Women's Lacrosse Coaching Staff
Matthew Grosso begins his fourth year as the head coach of Guilford College's women's lacrosse team. The Quakers ended the 2007 season with an 8-9 record (4-4 Old Dominion Athletic Conference), the program's best since 1999, and set school records for goals, assists, points and draw controls. Guilford made its second consecutive trip to the ODAC Tournament, but fell to Roanoke, 10-7, in the quarterfinals.
In 2007, Guilford earned a school-record six All-ODAC selections in 2007 including two first-team selections: Mary Hutchins ’08 and Jennifer Abelin ’09. Under Grosso's direction, nine Guilford students have received 14 All-ODAC and two All-Chesapeake Region lacrosse honors.
The
ninth head coach in Guilford's women's lacrosse history, Grosso joined
the Quakers in July 2004 after serving as the top assistant women's lacrosse coach at Goucher
College from 1999-2004. He assumed head coaching duties on an interim basis
two games into the 2003 campaign when head coach Kara Carlin took a maternity
leave. The Gophers went 5-9 under Grosso in 2003 and compiled a 47-36
mark in his five seasons. Goucher's 2004 club went 12-5 and finished the year
ranked 14th in the final Intercollegiate Women's
Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) NCAA Division III poll. Grosso also
helped Goucher's 2001 squad to a 14th-place national ranking and a 14-4 overall
record. The 2001 Gophers led NCAA Division III in scoring and draw controls. In
addition to his coaching duties, Grosso coordinated the Chesapeake Bay
Lacrosse Challenge Tournament from 2001-04 and aided Goucher's athletic
department as a fitness trainer, writer, public address announcer and equipment
manager. Grosso earned his master's degree in athletic program
leadership and administration from Goucher in December, 2003.
Grosso gained his first head coaching experience in 1999 at Trinity College in Washington, DC. The Tigers managed only a 3-13 record, but Grosso received the Atlantic Women's Colleges Conference Coach of the Year Award for his efforts with an undermanned club. He took the Trinity job after a year as a volunteer assistant coach for George Mason University's nationally ranked women's lacrosse unit, where he worked primarily with the goalkeepers.
Raised in Springfield, Va., Grosso graduated from nearby George Mason in 1997 with his bachelor's degree in historic architecture and cultural archaeology. While in college he coached the George C. Marshall High School varsity girls' lacrosse team and helped the squad to a 21-21 record and two regional playoff appearances in three years. He directed the school's junior varsity team in 1994 before assuming varsity head coaching duties in 1995, the program's fourth year. The 1996 club reached the state quarterfinals.
Grosso works with the Triad Youth Lacrosse Association (TYLA) during the fall and coaches during the summer for United States Athletes International (USAAI). He has taken college select teams to Australia in 2006 and 2007. Grosso serves on the Chesapeake Region All-American committee as the chair and the North-South Senior All-Star committees for the IWLCA. He has spent 12 years as a scholastic and collegiate women's lacrosse official and has a District rating from US Lacrosse. Grosso also serves as Guilford's assistant sports information director.
Susanna Young joined the Guilford College community in August 2005 as an Area Coordinator for Campus Life and an assistant women's lacrosse coach. The Cleveland Heights, OH, native will assist Quakers' head coach Matthew Grosso in his second year at the helm of Guilford's women's lacrosse team.
This will be Young's first collegiate coaching job after three years as a club coach for the Team Ohio high school squad from 2003-05. A 1998 graduate of Cleveland Heights High School, she also assisted her alma mater's lacrosse team in 2004 and 2005.
Young, a standout midfielder for Coach Pat Genovese at William Smith, started all 61 games of her college career and helped the Herons to an impressive 54-7 mark over her four years. A captain of the 2002 team, Young helped William Smith to four consecutive appearances in postseason play, including trips to the NCAA Division III Tournament in 1999, 2000, and 2002. The team won the 2001 ECAC Mid-Atlantic Championship. The 1999 squad reached the national semifinals before falling to eventual champion Middlebury. In 2001 and 2002 she earned IWLCA/US Lacrosse All-New York Region, All-New York State Women's Collegiate Athletic Association and All-Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association honors. Young was also honored as a Verizon/CoSIDE Academic All-District in 2001 and 2002. She graduated from William Smith in May of 2002 with a degree in studio art.
Young was a four-year starter for Coach Terry Saylor at Cleveland Heights. While playing for the Tigers, Young garnered All-Midwest Schoolgirls Lacrosse Association honors and was named First Team Northeast Ohio in 1997 and 1998. She was the team captain and MVP in 1998, and played for the Midwest/Great Lakes National Tournament high school team. Young concluded her high school career as an honorable mention All-American in 1998.