Caitlin Sweeney
Caitlin Sweeney

Bio

Caitlin Sweeney '18 will enter her third season as head coach of the Franklin Pierce University women's lacrosse team in 2023 (hiring release). A former All-America selection during her undergraduate career with the Ravens, Sweeney returned to the crimson and grey to make her head coaching debut in the 2020-21 academic year. Through two seasons at the helm, she has posted an 11-14 record (.440 winning percentage) over 25 games, including 10-11 (.476) over 21 games in Northeast-10 Conference play.

The 2022 season was a struggle at times for the Ravens, as they returned to full Northeast-10 Conference play and the bevy of nationally-prominent opponents such a schedule entails. Franklin Pierce lost each of its first seven games of the season, though four were against nationally ranked opposition. The Ravens rebounded from there and went 4-4 the rest of the way, though three straight losses to end the campaign, again to nationally-ranked opponents, put an end to any postseason hopes. Megyn Ayotte and Jenna Cimbron were named to the NE10 Academic All-Conference Team, while 13 Ravens earned IWLCA Academic Honor Roll accolades.

The 2021 campaign saw an abbreviated schedule of divisional play in the Northeast-10, on account of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Ravens made the most of the opportunity. A 6-2 league record was good enough for third place in the Northeast Division and a home game in the first round of the NE10 Championship. The Ravens would convert, for the program's first-even postseason win, with a 15-7 triumph over Saint Michael's. The team came up just short in the Northeast Division semifinal, dropping a 17-14 shootout at Saint Anselm, but still concluded the season with a 7-3 record, which marked the most wins for the program since 2017. Savannah Ernst piled up 57 points (49-8-57) on the season, which was third in the NE10, and earned her NE10 Northeast Division Attacker of the Year, IWLCA All-East Region First Team and USA Lacrosse Magazine All-America Third Team accolades. Megyn Ayotte was named to the NE10 Academic All-Conference Team.

Though Franklin Pierce marked her first opportunity as a head coach, Sweeney brought Division II coaching experience with her to the post, as she spent the previous two years as an assistant coach (bio) with Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tenn. Working with a team which only debuted in 2015, she helped lead the Railsplitters to a program-record 12 wins in 2019, as the squad went 12-6 to post the first above-.500 finish in program annals. The 2019 team also returned to the postseason for the second straight season and picked up its first ever South Atlantic Conference (SAC) Tournament victory by defeating Coker in the quarterfinals. The Railsplitters were picked to finish in the top half of the SAC again in 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic halted play throughout the country.

During her time in the Volunteer State, Sweeney had the opportunity to contribute to all aspects of the Lincoln Memorial program under head coach Caitlyn Corace, who is herself an alum of nearby Keene State. Sweeney’s primary responsibility was the team’s defense, and during Lincoln Memorial’s record-setting 2019 season, she led a defensive corps which finished second in the SAC in goals-against average and produced an All-SAC First Team defender in then-junior Zoe Zervos.

Sweeney is one of the more-decorated athletes (student-athlete bio) in the history of the program she is returning to helm. As a junior in 2017, she finished eighth in the nation in goals per game (3.75) on the way to an All-America Third Team selection and an All-North Region Second Team nod from the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Association (IWLCA), as well as All-NE10 Second Team plaudits. In her senior season, she was an All-North Region Third Team selection and earned All-NE10 Third Team accolades after finishing 15th in the country in goals per game (4.00). She was also an NE10 All-Rookie Team selection as a freshman in 2015.

Sweeney finished her career second in program history in points (254), goals (194) and assists (60). In both goals and points, she trailed only Lauren Stille ’11, who was a 2017 inductee into the Franklin Pierce Athletics Hall of Fame. Sweeney’s 82 points (60-22-82) in her senior season of 2018 was the second-most points in a single season in program annals, behind only Stille’s 2008 campaign (73-14-87). In her junior season of 2017, Sweeney helped the Ravens return to the NE10 Championship for the first time in eight years.

Off the field while at Franklin Pierce, Sweeney was a two-year member of the Athletic Communication office’s student staff. She also spent time interning with the Department of Athletics’ compliance office and recreation division.

Originally from Shirley, N.Y., Sweeney is a 2018 graduate of Franklin Pierce with a degree in sports and recreation management. She earned her master’s degree in business administration and marketing from Lincoln Memorial in 2020. Her twin sister, Briana Sweeney '18 (student-athlete bio) joined her as an assistant coach for the 2021 and 2022 seasons.

Career Record

Franklin Pierce: 11-14 (.440) overall, 10-11 (.476) Northeast-10)
2022: 4-11, 4-9 Northeast-10
2021: 7-3, 6-2 Northeast-10^
^ Northeast-10 Championship participant