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Denison University

Denison University Athletics Dept
100 Livingston Dr. Granville, OH 43023
Division 3 Ohio Midwest
Private Small National competitor

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Amanda Daniels

Amanda Daniels returns for her 11th season as Head Women's Lacrosse Coach at Denison University in 2024. She was also promoted to Associate Professor of Physical Education in the summer of 2023.


Few coaches have had a better start to their careers than Daniels. In 10 years and nine full seasons (2020 season was shortened due to COVID-19) as the Big Red head coach, she has guided Denison to nine straight NCAA Division III Tournament appearances, a Final Four appearance in 2021, five North Coast Athletic Conference championships and eight NCAC Tournament titles. From April 11, 2015, to April 2, 2022, the Big Red won 45 consecutive regular-season conference games.


At Denison, Daniels has compiled an impressive record of 122-53 (.697 pct.) while going 60-6 (.909 pct.) in NCAC contests. She was named the NCAC Coach of the Year in 2014 and 2016, and is a three-time IWLCA Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year in 2016, 2019, and 2021. On February 27, 2022, Denison defeated Dickinson College 17-11 as Coach Daniels earned her 100th career win as head coach of the Big Red.


In 2023, Denison finished its 10th season under Coach Daniels with an 11-11 overall record but advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 for the eighth time in school history and for the fifth season in a row. The Big Red earned the NCAC's automatic qualifier to the national tournament after defeating No. 21 nationally-ranked Kenyon College by a score of 14-8 in the NCAC Tournament Championship. In addition to ending Kenyon's undefeated season, the win gave Denison its league-leading 16th NCAC Tournament Championship in women's lacrosse and was its eighth in 10 years under the leadership of Coach Daniels. Denison then made its 24th overall and ninth straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. From there, senior Jane Bailey recorded seven points as Denison scored five goals in three different quarters to earn an 18-10 victory over Hope College during the first round of the NCAA Tournament before junior Merrill Rollhaus scored twice in the fourth quarter and netted the game-winning goal with just eight seconds left in triple overtime to propel Denison to a 10-9 victory over the No. 17 nationally-ranked University of Chicago during the second round.


The Denison women's lacrosse team received an at-large bid to the 2022 NCAA Division III Tournament, and thanks to the game-winning goal just over one minute into overtime by junior attacker Jane Bailey, earned a big 13-12 comeback victory at home over Catholic University during the second round of the tournament. In the end, the Big Red ended their ninth year under Coach Daniels with a 12-7 overall record and a runner-up finish in the NCAC both during the regular season and during the conference tournament while advancing to the NCAA Sweet 16 for the fourth season in a row and for the seventh time in school history. Additionally, for the second year in a row, senior Casey McTague was named a Second-Team All-American, a CoSIDA Third-Team Academic All-American® and was the NCAC Midfielder of the Year while joining McTague on the All-NCAC first-team was Bailey and sophomore defender Kate Coward.


In 2021, the Big Red had an historic run into the NCAA Tournament that saw them fall to eventual National Champion Salisbury in the Final Four. The Big Red finished the season 12-2 overall, went undefeated in the NCAC (5-0) for the fifth full season in a row, won their fifth straight NCAC Championship and captured their seventh straight NCAC tournament title. Daniels coached three All-Americans in Casey McTague, Charlotte Godfrey, and Liza Farnham. Farnham was named NCAC Offensive Player of the Year and McTague was named NCAC Midfielder of the Year.


In 2019, Daniels and the Big Red rolled through the NCAC with another percent 8-0 record. The team finished the year with a 16-5 record while facing one of the most difficult schedules in school history. Four of Denison's five losses came against nationally-ranked opponents and on March 22, the Big Red defeated No. 23 Rowan, 16-15 in overtime. In the postseason awards, Jane Goodspeed was named to the IWLCA All-American team for the second time while repeating at the NCAC's Defensive Player of the Year. First-year Casey McTague was named the NCAC's Newcomer of the Year. Denison qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the 21st time and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 for the fifth time.


In five years at Morrisville State (N.Y.), Daniels posted a 41-41 record while leading the Mustangs to the program’s first North Eastern Athletic Conference regular season and tournament championship in 2012. That season, she was named the NEAC Coach of the Year after her squad posted a program-best 13-6 record and went 9-0 in conference play. Daniels has a career head coaching record of 152-83 (.647 pct.) in 14 seasons between Denison and Morrisville State,


Prior to her head coaching stint at Morrisville State, Daniels spent one year as the assistant women’s lacrosse coach and assistant women’s soccer coach at Hamilton College (N.Y.). While at Hamilton, Daniels helped guide the women’s lacrosse team to a 21-1 record and the program’s first NCAA Division III Championship in 2008. As a member of the women’s soccer coaching staff at Hamilton in 2007, that team would go on to post a 16-2-2 record while advancing to the NCAA Division III Tournament quarterfinals.


A 2003 graduate of Le Moyne College in Syracuse, New York, Daniels was a four-time first-team All-Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference selection in women’s lacrosse. She was a part of two MAAC Tournament championship teams and two NCAA Division I Tournament teams in 2002 and 2003. She served as a team captain in 2003 and left Le Moyne with 190 career points. Daniels was also a four-year member of the women’s soccer team at Le Moyne where she led the Dolphins in scoring as a senior.


After graduating Cum Laude with a bachelor of arts in English and communication, Daniels would go on to receive a masters’ degree in New Media from Syracuse University’s esteemed SI Newhouse School of Communications in 2004. While attending graduate school, Daniels spent one season as a part-time assistant coach at Le Moyne.


Following graduate school, Daniels would spend one year as the head lacrosse coach at Uppingham School in Rutland, England. After returning to the United States in the Fall of 2005, Daniels accepted a position with Windstar Studios as an account executive, video editor, and scriptwriter. In 2007 Daniels made her return to coaching at Hamilton.

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Tori Vernau

Tori Vernau returns to Denison University for her fifth season as an assistant coach with the Big Red women's lacrosse program in 2024.


In four years and three full seasons (2020 season was shortened due to COVID-19) since joining the team in September of 2019, Vernau has helped Denison to a North Coast Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament championship and subsequent NCAA Final Four appearance in 2021, followed by an NCAA Sweet 16 appearance in 2022 and then another NCAC Tournament Championship and Sweet 16 appearance in 2023. In addition, the Big Red have gone a combined 37-23 overall and 17-2 in the NCAC during Vernau’s first fouryears in Granville.


In 2023, Denison finished its season with an 11-11 overall record but advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 for the eighth time in school history and for the fifth season in a row. The Big Red earned the NCAC's automatic qualifier to the national tournament after defeating No. 21 nationally-ranked Kenyon College by a score of 14-8 in the NCAC Tournament Championship. In addition to ending Kenyon's undefeated season, the win gave Denison its league-leading 16th NCAC Tournament Championship in women's lacrosse. Denison then made its 24th overall and ninth straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament.


The Denison women's lacrosse team received an at-large bid to the 2022 NCAA Division III Tournament and earned a big 13-12 comeback victory at home over Catholic University during the second round of the tournament. In the end, the Big Red ended the year 12-7 overall with a runner-up finish in the NCAC both during the regular season and during the conference tournament.


During Vernau's first full season in Granville in 2021, the Big Red had an historic run into the NCAA Tournament that saw them fall to eventual National Champion Salisbury in the Final Four. The Big Red finished the season 12-2 overall, went undefeated in the NCAC (5-0) and won both the NCAC regular-season and tournament championships.


Vernau came to Denison after spending the 2019 season as a graduate assistant coach at Elmira College in Elmira, New York. In 2018 she was an assistant coach at Alma College, where she helped the Scots increase per-game averages for goals and draws, and mentored two All-MIAA selections.


Vernau graduated from NCAA Division II Tiffin University in 2017 where she left as one of the program’s all-time leading scorers, ranking third in goals (174) while departing as the program’s career-leader in draw controls (310). She was a three-time Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference first-team selection and a third-team All-North Region selection in 2016. That season she ranked third in NCAA Division II with 6.72 draws per game. Vernau was a Dean’s List student and a member of the Alpha Phi Sigma criminal justice honor society.


Vernau graduated Summa Cum Laude from NCAA Division II Tiffin University in 2017 where she left as one of the program’s all-time leading scorers, ranking third in goals (174) while departing as the program’s career-leader in draw controls (310). She was a three-time Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference selection and a third-team All-North Region selection in 2016. That season she ranked third in NCAA Division II with 6.72 draws per game which she recorded a career-high of 121 draw controls. Vernau earned a Bachelor of Criminal Justice in Forensic Psychology with a minor in Addiction’s Counseling. Vernau was a Dean’s List student, a member of the Alpha Phi Sigma criminal justice honor society and National Honor Society of leadership and success.


As an assistant coach, Vernau put a great deal of effort into the charitable efforts of the Alma and Elmira teams. At Alma, the Scots were recognized by the IWLCA with the Team Community Awareness Award for leading Division III with 741 community service hours. Since 2018, Vernau has also served as the head coach of the Minnesota Lakers Select club lacrosse team.

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Kat Schneeberger

Kat Schneeberger returns to Denison University for her second season as an assistant coach with the Big Red women's lacrosse program in 2024. Denison Head Women’s Lacrosse Coach Amanda Daniels announced the hiring of Schneeberger as an assistant coach for the Big Red on September 1, 2022.


In 2023, Coach Schneeberger's first season with the team, Denison finished with an 11-11 overall record but advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 for the eighth time in school history and for the fifth season in a row. The Big Red earned the NCAC's automatic qualifier to the national tournament after defeating No. 21 nationally-ranked Kenyon College by a score of 14-8 in the NCAC Tournament Championship. In addition to ending Kenyon's undefeated season, the win gave Denison its league-leading 16th NCAC Tournament Championship in women's lacrosse. Denison then made its 24th overall and ninth straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament.


Schneeberger was most recently a graduate assistant women’s lacrosse coach at NCAA Division II Tiffin University from August 2020 until May 2022. Before her time as a GA, Schneeberger was a four-year starting goalkeeper and four-year all-conference student-athlete on the women’s lacrosse team at Tiffin. As a senior in 2019, Schneeberger started in all 19 games, led the Great Midwest Athletic Conference with an 8.85 goals-against average and a .496 save percentage over 1,071 minutes, collected 145 saves, and was a Second-Team All G-MAC pick. She helped lead her team to a 12-7 overall record and a perfect 7-0 mark in the conference while reaching the G-MAC Championship game.


Schneeberger was a first-team all-conference pick and was the GLIAC Goalkeeper of the Year after her freshman season in 2016 and followed that up with second-team all-conference honors over the next three years. Schneelberger concluded her career ranked second all-time in both saves and groundballs at Tiffin.


Schneeberger is a native of Oviedo, Florida, who graduated from Oviedo High School, where she was named Seminole County Conference Player of the Year, First-Team All-County, and BHSN Women's Lacrosse Athlete of the Year.


Schneeberger received her Bachelor’s degree in criminal justice/law enforcement administration from Tiffin in 2019 and earned his Master of Science in homeland security with a concentration in criminal behavior in 2022.

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