Email coach
Melissa Lehman
The Lehman File
2022 Big Ten Coach of the Year
2022 IWLCA Mid-Atlantic Region Coach of the Year
13 All-Big Ten selections
11 All-Region selections
Nine All-America selections
Two NCAA Tournament appearances (2021, 2022)
Two Big Ten Players of the Year (Cassidy Spilis - 2023; Meghan Ball - 2023)
101 Academic All-Big Ten selections
Melissa Lehman enters her fifth year as head coach of Rutgers women's lacrosse in 2023-24. In just four seasons, Lehman has led the Scarlet Knights to two NCAA Tournament appearances after RU qualified for just one in its previous 43 years as a varsity program. Under Lehman's guidance, Rutgers has produced 13 All-Big Ten selections, 11 All-Region picks and has landed nine student-athletes on All-America lists.
A native of the Garden State, Lehman was named the seventh head coach in program history on June 17, 2019 after she served as associate head coach and assistant coach at Penn from 2009-2019, helping the Quakers to 10 NCAA Tournament berths and eight Ivy League titles. Since her arrival. Lehman has earned both Big Ten (2022) and IWLCA Mid-Atlantic Region (2022) coach of the year accolades.
Playing one of the toughest schedules in the country this past spring, Rutgers finished with eight victories and its third consecutive Big Ten Tournament Semifinal appearance during the 2023 campaign. The Scarlet Knights picked up wins against three ranked opponents – No. 6 Stony Brook, No. 16 Johns Hopkins, and No. 19 Jacksonville – and closed the season receiving votes in the final IWLCA Coaches Poll - its third consecutive season appearing in the final IWLCA rankings.
Standouts Meghan Ball and Cassidy Spilis continued to excel under Lehman's guidance, with both earning All-America laurels for the third consecutive season. Ball was named both Big Ten and ECAC Defender of the Year, while Spilis repeated as a First Team All-Big Ten selection in the midfield. Ball, Spilis and Marin Hartshorn earned All-Region accolades for the third consecutive season, as Spilis surpassed current assistant coach Taralyn Naslonski as the school's all-time goal scorer with 192 during her collegiate career. Ball, Hartshorn, Spilis and Ashley Campo all represented RU as all-conference picks to close out the campaign.
The 2022 season was the best in program history, as the Scarlet Knights finished with a program-record 16 victories and a final No. 10 ranking in the IWLCA Coaches poll - their highest final ranking ever. RU knocked off six ranked opponents for the second consecutive season and defeated No. 4 Northwestern to advance to its first Big Ten Tournament final. Lehman was named Big Ten Coach of the Year, as five student-athletes - Meghan Ball, Jessica Beneducci, Stephanie Kelly, Taralyn Naslonski and Cassidy Spilis - netted all-conference accolades. Rutgers advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season and registered an opening-round win over No. 23 Saint Joseph's.
Several Scarlet Knights earned national recognition after the 2022 season. Ball, Naslonski and Spilis were named IWLCA All-Americans, With Spilis becoming the first RU student-athlete to land on the first team in program history. Ball, Naslonski, Spilis and Marin Hartshorn landed on the IWLCA All-Region team, while Ball, Naslonski, Spilis and Stephanie Kelly were named All-Americans by ILWomen. Naslonski became the program's all-time leader in points (266) and goals (187) and finished with a team-record 79 career appearances. Her 90 points passed Denise Reed (1990) for the most in a single season, while her 22 points in four career NCAA Tournament games solidified her as the top postseason scorer for RU in its history.
During Lehman's first full season, Rutgers closed out the 2021 season with a final No. 14 ranking in the IWLCA Coaches Poll – its highest ranking since 2010. The Scarlet Knights picked up their first ever wins over Big Ten Conference foes Johns Hopkins, Maryland and Penn State and advanced to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals for just the second time since it began league play in 2015. RU’s performance earned it an at-large selection to the 2021 NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1999 and just the second time ever. Rutgers produced its first ever NCAA Tournament victory with its 16-13 win over No. 10 Drexel in the first round to finish its season with six victories over ranked opponents.
Individually, Rutgers produced two All-Americans – Cassidy Spilis (coaches & media) and Meghan Ball (media) – to close out the season, its first All-America laurels since 2007. Ball, Spilis, Taralyn Naslonski and Dana Pena earned all-Big Ten recognition to give RU its most individual Big Ten honorees since it joined the league, while Ball, Naslonski, Spilis and Marin Hartshorn collected IWLCA All-Region recognition – the most for the Scarlet Knights in a single season since 2011.
The success in 2021 was spring boarded by the program’s performance during Lehman’s first season in 2020, as Rutgers jumped out to a 4-0 start for its best record to open a season in 10 years. The Scarlet Knights added one more victory before the season was cut short due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Lehman arrived “On the Banks” in the summer of 2019 after working under legendary head coach Karin Corbett at Penn, where she focused on the midfield and defense. During her tenure, 10 midfielders and defenders earned All-America honors, while combining for 25 All-Region selections. In addition, 35 Penn middies and defenders captured All-Ivy League accolades. She also managed the team’s mentor program, facilitating relationships between current players and alumnae.
Lehman was instrumental, both as a coach and player, in helping Penn make 13 consecutive NCAA Championship appearances, the fifth-longest streak in the nation. An All-America midfielder and two-time All-Ivy selection from 2005-08, she captained the Quakers' 2008 team that advanced to the NCAA national final. Penn won back-to-back Ivy titles in 2007 and 2008 and twice advanced to NCAA Championship Weekend.
In total, Lehman accumulated 11 Ivy League Championships and 14 NCAA Championship berths during her tenure in University City. She was named the IWLCA Division I Assistant Coach of the Year in 2014.
A Newark Star-Ledger First Team All-State selection at Shore Regional High School, where she also starred in soccer and basketball, Lehman was a First Team All-American on the lacrosse field before attending Penn. After earning an economics degree in 2008, she spent the 2009 season as an assistant at Brown University before returning to her alma mater.
show more