Bio

One Season (3-12 through 2013)

Brianna Cronin enters her second season as Head Coach of the Franklin Pierce University women's lacrosse program in 2014. Through one season on the sidelines in Rindge, she has posted a 3-12 (.200 winning percentage) record over 15 games.

A first-time collegiate head coach, Cronin was hired in the winter prior to the 2013 campaign and is the first dedicated coach in program history. Through its first 15 years of existence, the women's lacrosse program at Franklin Pierce had shared its Head Coach with the field hockey program, under the guidance of Judy Heddy from 1998-2006 and Meighan Guiney from 2007-2012.

As in many coaching changes, Cronin's 2013 debut season was a bumpy one, as the team staggered to a 3-12 finish. However, the campaign was not without promising signs for the future. Perhaps most importantly, the roster featured only one junior and three seniors, which meant 62.2% of the team's offensive production came from players in their freshman or sophomore season. Highlighting the underclassmen contributions, sophomore assistant captain Madeline Shopshire led the team with 28-4-32 and ranked second on the team in ground balls (31) and caused turnovers (15), while freshman attack Nicole Dale poured in 24-4-28. Among upperclassmen, Courtney Weber '13 (107-43-150 career) and Ashley Lamagdeleine '13 (64-14-78) closed out their careers among the top-10 offensive threats in program history.

Cronin came to Franklin Pierce after serving as the assistant coach for the women's lacrosse program at Oberlin College. Prior to Oberlin, Cronin spent a season serving as the head coach at her high school alma mater, Arlington (Mass.) High School, where she guided the Spy Ponders to 12 wins and a post-season appearance. It was an impressive turnaround for the program as it had won just twice the season prior to Cronin's arrival.

Beyond her coaching experience, Cronin boasts an extensive background contributing to clinics and instructional camps. She has spent several years coaching at lacrosse camps hosted by Johns Hopkins University, her alma mater. In addition, she has operated clinics for youth lacrosse programs and been served as the head coach for the Metro Boston squad at the Bay State Games.

Cronin was a four-year letterwinner at Johns Hopkins (bio), where she patrolled the midfield and played in every game from the start of her sophomore season through the end of her career, after missing the second half of her freshman campaign with a knee injury. Though she earned a starting role as a senior, arguably her best season came as a sophomore in 2009, when she poured in 17 goals while playing primarily as a reserve. In all, over 59 career games, including 24 starts, she tallied 47-2-49 with 51 ground balls, 22 draw controls and 11 caused turnovers. She was selected to the American Lacrosse Conference Academic Honor Roll during her junior year. Cronin was a two-time captain for the Blue Jays.

Originally from Arlington, Mass., Cronin graduated from Johns Hopkins in 2011 with a bachelor's degree in sociology. In spring 2013, she was engaged to former Franklin Pierce baseball player James Roche (bio).