Carissa Medeiros, who has won Division II national championships as both a player and assistant coach, enters her sixth season at the helm of the Bentley University women’s lacrosse program in 2013.
Medeiros has led Bentley to the Northeast-10 Conference playoffs in four of her five seasons, and has established the program as one of the most competitive in the region and one that is on the rise nationally. The 2012 Falcons were ranked as high as No. 8 in Division II by the IWLCA and finished the season ranked No. 9. They advanced to the NE-10 semifinals for the first time since 2007 by beating New Haven in the quarterfinals 9-8.
She's compiled a 37-18 record in the NE-10 and is 49-40 overall during her time at Bentley. Her players have earned 10 All-Conference selections from the NE-10 and four have been named All-Rookie.
Not only have Medeiros’ teams been successful on the field, but they have excelled off it. For two straight years the program has been named an Academic Squad by the IWLCA for having a team GPA of 3.0 or higher, and the 2012 team was named a Merit Squad by the IWLCA for having one of the top-three team GPAs in Division II.
Medeiros, 31, spent three years as an assistant coach at Stonehill from 2004-06 before arriving at Bentley. She helped her alma mater win the NCAA Division II national championship in 2005 and three straight NE-10 championships.
“My first reaction upon meeting Carissa was that I’ve never been so impressed with a person and the recommendations that followed her justify that,” athletics director Bob DeFelice said upon her hiring. “We’re thrilled to be able to get someone with her background and ability to lead our women’s lacrosse program.”
In her playing days, Medeiros was an All-America goalkeeper at Stonehill. As a senior in 2003, she led Stonehill to its first national championship and was named MVP of the NE-10 Tournament along the way. She was also named Goalie of the Year by the IWLCAafter posting the second best goals against average in Division II at 6.17 and the seventh best save percentage at .573. As a junior, she was named the ECAC Division II Goalie of the Year.
Medeiros is also Stonehill’s all-time leader in saves (479) and is second in career save percentage (.586).
Medeiros graduated cum laude from Stonehill in 2003, where she majored in psychology with a minor in criminal justice. She went on to earn a Masters degree in general psychology from Boston University in 2005. In addition to her coaching duties, she also performs brain imaging research at McLean Hospital in Belmont and teaches at Endicott College.
A native of New Bedford, Medeiros currently resides in Wakefield.
The Medeiros Record |
|||||||
All Games |
Northeast-10 Games |
||||||
Year |
W |
L |
PCT |
W |
L |
PCT |
Finish |
2008 |
7 |
10 |
.412 |
6 |
4 |
.600 |
t-5th |
2009 |
9 |
9 |
.500 |
7 |
3 |
.700 |
t-4th |
2010 |
11 |
7 |
.611 |
8 |
3 |
.727 |
4th |
2011 | 9 | 8 | .530 | 7 | 5 | .583 |
t-6th |
2012 | 13 | 6 | .684 | 9 | 3 | .750 |
4th |
Totals |
49 |
40 |
.551 |
37 |
18 |
.673 |
|