Miller Named Canadian National Team Head Coach

Ottawa, Ontario – The Canadian Lacrosse Association and Women’s National Team Program has announced that Syracuse head coach Lisa Miller has been appointed head coach for the national team. Miller will lead the Canadian team at the IFWLA World Cup in Prague, Czech Republic in 2009.

“I am really excited,” Miller said. “I was an assistant coach in 2001 and I really enjoyed the experience. It is a great opportunity to work with some of the best players in the world. It is a good relationship to build for the SU program and the Canada program.”

Miller served as an assistant coach for Canada’s 2001 World Cup team. At the World Cup, Canada lost in the bronze-medal game to the host-country England.

Miller began the Syracuse women’s lacrosse team in 1998, bringing the program to national prominence during the past 10 years. One of the most successful coaches in NCAA history, Miller ranks 10th among active coaches with a .664 winning percentage. In her nine seasons at the helm, the Orange has posted a winning season each year, claimed an ECAC Championship title and made five NCAA Tournament appearances. Syracuse’s nine-consecutive winning seasons is the sixth-longest steak in the history of the NCAA and the fifth-longest active streak.

During her tenure at Syracuse, women’s lacrosse student-athletes have been among the most decorated players on the SU campus. Miller has mentored at least one All-American in each of the past eight seasons for a total of 14 recognitions. In addition to the nine All Americans that Miller has guided, she has coached 16 regional All-Americans a total of 26 times during her nine-year tenure and 18 All-BIG EAST selections a combined 27 times during the six years of the conference’s history.

Miller began her collegiate coaching career as an associate head coach at Wheaton College, a Division III program in Norton, Mass. There she learned the necessary skills all strong coaches need to build a program. In her three years at Wheaton, her team grew from one that played “a man down” with seven beginners to one that posed a formidable threat and achieved an 8-6 record two seasons later. Wheaton’s team also celebrated two league rookie of the year awards during Miller’s tenure.

Miller became an assistant coach at Brown University in February of 1994. During her first year, her primary responsibility was coaching the goalies, but her duties were soon extended to recruiting, coaching the defense and orchestrating the fast-break attack. In her third year with the program, Brown shattered its all-time scoring record, finished 10-4, and was ranked 15th in the country. That season the Bears produced two All-Americans and the 1996 Ivy League Rookie of the Year.

As a player at the College of William & Mary, one of the top women’s programs in the country, Miller left her mark. She was captain of her team, the 1987 Outstanding Female Senior Athlete and an All-American. She still ranks third on the William & Mary all-time scoring list and fifth on its career points list with 145. She was also a member of the U.S. Lacrosse Team as a senior. In March of 2004, Miller became only the third women’s lacrosse player at William & Mary to be inducted into the school’s athletics Hall of Fame.

Syracuse University Athletics

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