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Josh Hexter
Josh Hexter will be entering his 13th season at the helm of the Elon University women’s lacrosse program in 2026 after building the program from the ground up since being tabbed the first head coach in program history on April 28, 2012.
Elon backed up a stellar 2024 campaign with another winning season in 2025, as the Phoenix went 9-8 overall and 5-3 against CAA opponents to again earn a berth in the CAA semifinals. Elon began CAA play 3-0 and later added another pair of victories to secure a spot in the conference tournament. Elon's offense had a prolific season, tallying 267 points, the second most in program history. Sammy Fisher was named to the All-CAA First Team with Reagan Kuehn earning a spot on the All-CAA Second Team. Freshmen Lillian Austin and Danielle Swietoniowski both received nods to the All-CAA Rookie Team.
The 2024 season was a rebirth for the program as Elon went 9-8 overall and 5-3 in CAA play, earning a trip to the CAA semifinals. After winning just one league game over the two previous seasons, the Phoenix won four straight conference contests to close the regular season. To close the year, Elon played a “win-and-in” game at Towson, defeating the Tigers 12-11 in overtime to clinch a bid to the CAA Tournament.
Behind the stellar play of freshman MJ Santa Barbara, who was named CAA Rookie of the Year, Elon ranked eighth in the country in draw control percentage (61.0 percent) and 16th nationally in draw controls per game (16.65). Elon’s 16.65 draw controls per game broke the CAA record and Santa Barbara’s 151 draw controls on the season were also an all-time conference high.
The 2024 campaign followed a 4-12 (0-7 CAA) record in 2023 and a 5-11 (1-5 CAA) mark in 2022. But Hexter and the program used those seasons to develop youth and stockpile talent, which ultimately helped Elon return to the conference tournament.
In 2021, Hexter guided the Phoenix to a 9-3 record, including a program-best 8-0 start to the season and the first-ever program victory against James Madison on March 7 (6-5). Over the course of the season, goalie Paulina DiFatta earned CAA Defensive Player of the Week honors three times, while Mae McGlynn was tabbed the CAA Player of the Week twice and Quinn Daly was named the CAA Defensive Player of the Week once. Margaret Stephan was also the conference rookie of the week selection for two weeks during the season. At the national level, DiFatta added Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) Defensive Player of the Week honors on March 9 following Elon's upset against the Dukes. For their performances in the regular season, four Elon players earned all-conference honors: Sara Bouwman (second team), McGlynn (second team), Daly (second team) and Stephan (all-rookie team). The Phoenix eventually made it to the CAA Championship for the fifth consecutive season, but fell to Towson in the opening round.
Hexter guided the Phoenix to a 3-2 (0-1 CAA) record in the 2020 season. During that time, two Elon players received weekly conference honors. Cassidy Creighton was named the CAA Rookie of the Week after the opening week of competition on Feb. 11, followed by Daly earning CAA Defensive Player of the Week honors on March 3.
In 2019, the Phoenix again faced the nation's best in welcoming programs like Virginia, Duke, Florida and North Carolina to Rudd Field. Picking up six victories along the way, Elon reached its fourth-straight CAA Women's Lacrosse Championship but fell to ninth-ranked James Madison in the semifinals. Along the way, he helped guide Kaley Thompson to CAA Rookie of the Year honors while senior captain Shannon Horan was named a Second Team All-CAA honoree.
Though Hexter's Phoenix regressed in 2018 with a 4-11 record against nine nationally-ranked opponents, Stephanie Asher earned First Team All-CAA honors and Alexis Zadjura Second Team All-CAA honors for the third-straight campaign. Additionally, Asher was named a Tewaaraton Trophy Watch List honoree for the second-straight season. Along the way, Elon battled NCAA Tournament teams Virginia, Stanford, Virginia Tech and Towson to go with national semifinalist North Carolina and national champion James Madison. In May, the program reached its third-straight CAA Tournament, but fell 9-7 to No. 6 Towson in the semifinals.
With vast improvement each of the first four seasons of competition since the first campaign in 2014, the 2017 campaign saw Elon reach new heights with the program’s first appearances in a conference tournament title game and the NCAA Tournament. Throughout the year, Elon earned a 13-7 record that included wins over No. 13 Virginia, No. 19 Virginia Tech and No. 17 Towson in the CAA Semifinals. With a 4-2 record in CAA action, the Phoenix won its first conference tournament game with a thrilling 10-9 victory in overtime over Towson on its home field, Johnny Unitas Stadium in Maryland. Earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, the Phoenix took on No. 13 Virginia and though it fell 11-9, Elon battled back from a deep early deficit to come within striking distance midway through the second half. At the start of the season, Elon opened with a 4-0 record for the second season in a row and opened the year with six wins in seven games for the best seven-game stretch in program history. Though it dropped its opening two CAA regular season games, Elon answered nicely in winning each of its next five games to reach the CAA Finals, marking the most consecutive wins to date for the program.
Prior to its NCAA Tournament appearance, the 2016 season saw Elon post a 10-7 record with its first-ever win over a nationally-ranked opponent when Elon defeated No. 10 Duke on Feb. 25 by the score of 7-6 in Durham, N.C. The Phoenix opened the season with a 4-0 record, which set a new high mark for best starts to a season. Finishing with 10 wins on the year, some good fortune could’ve added up to a total of 15 wins on the season with the Phoenix dropping four two-goal games and one one-goal game on the campaign that ended with an 8-6 loss to second-seeded Towson in the CAA Semifinals in Philadelphia.
Elon’s second year of competition in 2015 ended with Hexter guiding the Phoenix to an even 8-8 record with wins over three programs that claimed wins over the Phoenix in 2014. During the year, Elon picked up its first CAA win on April 12, an 8-7 win over William & Mary at Rhodes Stadium. At season’s end, Stephanie Asher was named the CAA Rookie of the Year while also being picked a Second Team All-CAA and CAA All-Rookie Team honoree after scoring 44 goals. That mark stood as a program record until she shattered it with 58 goals in 2017.
In Elon’s first season of competition in 2014, Elon posted an 8-9 record with a 4-1 mark in Atlantic Sun action while finishing second in the regular season standings. The Phoenix also posted a perfect 5-0 record at home during the year. For his efforts, Hexter was named A-Sun Coach of the Year while a total of seven players earned all-conference honors, including Sloane Kessler’s A-Sun Freshman of the Year award.
The inaugural 2014 season opened on Feb. 7, where Elon traveled to No. 6 Duke. With Hexter’s guidance, the Phoenix won its first-ever game on March 1, a 16-7 triumph over St. Francis at Rhodes Stadium.
While guiding the Phoenix to 61 victories over the course of the program's first seven seasons, Hexter has also held his student-athletes to a high standard in the classroom with IWLCA Academic Honor Squad accolades every season to date to go with 26 Academic Honor Roll honorees.
Hexter began his time at Elon in 2012 following the conclusion of his eighth season with the Duke women’s lacrosse program. He joined the Blue Devil staff prior to the 2005 season and was promoted to associate head coach in 2010.
Duke amassed a 119-42 record during Hexter’s tenure, averaging nearly 15 wins per season. With Hexter on staff, the Blue Devils won three ACC regular season championships, as well as an ACC Tournament title, while also reaching five national semifinals (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011). In his eight seasons, Duke finished among the Top 5 seven times.
Under Hexter’s guidance, the Duke offense consistently ranked as one of the best in the country. In Hexter’s eight seasons with the Blue Devils, Duke scored 2,020 goals – averaging more than 14 per contest – a jump of nearly four goals per game from the nine seasons prior to his arrival. In addition, the 2009 squad set program single-season highs for goals (313), assists (150) and points (463).
While at Duke, the Blue Devils had a finalist for the Tewaaraton Award, an honor annually presented to the best NCAA Division I men’s and women’s lacrosse player. In 2005, Duke’s Katie Chrest won the Tewaaraton and was a finalist a year later.
Prior to arriving at Duke, Hexter served as the head women's lacrosse coach at Bridgewater State College in Bridgewater, Mass. While at Bridgewater State, the program totaled a 72-42 record and made a trip to the New England Women's Lacrosse Alliance (NEWLA) title game in six consecutive seasons. He led the team to two conference championships during this time. In 2003, Bridgewater made the program's first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament.
Prior to coaching at Bridgewater, Hexter coached the New England III Team in the National Tournament and in the Bay State Games. He also served as an assistant women's lacrosse coach at The College of the Holy Cross from 1996-97.
A 1995 graduate of Assumption College, he was a four-year standout defenseman on the lacrosse team, earning team captain and NECLA All-Star honors during his senior campaign. In 1995, Hexter became the first player in Assumption history to earn a spot in the East-West New England All-Star Game.
Hexter and his wife, Courtney, reside in Durham with their sons - Evan, Christopher and Nicholas - and their dog, Rosie.
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