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Towson University

Towson University Women's Lacrosse
Field House, Room 209 - Auburn Dr Towson, MD 212520001
Division 1 Maryland Northeast
Public Very Large National competitor

Coaches

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Kristen Carr

Kristen Carr, a two-time gold medalist for Team USA, has been named Towson University’s Women’s Lacrosse head coach. Carr, who was signed to a five-year contract, will begin her new position August 1, 2023.


The Baltimore native, who goes by Cookie, has made assistant coaching stops at North Carolina, Delaware, Stanford, Ohio State and Johns Hopkins since an All-American playing career at North Carolina.


“Kristen Carr emerged from this very competitive process as a tremendous fit for Towson Women’s Lacrosse,” Eigenbrot said. “She is the right person to build on the foundation of this program and take it to the next level.”


The Towson Women’s Lacrosse program has won seven Colonial Athletic Conference championships and earned 11 trips to the NCAA Tournament since 2005.


Carr has been Director of Girls Lacrosse at The St. James, a nationally recognized club program in Northern Virginia, since last August, and is an assistant coach for the United States U-18 development national team.


“I am grateful for the opportunity and want to thank Steve Eigenbrot and Casey Cegles for their belief in me and thank everyone for the help along the way to get me to this point,” Carr said. “Towson is a sleeping giant. There are great facilities, great support, great people and you are in the mecca of lacrosse. I truly believe that we will be able to continue to build on the tradition and history that the previous coaching staffs have done and bridge the gap to and contend for those championships. I cannot wait to get going.”


Carr was a member of the Johns Hopkins coaching staff in 2021 and 2022, running the Blue Jays offense and working with the draw specialists. She mentored All-Big Ten players Aurora Cordingley and Shelby Harrison as Hopkins made back-to-back NCAA appearances.


She spent the 2020 season at Ohio State as associate head coach, where she oversaw the Buckeyes defensive unit and was the recruiting coordinator. Ohio State opened the COVID-19 pandemic shortened season with four victories in its first five games, allowing 9.5 goals per game in the wins.


Carr served as the defensive coordinator at Stanford for four years (2016-19), tutoring three Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) All-Americans. During her tenure, Stanford ranked in the Top-25 in scoring defense three times, including a top 10 finish during the 2018 season. The Cardinal was 55-22 with Carr on staff. In addition to her coaching responsibilities, she functioned as director of recruiting and director of camps and clinics.


Before Stanford, Carr spent three seasons at Delaware (2012-14). While in Newark she served as the offensive coordinator, increasing the team’s shooting percentage from 44.1 percent to 46.8 percent and helped the Blue Hens to the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Tournament in 2014. She also assisted with strength and conditioning, service initiatives, player development, equipment and sponsorship, travel and fundraising efforts.


A 2010 graduate of North Carolina with a degree in exercise and sport science, Carr began her coaching career as a volunteer assistant with the Tar Heels in 2011. Working as a draw coach, assistant defensive coordinator and goalie coach, she helped UNC to a 15-6 record and a trip to the NCAA Championship Weekend.


“I am really blessed to have learned from each head coach I worked for along the way,” Carr said. “There are so many intricacies into coaching and I am excited to bring them all together with Towson.”


An IWLCA All-American defensive midfielder, Carr helped the Tar Heels to a four-year record of 60-20 and four NCAA Tournament appearances, including a national runner-up finish in 2009 and a berth in the semifinals in 2010. As a senior in 2010, she earned First Team All-America and First Team All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) honors when she was one of the nation’s top draw control specialists and led the nation’s third-ranked defense that allowed just 7.25 goals per game.


In 81 career games, she scored 21 goals with nine assists while setting a UNC career record in draw controls. Carr was also a member of the Carolina Leadership Academy, achieving 3DL Leader of Distinction status from 2009 to 2010, the most prestigious leadership honor on a varsity team.


Carr spent 14 years as a starting defender on the U.S. National Women’s Lacrosse team - winning gold medals at the 2013 and 2017 Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) Women’s World Cup championships.


“Cookie has an incredible breadth of experiences in the world of women’s lacrosse – from starting on the college stage to excelling on the USA National Team and as a professional,” Eigenbrot added. “She has learned from and coached with some of the best and brightest minds in the game and we are excited for her to lead our program forward.”


Carr currently plays in the Athletes Unlimited women’s lacrosse professional league. Now in its third season, the league features 56 players, including United States National Team members and former collegiate stars. Six games will be contested in each of the four weeks of the season between July 30 and Aug. 13 at USA Lacrosse headquarters in Sparks, Maryland.


A 2006 graduate of nearby Mercy High School, Carr was a three-sport star in lacrosse, soccer and basketball. She earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of Delaware in 2015.

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Kelyn Freedman

The Towson University women's lacrosse team announced Kelyn Freedman as its assistant coach on Monday morning. Freedman is the first addition to Kristen Carr's coaching staff.


"I am excited to welcome Kelyn Freedman to the Tiger family! She comes to us from Georgetown University, also her alma mater, where she coached alongside Ricky Fried, an incredible mentor of the game," said Carr. "Kelyn has an impressive resume coordinating both sides of the ball. Kelyn will specifically work with the defensive side for us. She is a teacher of the game, believes in player development, and is one of the hardest workers in our sport. We are lucky to have her on our team!"


Freedman joins Towson after four seasons at Georgetown as the associate head coach. The Radnor, Pennsylvania native has coached nine All-BIG EAST honorees, three Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coach's Association (IWLCA) All-South Region honorees and one All-American. The Hoyas also won the BIG EAST Championship and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2019.


"I'm so excited to join the women's lacrosse staff at Towson. I have a ton of faith in the program, the athletics department, and head coach Kristen Carr to continue to propel this team forward, and I can't wait to be a part of it," said Freedman.


Before Georgetown, Freedman spent three seasons at George Washington working with the defense. She coached Jenna Oler, who was named to the Inside Lacrosse All-Rookie team, while Jocelyn Donohue was chosen to play in the North-South Senior All-Star game during her tenure with the Revolutionaries.


Freedman got her start in coaching as an assistant coach at Niagara University, where she coached the defense, transition strategy and facilitated the development of players. The Purple Eagles finished with the third most wins in program history in 2016. At Niagara, she graduated with a Master of Science in Sports Management.


Freedman played four seasons at Georgetown, where was a two-time First Team All-BIG EAST and the IWLCA Second Team All-South Region midfielder for the Hoyas from 2011-14. The former captain totaled 120 points, 98 goals and 135 draw controls over 67 games to sit among the program leaders.

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Shelby Harrison

The Towson University women's lacrosse team announced that former USA Lacrosse Magazine and Inside Lacrosse Honorable Mention All-American Shelby Harrison as its assistant coach on Monday morning.


Harrison is the second addition to Kristen Carr's coaching staff with Kelyn Freedman as the first.


"I am overjoyed to welcome Shelby Harrison to our Towson family," said Carr. "Shelby had an incredible career at Johns Hopkins University, earning All-American and All-Conference athletic and academic honors. She took her passion for lacrosse to Flagler College as a first-time assistant coach. In only its second season as a varsity sport, Shelby was instrumental in their post-season run. Shelby will work predominantly with our draw team and goalies. As a former coach of Shelby's, I could not be more excited for our team to learn from her!"


Harrison joins Towson after one season at Flagler College as an assistant coach. She was named the first assistant coach in program history. She primarily worked with the offense and the draw control unit. Flagler averaged a league-high 17.6 goals and 16.1 draw controls per game. Harrison also worked heavily with player development as the Saints reached the NCAA Division II National Tournament for the first time in program history.


"I am very excited to join the coaching staff at Towson. I had a great experience playing for Kristen during my time at Hopkins, and I am looking forward to being a part of her coaching staff. I have a tremendous amount of respect for the Towson program, and I can't wait for the journey to begin," said Harrison.


Harrison played five seasons at Johns Hopkins, where she holds the program record for most career draw controls with 297. The Ocean City, Maryland native was named a two-time Second Team All-Big Ten and Second Team IWLCA All-Mid-Atlantic player. The midfielder ranks 16th in DI school history for career goals with 98 while ranking second in free position goals with 46. She sits 15th in DI school history in career caused turnovers with 55.


In high school, Harrison was a three-time IAMM First Team and two-time Anne Arundel County First Team at St. Mary's High School. She was a two-time Under Armour All-American and two-time Baltimore Sun Metro First Team player. Harrison earned team MVP three times and was a captain her senior season.

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Rebecca Lane

Assistant Coach

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