Pace University

Pleasantville, NY 10570

New York Northeast

Private Medium Developing team

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Coaches

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Tricia Molfetta

Tricia Molfetta, who was hired to lead the Pace women's lacrosse program in the fall of 2017, has led the Setters to a 70-24 (.745) record during her time in Pleasantville. In 2023, her sixth season at the helm of the Blue and Gold, Molfetta led the Setters to the first national championship in school history with a 21-2 season and a 19-9 win over No. 1 seed West Chester in the NCAA final.

The 2023 Setters were ranked No. 2 nationally for most of the season and went 12-0 in the Northeast-10 Conference, winning the league's regular-season title and No. 1 seed of the conference tournament. Pace was the NE10 Championship runners up, losing 14-13 to No. 2 seed LeMoyne, but rallied with a 16-10 win over New Haven in the first round of the NCAA East Regional First Round and a 14-5 win over Adelphi in the Regional Final. During NCAA Championship weekend, the Setter defeated Florida Southern 22-11 before winning it all to put a feather in the cap of a near perfect season. The Blue and Gold were the No. 1 seed in the East Region as a first-time NCAA tournament squad.

The program has developed extensively with Molfetta as head coach. Since the 2020 COVID stoppage, Mofetta's teams went 9-4 in 2021 (.692), 14-5 in 2022 (.737) to the 21-2 season in 2023.

In 2019, the Setters won eight of their final nine contests of the regular season, entering the postseason on a seven-game winning streak. Pace was ranked in every IWLCA National Poll of the season, climbing to as high as No. 11 in mid-March. The 2019 Setter finished 9-4 and earned a No. 3 seed in the NE10 Tournament.

In Molfetta's first year, the Setters completed the year with a school-record mark of 14-5, including a program-best 10 wins inside the NE10. The Blue and Gold then went on to host, and win, their first-ever NE10 Playoff game against Bentley by a score of 18-10.

Molfetta came to Pleasantville in the fall of 2017 after spending three years at Manhattanville College, where she served as top assistant for one season before being named head coach in 2016. Most recently, Molfetta led the Valiants to one of their best seasons in school history. Manhattanville put together an 11-6 record this past spring, tying the program's single-season win total. In addition, the Valiants made an appearance in the MAC Freedom Tournament semifinals for the first time in four seasons.

All in all, Molfetta's 17 wins during her two seasons at the helm of Manhattanville are the most in a two-year span in nearly a decade. In addition to the team success, Molfetta helped seven Valiants earn All-Mac Freedom honors, including a school-record five players in 2017.

Prior to her time with the Valiants, Molfetta served as an assistant coach at Purchase College. She also founded and served as the head coach of the women's lacrosse team at Rye Neck High School.

Leadership has always been a strong suit for Molfetta, who served as a two-year team captain during her playing days at Stony Brook University. Molfetta was a four-year starter for the Division I program, where she totaled 12 goals and 71 ground balls in 50 career games with the Seawolves.

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Melissa Alamprese

Melissa Alamprese was hired as Pace’s assistant women’s lacrosse coach in January of 2018, and will be beginning her third year in Pleasantville this spring.

Alamprese has spent over the last 20 seasons coaching high school lacrosse in Section 1 and is currently a physical education teacher at nearby Croton-Harmon High School.

Prior to arriving at Pace, Alamprese spent three seasons as the head varsity girls lacrosse coach at Croton-Harmon, where she led the tigers to their first winning season and playoff appearance in 2015 and the program’s first league championship in 2016. In addition, she was awarded Coach of the year by the Section 1 Coaches Association in 2016.

The bulk of Alamprese’s coaching career prior to Croton- Harmon was spent at Yorktown High School where she coached for 15 seasons and served as both an assistant and head coach. In that time, she won six Section 1 championships, six regional championships and 4 State Titles, and was selected as the Coach of the Year in 2003, 2004 and 2006.

Alamprese graduated from Springfield College with a BS in Movement Studies and a minor in Coaching, while being a member of the women’s lacrosse team.

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Amber Neumann

Amber Neumann joined our women’s lacrosse staff officially during the week of July 17. Neumann comes to Pace with previous coaching experience at Lincoln Memorial and East Stroudsburg University. At Lincoln Memorial, she was a part of a coaching staff that obtained the most successful season in program history in 2023 and coached three all-conference for the South Atlantic Conference. She was responsible for the game plan for the defensive unit and worked hands on with the goalies to make sure their techniques and philosophies were well-equipped for games.

Serving as graduate assistant coach at East Stroudsburg from 2020-2022, Neumann was a part of a staff that led ESU to the NCAA Division II National Championship in 2022 as Runners-Up and in 2021 as National Semifinalists. Additionally, East Stroudsburg won back-to-back Atlantic Regional titles and was the 2022 PSAC Conference Champion. In her two years with the Warriors, she assisted in the development of eight All-Americans and worked primarily as the goalie coach where she had a hand in mentoring a Second Team All-American goalie.

She was a three-year starting goalkeeper at Georgian Court, where she was a part of three CACC Championship teams (2017, 2018, 2019). She left Georgian Court as the all-time leading saves record holder. She earned all-conference honors from 2017-2019 and was the 2017 CACC Tournament MVP and the 2019 CACC Goalkeeper of the Year. In 2019, she was an IWLCA DII Senior All-Star selection.

In addition to her coaching duties at Lincoln Memorial and East Stroudsburg, she was also the head coach and head goalie coach with the Jersey Shore Select Lacrosse team.

A Brick, N.J. native, Amber graduated from Georgian Court University in May 2020 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics and secondary education. She completed her Master of Science in management and leadership in May 2022. Her concentration was in sport management.

She currently resides in Port Chester, N.Y.

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Tom Mariano

Tom Mariano, the 2017 Northeast-10 Conference Co-Coach of the Year, completed his ninth season as the head coach of the Pace men's lacrosse program in 2022. During his successful tenure in Pleasantville, the Setters have posted a record of 75-47 (.615).

In addition to his Pace coaching duties, Mariano also serves as the president of the USILA. Mariano was previously named the MLL Coach of the Year after leading the Florida Launch to their first-ever playoff berth in 2017.

Pace's 2019 season, which was Mariano's sixth at the helm, marked one of the best in program history. Mariano's squad racked up the second most single-season wins (13) in school history en route to making an appearance in their fifth straight NE10 Championship Tournament.

Pace was ranked in every USILA National Poll in 2019, rising to as high as No. 6 in mid-March. Following the season, Mariano was chosen as one of the coaches for the USILA Senior All-Star Game. He led the North squad, which also featured the Setters' own Danny Keenan and Brad Paterson.

Pace also completed the entire 2018 campaign slotted inside the National Rankings, including a high of No. 3 in the country. Off the field, the Blue and Gold was even more impressive. Pace earned the NE10's Team Excellence Award in 2018, signifying the highest cumulative GPA in the conference (3.17).

Mariano led the Setters to their best season ever in 2017, concluding with the program's first-ever berth into the NCAA Tournament. Pace put together a 12-4 overall record and ended the season ranked No. 5 in the nation. In addition to Mariano's honors, the Setters snagged five other spots on the NE-10 All-Conference teams. Brandon Donnellan and Liam Brennan were each named to the NE10 First Team while Robert Beshlian and Daniel Lewis were selected to the Second Team. Lewis was also selected to the NE10 All-Rookie Team, as was fellow freshman defenseman Mitchell Johnson.

In 2016, Mariano led the Setters to their second NE-10 Conference Tournament since the 2010 season. Additionally, the Setters went on to have a 11-6 record, 7-4 in conference. Mariano coached six players that were named to the NE-10 All-Conference squads in Brandon Donnellan, Jeremy Wiley, Liam Brennan, Robert Beshlian, Matthew Cossidente, and Bradley Paterson. Two members were also named to the ECAC All-Star team in Brandon Donnellan and Liam Brennan.

Mariano has a distinguished background as both a player and coach throughout his career. He was the assistant head coach, director of player personnel, and defensive coordinator from 2013 to 2015 for the Ohio Machine of Major League Lacrosse. Mariano helped lead the Machine to their first playoff berth in franchise history in 2014 before earning another playoff appearance with the best season in franchise history in 2015. In 2016, Mariano took a role with the Chesapeake Bayhawks as an assistant coach, offensive coordinator, and goalie coach. The Bayhawks finished tied for first place under Mariano, with attacker Joe Walters earning All-MLL recognition.

Mariano was named head coach and general manager for Major League Lacrosse’s Florida Launch organization ahead of the 2017 season. In his first year with the team, Mariano led the Launch to their first ever playoff appearance. His team featured All-MLL Defensive Player of the Year Tucker Durkin, as well as four top-25 players in the league.

Mariano’s college experience includes a successful career as the Head Men’s Lacrosse Coach at Sacred Heart University for 17 years. As the head coach, he oversaw the recruiting efforts, initiated the transition of the lacrosse program from Division II to Division I as well as the move from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference to the Colonial Athletic Association, which is one of the premier college lacrosse conferences in the country, and the eventual move to the Northeast Conference. Mariano and his staff annually produced a team that was a strong influence in the community and also carried a 3.0 team GPA. He had a successful 2013 campaign as the NEC Coach of the Year as his team qualified for the 2013 NEC playoffs. In total, Mariano has coached 70 all-conference players throughout his collegiate coaching career.

Mariano received his Master’s Degree in Teaching with a concentration in Elementary Education in 2000 from Sacred Heart University. He is a 1994 graduate of Nazareth College in Rochester, NY with a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Business Administration. While at Nazareth, he was a member of the 1992 NCAA Division III Men’s Lacrosse National Championship team.