5 candidates to replace Kayla Treanor as SU women’s lacrosse HC
After four years helming her alma mater, Kayla Treanor departed from Syracuse to join Penn State. Her potential replacements include a host of alums and high-level coaches. Leonardo Eriman | Photo Editor
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Syracuse women’s lacrosse had one of its worst seasons in recent memory in 2025. A 10-9 record. Multiple embarrassing losses. Failure to make its third straight Championship Weekend.
Still, the expectation remained that fourth-year head coach Kayla Treanor would return to SU. But the horrid campaign was decidedly Treanor’s last with the program. Just 10 days after SU’s season-ending loss to Yale, Treanor departed to fill Penn State’s head coach vacancy.
After falling to Yale, Treanor said she thought Syracuse was in a good position moving forward. The Orange’s lineup consisted of mainly underclassmen, meaning most of the team will stay intact in 2026.
“This will help our future,” Treanor said. “This is NCAA Tournament experience, and this will certainly help us.”
Now, Syracuse’s focus lies on finding her replacement. SU will likely hire someone connected to the program, having chosen Syracuse alums Gary Gait and Treanor as its previous two coaches. A press release stated assistant coach Caitlin Defliese Watkins would become its interim head coach while it began a nationwide search.
Here are five candidates to take Treanor’s place as Syracuse women’s lacrosse’s next head coach:
Joe Spallina
Syracuse’s list starts with Stony Brook head coach Joe Spallina. After becoming the Seawolves’ head coach in 2012, Spallina is now the winningest coach in program history. Through his tenure, he’s accumulated a 224-45 overall record and made 12 NCAA Tournaments.
SU got a taste of Spallina’s squad twice in 2024. The Seawolves upset then-No. 5 Syracuse 13-12 in overtime, dropping SU to 3-3 on the season. Though the Orange got revenge with a 15-10 victory in the NCAA Tournament Second Round, Spallina’s recruiting and coaching prowess was on display as he helmed the smaller Division I program.
While Spallina’s resume is expansive, his name also carries strong ties to Syracuse. Spallina’s sons Joey, Brett and Jake are all on SU’s men’s lacrosse team. Joey is tied for the third-most points in the country (89), leading the Orange to their first Final Four since 2013.
Syracuse men’s lacrosse midfielder Jake Spallina meets his father, Joe Spallina after one of Jake’s games. Joe’s connections to the Orange through his sons’ careers there could lead to him becoming their women’s lacrosse coach. Joe Zhao | Senior Staff Photographer
“The ability to spend time with (my boys) is priceless,” Spallina said after SU and Stony Brook’s 2024 NCAA Tournament bout. “I’m a family guy, so my kids are everything to me.”
Another factor is Spallina’s daughter, Alexa, the No. 1 recruit in the 2025 class. She was initially set to follow her brothers, committing to Syracuse in September 2023. But she later flipped to Clemson, stripping SU of a potentially game-changing attacker who could replace veterans like Emma Ward and Olivia Adamson. If Spallina does move from Stony Brook to Syracuse, he could convince Alexa to join him.
Katie Rowan Thomson
If SU can’t lure Spallina away, it has plenty of options within its alumni base. Among them is UAlbany head coach Katie Rowan Thomson. She has helmed the Great Danes since 2018, making the NCAA Tournament in two of the last three seasons. Prior to assuming her current position, she spent three years as the head coach at Wagner.
Before turning to coaching, Rowan Thomson starred at Syracuse from 2006-2009. She graduated as its all-time leader in points (396) and assists (164) and collected All-American honors during her career. She became SU’s second female student-athlete to have her number immortalized in February 2022, when her No. 21 was retired.
Katie Rowan Thomson’s No. 21 is retired at the JMA Wireless Dome in 2022. Rowan Thomson left SU as its all-time points leader and has since become UAlbany’s head coach. Daily Orange File Photo
Immediately after she graduated from Syracuse, Rowan Thomson joined its staff as a volunteer assistant in 2013, when she coached Treanor. That prior connection could ultimately boost Rowan Thomson’s chances at getting the job.
“I got to watch (Rowan Thomson) all grown up and then get to play with her and be coached by her,” Treanor said before playing UAlbany this season. “So I think I wanted to leave a legacy similar to (Katie’s) here.”
Syracuse has shown it’s not afraid to dip into its pool of alumni for coaching candidates. SU started that trend by hiring Gait in 2007, and continued it by choosing Treanor as his successor. Rowan Thomson could be next in line if the cycle persists.
Caitlin Defliese Watkins
Possibly the easiest candidate to choose is Defliese Watkins, who has slotted in as SU’s interim head coach. If Syracuse can’t reel in someone like Spallina or Rowan Thomson, a member of its current coaching staff may be its next option.
Defliese Watkins has served as an assistant coach with the Orange since 2016. As a former defender for Boston University, she’s mentored Syracuse’s backline in her 10 years with the program. In that time, she helped players like Katie Goodale and 2019 Atlantic Coast Conference Freshman of the Year Sarah Cooper break out.
Before arriving at Syracuse, Defliese Watkins spent five years working under Spallina as Stony Brook’s defensive coordinator and associate head coach. In 2016, the year before she joined SU, she steered the Seawolves to the second-best scoring defense in the nation.
With Defliese Watkins fully taking over the program, she could work alongside goalies coach Maggie Koch to craft a much-needed defensive approach. Last year, the Orange ranked 61st in scoring defense, allowing 11.63 goals per game.
Erica Bamford
Bamford is a bit of a long-shot, as she doesn’t have a major tie to Syracuse’s program. She’s currently Yale’s head coach, leading the Bulldogs to back-to-back 16-plus win seasons and NCAA Quarterfinals appearances. It’s possible she wouldn’t want to budge due to Yale and SU’s opposing trajectories this season.
However, Bamford was born in Syracuse, attending high school at local Christian Brothers Academy. She was also inducted into the Upstate Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2022. A potential jump to SU could mark a return to her old stomping grounds.
Bamford has led the Bulldogs since 2016, guiding the program to consistent success. Yale has made the Ivy League championship game in the last four seasons, such as winning the conference title the past two years. She hauled a struggling program from mediocrity to a national contender, and she gave Yale its first Ivy League titles.
If the Orange picked Bamford, she’d bring a bevy of experience, including a seven-year stint as Florida’s assistant coach. With a proven track record of rebuilding programs, she could be the perfect person to right Syracuse’s ship.
Michelle Tumolo
If SU does want to take the alumni route, another choice could be Syracuse alum and current Army head coach Michelle Tumolo. Tumolo has helped the Black Knights reach new heights in her four-year tenure, guiding them to NCAA Tournament appearances in 2023 and 2025. Army also broke into the national rankings for the first time ever in 2023.
Like Rowan Thomson, Tumolo first made her mark as an SU attacker. From 2010-13, she racked up 278 points (141 goals, 137 assists), which ranks fourth in program history. She burst onto the scene as a freshman, totaling the most points and assists for a Syracuse freshman ever. But Tumolo peaked as a junior, winning IWLCA Attacker of the Year honors and being named a Tewaaraton Award finalist.
Tumolo has also gained experience in other coaching positions. Before starting at Army, she helmed Wagner to a 29-13 record and the Seahawks’ best finish of all-time (16-4) in 2019. After that, she coached at Power Four programs in Oregon, Florida and Syracuse.
Her connection with Syracuse runs deeper than being an alum, though. Tumolo was recruited to SU and coached by Koch during her first stint with the program from 2008-11. With Koch rejoining Syracuse’s staff in 2025, the pair’s established bond could help it land Tumolo as its new head coach.
