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Danielle Spencer
Danielle Spencer was named head coach of Stanford women's lacrosse on June 12, 2019. She is the seventh head coach in program history and enters her fourth season at the helm of the program in 2023.
In six seasons as a head coach, Spencer boasts a career record of 55-31, a conference mark of 29-11 and three appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
After the 2020 campaign was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 2021 was Spencer's first full season on The Farm. Spencer guided Stanford to the best win percentage in school history (.916) and the Cardinal won the 2021 Pac-12 regular season and tournament titles in the same year for the first time in program history.
In 2021, Stanford (11-1, 7-0 Pac-12) completed an undefeated regular season at 9-0 and had the best start to a season (11-0) in program history. The Cardinal won its first Pac-12 regular season title since the league's inception in 2018 and finished the year ranked No. 16 in the IWLCA Coaches Poll. Following the season, senior Ali Baiocco, the Pac-12 Attacker of the Year, was named to the IWLCA All-America second team - the first Cardinal All-American since 2018 and 11th in program history.
In 2022, Stanford (12-7, 8-2 Pac-12) swept the conference championships, winning both the Pac-12 regular season and Pac-12 Tournament titles. Ashely Humphrey burst onto the scene as a redshirt freshman, setting the program, conference, and NCAA records for assists in a season with 88. She was named an IWLCA All-American and Pac-12 Freshman of the Year while Ali Baiocco repeated as Pac-12 Attacker of the Year and Kara Rahaim claimed the Pac-12 Goalkeeper of the Year award. The Cardinal finished the season ranked No. 19 in the IWLCA Coaches Poll.
Spencer, who served as an assistant at Stanford in 2012, returned to The Farm after she turned around the Dartmouth program in just three years and earned Ivy League Coach of the Year honors in each of her final two seasons. Spencer inherited a program coming off three consecutive losing campaigns, but the Big Green won 11 games in her second year and captured an Ivy League regular season title in her third season.
In 2019, Spencer guided Dartmouth to its first Ivy title since 2011, tying Princeton for the top spot in the conference standings. The Big Green earned an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament, a first for the program since 2013.
Along the way, Spencer's 2019 team established several program and Ivy League records. The 272 goals and 401 total points both set new program standards, while the 312 draw controls set a new Ivy standard and eclipsed the old mark by more than 50.
Spencer's second season was a resurgence for the Big Green as the team returned to the postseason for the first time since 2013 and finished the year 11-5. For her part in guiding the team back to the Ivy League Tournament and maintaining a spot in the nation's top-20 most of the season, Spencer was named the Ivy League Co-Head Coach of the Year.
In three years under her guidance in Hanover, six Dartmouth players received First Team All-Ivy honors as the Big Green finished 29-19 (.604) overall and 13-8 (.619) in conference play.
Prior to Dartmouth, Spencer spent four seasons as an assistant coach at her alma mater, Northwestern, and one year on the sidelines at Stanford.
During her coaching stint in Evanston, Spencer helped Northwestern to four NCAA Tournament appearances and a pair of berths in the Final Four (2013, 2014). The Wildcats also won a conference title in 2013 and finished in the top 10 of the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) poll in all four seasons.
As the recruiting coordinator, Spencer was responsible for continuing to bring top players into the program, including the group in 2014 that was ranked as the best recruiting class in the nation.
A four-year standout at Northwestern from 2006-10, Spencer was a part of three national championship teams (2007, 2008, 2009) and one national runner-up (2010) during her outstanding playing career.
Spencer finished her four seasons with the Wildcats having played in 83 games, making 65 starts. Her career totals ranked among the best in Northwestern's storied history as she finished with 193 goals (7th), 238 points (8th) and 203 draw controls (3rd). The 110 draw controls as a senior was the third-most by a collegiate player in NCAA history at the time.
A three-time all-conference player, she earned first-team recognition as both a junior and senior, while being honored on the second team during her sophomore campaign. As a player, Spencer was a two-time All-American, nabbing first-team honors as a senior in 2010, a year after claiming second-team recognition. As a senior, Spencer also earned All-America honors from WomensLacrosse.com and WomensLax.com.
Most recently, Spencer played with the Boston Storm of the United Women's Lacrosse League (UWLX) during the first season for both the team and league. Spencer and her teammates finished as the league runner-up, falling in the championship game. In 2018, she played for Upstate Pride of the Women's Professional Lacrosse League (WPLL). She was tied for third in the league, averaging 4.0 goals per game, while also leading the league with 8.0 draw controls per contest.
In October 2018, the Brighton, New York, native was named a member of the US Lacrosse Greater Rochester Hall of Fame Induction Class of 2018.
Spencer graduated from Northwestern in 2010 with a degree in social policy.
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