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Championship Game as well as to the NCAA Division III Sweet 16.
Previous coaching experience also came from time at Union (2011-14) and Eastern Connecticut (2009-11) following the completion of her collegiate playing career at Springfield in 2009. While a student-athlete with the Pride, she was a first-team all-conference player and team captain as a senior.
One of the most prolific scorers in NCAA history, Whittle began her coaching career last season when she joined Spencer and Flores at Dartmouth, where the Big Green reached the NCAA tournament on the heels of an Ivy League championship.
A 2018 graduate of the University of Maryland, Whittle capped one of the most impressive careers in the history of women’s collegiate lacrosse in 2018. The Glenwood, Maryland, native has a laundry list of individual accolades longer than many Division I programs have compiled in their history.
The Terps’ all-time leading goal scorer, Whittle finished with 298 career goals, good for second most in NCAA history. A three-time All-American, she helped lead her team to a pair of national championships as a freshman and junior in 2015 and 2017, respectively.
A team captain as a senior, Whittle led the Terps back to the Final Four for the fourth time in her career, while posting career highs with 84 goals and 99 points. In 90 games over four seasons, she amassed 339 career points in addition to her nearly 300 goals, both figures that rank near the top of the NCAA all-time record books.
During her career, Maryland won four Big Ten regular season championships and three conference postseason titles en route to an 86-4 record. For her efforts, she was twice named the Big Ten Attacker of the Year (2016 and 2018) and was an all-conference player all four seasons in College Park.
By Staff report
By Staff report
By Staff report