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Wesleyan University

Middletown, CT 06459
Connecticut Northeast
Private Small Developing team
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Kim Williams

Kim Williams has brought the Wesleyan women’s lacrosse program into national prominence as she enters her ninth year at the helm in 2024. She also serves as an adjunct assistant professor of physical education at the University and holds the position of Club Sport Athletic Facility Coordinator.


Williams took over a program that was coming off eight consecutive losing seasons and just four conference wins from 2010-15. In her first season, Wesleyan finished 5-9 overall and 2-8 in the NESCAC, the two conference wins were the most in seven years. One year later, Williams led the Cardinals to what was their best season in program history as Wesleyan set team records in overall wins (11) and NESCAC victories (7) as the Cardinals finished 11-6 and 7-3. Additionally, the Cardinals ranked in the Top 20 in the country for the majority of the season, qualified for the NESCAC Tournament for the first time in eight years, and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships for the first time ever. Williams was named the 2017 NESCAC Coach of the Year and the 2017 IWLCA Berkshire Region Coach of the Year for her efforts in turning the program around.


The following season, in 2018, Williams guided the Cardinals to their second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. Wesleyan defeated No. 12 Messiah in the First Round for its first postseason victory ever, and the next day, the Cardinals earned an 11-6 win over No. 18 St. John Fisher to reach the Sweet 16. Wesleyan concluded the 2018 campaign with a 12-7 mark, as the 12 wins set a new program record by surpassing the win total from the year before.


In 2019, Williams’ program improved once again as she led the team to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament for the first time ever. The Cardinals had arguably the most difficult road to the semifinals, defeating No. 9 Mary Washington (11-6), No. 2 Washington & Lee (13-7), and No. 1 Gettysburg (10-7), before falling short to the eventual national champions, No. 3 Middlebury. The historic campaign saw Wesleyan set another program record in wins (17) and NESCAC victories (7) as the Cardinals finished 17-4 overall and 8-2 in league play.


Wesleyan entered the 2020 campaign ranked No. 5 in the IWLCA Division III Preseason Poll and were off to an incredible start, going 4-0 and outscoring its opponents 60-22 before the COVID-19 pandemic abruptly ended the season.


Since COVID, the Cardinals have been consistently one of the top programs in the nation, achieving win totals of 14 (2022) and 15 (2023) the last two seasons. Those single-season win totals are two of the three winningest campaigns in team history. Wesleyan has advanced to the Third Round (Sweet 16) of the team's last four NCAA Tournament appearances (2018-19, 2022-23) and has won the Little Three Championship in three straight seasons and in four of the past five (2018, 2021-23).


Prior to her tenure at Wesleyan, Williams served two seasons as head coach at Stockton University in New Jersey, three seasons as an assistant coach at Colby College in Waterville, Maine, and four seasons as a stellar competitor at C.W. Post University in Brookville, N.Y. Bringing the Ospreys at Stockton into their first varsity season in 2014, Williams met with immediate success behind a 16-4 victory over Notre Dame (Md.) in the team's varsity opener. Stockton posted a 10-5 record in 2014 and featured the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Rookie of the Year. The Ospreys followed up with a 10-6 mark in 2015 while boasting the NJAC Goaltender of the Year.


Williams began her collegiate coaching career with the Mules of Colby from 2011-13, in which the team qualified for the NCAA Tournament each year and amassed a brilliant 43-13 overall record, including a 22-7 mark against NESCAC rivals. The NESCAC is the top Division III women's lacrosse conference in the nation and had eight teams ranked among the top-20 nationally in the final 2015 Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Association (IWLCA) poll, led by NCAA Tournament runner-up Trinity College. No other conference had more than three teams in the top-20.


After a tremendous high school playing career at West Morris (N.J.), where she earned Third Team All-State recognition, Williams played four seasons at C.W. Post, helping Post reach the NCAA Division II Tournament each year with one title and three other appearances in the Final Four. She was recognized as an IWLCA All-American three times along with IWLCA Division II Defender of the Year accolades as a sophomore and Womenslacrosse.com Division II Midfielder of the Year recognition as a senior. She also earned First Team All-Conference accolades three times.


In addition to her on-the-field laurels, Williams was lauded by the IWLCA, the East Coast Conference, and the College Sports Information Directors Association (CoSIDA) with academic honors during her college playing days. She also earned a Woman of Achievement Award and Distinguished Graduating Student Leadership Award from C.W. Post before graduating magna cum laude in 2010 with a degree in childhood education.

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Clara Bissell

Clara Bissell enters her third season with the Wesleyan women’s lacrosse team in 2024, earning a promotion to associate head coach in the 2023-24 season after serving as an assistant coach in her first two years at Wesleyan. Bissell arrived in Middletown following three seasons (2018-21) as an assistant coach for Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky.


Bissell led Wesleyan to one of the team's best seasons in program history in 2023, as the Cardinals achieved 15 wins, won the Little Three Championship, and advanced to the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament. Wesleyan's 15 wins in 2023 are the second-most in team history while the Little Three title is the Cardinals' third consecutive and fourth in the last five seasons. Wesleyan defeated Roger Williams at home in the NCAA Second Round, advancing to the Third Round (Sweet 16) of the national tournament for the fourth straight time.


During her debut season with the team in 2022, Bissell helped lead the Cardinals to a 14-win season, Little Three title and trip to the NCAA Tournament. The 14 wins are the third-highest single-season win total in program history. Wesleyan defeated York (Pa.) in the NCAA Tournament Second Round, 13-11, advancing to the Third Round (Sweet 16) for the third time in program history.


In her time with the Pioneers, Bissell was part of two NCAA Tournament teams as Transylvania went 15-5 in 2019 and 11-5 in 2021, sporting a perfect 10-0 record in league play and winning the HCLC Championship both seasons. Bissell’s day-to-day duties included planning and executing player and team development across individual seasons, practices and games. Her administrative duties included managing compliance requests, coordinating team meals, managing film, organizing volunteer events, preparing scouting reports, developing social media content and producing recruiting communications.


Outside of collegiate lacrosse, Bissell helped coach the Sizzle Select Lacrosse Club based in Lexington for two seasons (2019-21). She worked with youth players in Central Kentucky through private lessons and prepared the student-athletes for tournament play through planning and executing practices.


Prior to Transylvania, Bissell’s first collegiate coaching experience came as a graduate assistant coach at the University of Charleston in West Virginia. This was her first glimpse at recruiting in college, planning practices, lifts and conditioning with the head coach.


Bissell’s experience outside of lacrosse includes an interim assistant field hockey coach title while at Transylvania in the fall of 2019. She also was a team manager for the Berry College football team for three seasons (2014-16) while an undergrad.


She was a three-year letterwinner in lacrosse at Berry College (graduated a semester early) as she totaled 38 goals and four assists for 42 points in 42 career games played.


Bissell graduated from Berry College in Georgia with a bachelor’s degree in English (literature) in December 2016. She went on to earn a master’s degree in business administration from the Univ. of Charleston (W.V.) in May 2018.

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Peyton Mulhern

Peyton Mulhern joins the Wesleyan women's lacrosse team as an assistant coach for her first season in 2024. No stranger to the NESCAC, Mulhern recently graduated as a two-sport athlete from Bowdoin College in 2023.


A two-sport star with the Polar Bears, Mulhern was a four-year member of the women's lacrosse and women's ice hockey teams. She captained both teams in her senior year, planning practices during preseason while engaging in DEI, community service, and team fundraising initiatives.


She appeared in 66 career games with the women’s ice hockey team and 33 games with Bowdoin women’s lacrosse. Peyton put up 22 career points (10 goals, 12 assists) as a defender in ice hockey and had a 18-point senior season at midfield with women’s lacrosse. Mulhern was a six-time NESCAC All-Academic Team recipient.


For her efforts both on and off the playing surface, Mulhern was awarded a trio of awards in her senior year at Bowdoin, including the Sidney J. Watson Award, Ellen Tiemer Women's Lacrosse Trophy, and Christopher Charles Watras Memorial Women's Ice Hockey Trophy. Both team-specific honors are given to upperclassmen who display the qualities of sportsmanship, leadership, commitment, and dedication. The Sidney J. Watson Award is presented to a senior male or female student-athlete at Bowdoin to recognize distinguished athletic performance and leadership of more than one team.


Mulhern's first coaching experience came in the summer of 2022 at Lacrosse Masters, a girls' lacrosse summer camp held in Newport, Rhode Island. She assisted coaches in running drills, analyzing player skills, and recruiting, while she led the dynamic warmup for the 200 participants of the camp.


Peyton also participated in the Rhode Island Riptide Surf and Turf Lacrosse Camp held in Newport in August 2022. She instructed participants aged 8-16 on lacrosse concepts such as double teams, cutting, and shooting. Mulhern also facilitated seminars about college lacrosse and the recruiting process.


She graduated from Bowdoin in 2023 with a bachelor of arts in economics and mathematics.

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John Raba

John Raba is entering his 28th season at the helm of the Wesleyan men’s lacrosse program in 2024. The NESCAC’s all-time winningest coach, Raba, boasts an incredible 305-133 record, marking a .696 winning percentage while playing in the most competitive conference in the country. Raba is currently ranked seventh all-time in head coaching wins at the Division III level. In his 27 years as head coach, the Cardinals have finished with a winning record 24 times and had just one season below .500, his first in 1997. He has guided Wesleyan to a National Championship (2018), four NCAA Final Four appearances (2006, 2007, 2017, 2018), and two NESCAC titles (2009, 2017). Raba, who was named the 2017 USILA Division III National Coach of the Year, took over Wesleyan in 1996 and also serves as an adjunct professor in the physical education department as well as an assistant director of athletics.


In the 2022 season, Wesleyan made another trip to the Sweet 16, with 80 percent of starters playing for the first time. Wesleyan's offense was prolific, breaking program records for points in a season, and the attack group was ranked #2 in the nation with points per game, finishing with 28.7 per contest. This team also score 20 goals or more in eight different contest. The Cardinals finished the season ranked No. 13 in the USILA poll.


In 2019, the Cardinals entered the season ranked No. 1 in the country for the first time in program history. Despite losing 15 seniors from its 2018 National Championship squad, Raba guided Wesleyan to a 13-4 overall record, an 8-2 NESCAC mark, and a third-consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Cardinals also finished in a three-way tie for the Little Three Championship, marking the third-straight year they won at least a share of the title.


The 2017 and 2018 campaigns marked historical years for Raba and Wesleyan. Coming off its best season in program history, expectations were high for the Cardinals, and they did not disappoint. After winning the Little Three title outright for the second year in a row and tying its program-best NESCAC mark of 9-1, Wesleyan earned the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament for the first time. The Cardinals advanced to the NESCAC Championship game, the NCAA Tournament, and the NCAA Final Four for a second-straight year. This time, however, Wesleyan advanced to the national finals and upset powerhouse Salisbury at Gillette Stadium, 8-6, claiming the University’s first-ever national team title. Wesleyan’s road to the Championship featured wins over the top-three teams in the country; on the road against No. 2 Tufts and No. 1 RIT before knocking off the third-ranked Sea Gulls. Raba coached a program-record nine All-Americans in 2018.


A year earlier, in 2017, after losing the season-opener, the Cardinals went on to win 20 straight games to mark the longest winning streak in the nation at any division. Wesleyan reached the NCAA Final Four and finished the year with a 20-2 overall record and a 9-1 NESCAC mark to post single-season program records for overall victories and conference wins. The team also won the NESCAC Championship and Little Three titles outright as Raba earned National and NESCAC Coach of the Year honors, as well as the All-New England Co-Coach of the Year award. Additionally, Raba’s staff was named the Northeast Regional Coaching Staff of the Year as Raba coached seven All-Americans that season, including First Team selections Ted Bergman ’17 and Harry Stanton ’18. Bergman was also awarded the Ensign C. Markland Kelly, Jr. award, which is presented to the top goalie in Division III. The 2017 Cardinals received the James “Ace” Adams Sportsmanship Award as well, which is given annually to a college or university in each of the 11 officiating districts whose coaches, players, and fans exhibit the best sportsmanship throughout the season. Throughout his tenure, Raba has earned three NESCAC Coach of the Year honors (2017, ’06, ’01) since the conference’s first season in 2001 and has received six NEILA Coach of the Year laurels (2017, ’09, ’06, ’05, ’04, ’01). He has coached three national position players of the year and 48 All-Americans. In 2019, he was inducted into the Middletown Sports Hall of Fame and the Connecticut Lacrosse Hall of Fame.


In addition to coaching lacrosse, Raba assisted the football team during the fall from 1996 through 2007, working on the defensive side of the ball each of those 12 seasons with eight as defensive coordinator (1998-2005). He stepped down from that post in 2008, assuming the position of recruiting coordinator for the athletic department.


A 1993 graduate of the University of New Haven, Raba was an All-American lacrosse player for the Chargers as a grad student in 1994 after leading Division II in scoring as a senior in 1993. Also outstanding on the gridiron, Raba was a team captain, a two-time All-New England pick as a running back, while earning MVP honors for the Chargers. UNH was ranked #2 in the country. He was honored by UNH as its Male Atheltr of the Year in both his junior and senior seasons. He was inducted into the UNH Athletics Hall of Fame in 2010.


Before coming to Wesleyan in 1996, he served as an assistant football coach at Brown during the 1995 season. He was a graduate assistant for the University of New Haven football team during the 1993 and 1994 seasons. Raba is a Long Island native and attended lacrosse powerhouse Farmingdale High School, graduating in 1989. He is married to his wife, Jen, who teaches in the West Haven School system, and they have two sons, Jack who plays lacrosse at Wesleyan, and Jason who plays for St. John's.

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