Concordia University St. Paul

Concordia Golden Bears Athletics
1282 Concordia Ave St. Paul, MN 55104

Division 2 Minnesota Northwest

Private Small Competitive team

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Ali Jennings

Ali Jennings was named head women's lacrosse coach prior to the 2021-22 academic year, becoming the fourth head coach in the program's history, earning Great Lakes Intercollegiate Conference (GLIAC) Coach of the Year honors for her team's debut season.

“Ali comes to us with the distinction of having both started a women’s lacrosse program as well as earning a regional berth with that program,” said Regan McAthie, Director of Athletics at Concordia. “Her proven ability to develop and lead successful teams makes her an excellent fit for this role and we are thrilled to bring her on board.”

In her first year, Jennings guided the Golden Bears to an 8-10 overall finish and 4-4 record in GLIAC play, showing a 5-win overall improvement and a 2-win improvement in league play over the previous year. Her squad held up strong against the country's seventh-ranked strength of schedule with a .657 opponent winning percentage.

CSP led the league in caused turnovers (11.28/game) and ground balls (20.39/game) in 2022, as well.

Jennings came to Concordia from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, where she built the Falcons as an inaugural program starting in 2019 and led the program to a 23-9 overall record for a .719 winning percentage. Her team had immediate success, finishing 11-5 while outscoring the opposition 214-165.

“I’m excited for this opportunity to build a culture of excellence within the lacrosse program, to continue to grow the team and to develop it into a winning tradition both on and off the field,” said Coach Jennings. “CSP has so much to offer in terms of academics, athletics, affordability and a location with endless opportunities.”

The Falcons produced winning campaigns all three years of Jennings’ tenure at UWRF, with a 3-1 record in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season before a 9-3 record in 2021 in a season that included a trip to the NCAA Tournament second round, an impressive feat for an NCAA Division III independent program not affiliated with a league.

Under her leadership, the Falcons also protected their home turf with a 10-1 record across her three seasons in home contests.

She is a 2011 graduate from the University of Minnesota with a B.S. degree in Kinesiology, adding an M.A. in leadership from Augsburg in 2017. She was the president, team captain and fundraising chair of the Gophers’ club women’s lacrosse program and a four-year member of the program.

Her coaching career started at the prep level, serving as head coach of the Osseo-Park Center High School program from 2011-17 and was a Coach of the Year nominee in 2014.

She started her college coaching career with a four-year run as an assistant coach at Augsburg University on the staff of the first NCAA women’s lacrosse program in the state of Minnesota. While on staff, the Auggies improved each year, culminating with a program-best 12-6 record and a Midwest Women’s Lacrosse Conference (MWLC) Tournament semifinal finish in her final year in 2017.

Her career also includes club experience, serving as MN Lakers Select head coach of the 10-12 grade program from 2011-18 and with Lacrosse Connections, coaching grades 5-12 from 2007-18.

Jennings is an avid hiker and loves to travel the world whenever possible, traveling to 13 countries including trips with three teams abroad during her career.