Release courtesy of Gettysburg Athletic Communications
NORTHBOROUGH, Mass. – Three decades as one of the top lacrosse coaches in the country has landed Gettysburg College head women's lacrosse coach Carol Cantele '83 a spot in the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) Hall of Fame it was announced on Monday, Feb. 8.
Cantele will be one of three new inductees in the IWLCA's fourth Hall of Fame class, joining former coaches Janet Smith and Sue Stahl. The trio will be recognized as part of the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony taking place in November during the IWLCA Awards Banquet held in conjunction with the IWLCA Convention at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas, Texas.
"The Hall of Fame committee did a fantastic job selecting this class of honorees from among all of the well-qualified coaches that have been nominated," said Liz Grote, President of the IWLCA and head coach at Bowdoin College. "Carol, Janet, and Sue have each amassed a significant measure of success on the field, but their impact is even greater when you consider the positive influence they have had on all of the young women they coached during their career, their records of service to the sport, and their contributions to the coaching profession."
Since taking over Gettysburg's helm from former mentor Lois Bowers in 1993, Cantele has developed the Bullets into one of the premier lacrosse programs in the nation. The team has won nearly 80 percent of its contests over the last three decades with Cantele compiling a record of 422-110. Cantele led Gettysburg to the first of its conference record 12 Centennial Conference championships in 2000.
The Bullets have been to the NCAA Division III Championships 19 times since 2000, including a stretch of 18 consecutive appearances from 2002-19. In 2011, Gettysburg claimed the program's first NCAA Division III title by defeating Bowdoin 16-5 in the title game. The Bullets repeated as national champions in 2018 and 2019, beating The College of New Jersey and Middlebury College, respectively.
Cantele has been named IWLCA Division III Coach of the Year four times (2006, 2011, 2017, 2018) and Metro Region Coach of the Year 10 times. Her players dot the national lists on an annual basis with 61 All-America citations from the IWLCA and Inside Lacrosse over the last 28 years. Additionally, eight Bullets have been named IWLCA Division III Player of the Year at their respective positions. In 2018, Steph Colson '18 was lauded as the inaugural NCAA Division III Player of the Year. Cantele has also coached 106 all-region selections, 147 all-conference honorees, one Academic All-American, and two Elite 89 Award winners.
Cantele, who also serves as Gettysburg's Senior Woman Administrator and Assistant Director of Athletics, compiled a school-record 121 coaching victories and five conference championships in 10 seasons with the Bullets' field hockey program.
Prior to arriving in Gettysburg, Cantele was the head coach at Plymouth State University where she went 24-23 with the lacrosse team. In 33 years as a head coach, she has accumulated 446 victories, leaving her third all-time behind Hall of Fame coaches Sharon Pfluger (532) and Cindy Timchal (527) among NCAA coaches.
Her commitment to the sport has been recognized many times in her three-plus decades. In 2009, she was awarded the Judith M. Sweet Commitment Award by the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators (NACWAA), given to those individuals who have provided outstanding leadership and commitment to colleagues and student-athletes in intercollegiate athletics. In the fall of 2016, she was given the Diane Geppi-Aikens Memorial Award, one of the highest honors given by the IWLCA. The award recognizes lifetime achievement to the women's college game.
Cantele also served as head coach of the U.S. Developmental Team and she served an assistant coach with Team USA during its run to the gold medal at the 2013 World Cup.
The Gettysburg coach has played a role in all four team national titles at the institution. As a player, the former Carol Daly helped lead the Bullets field hockey team to the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) Division III championship in 1980. Cantele was a four-year letterwinner in both field hockey and lacrosse at Gettysburg.
Tickets for the 2021 IWLCA Awards Banquet and Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will go on sale October 1 and will remain available on the IWLCA website through November 16, 2021. The IWLCA Hall of Fame was established in May 2017 to recognize and honor outstanding career achievements by collegiate women's lacrosse coaches. The class of 2021 will be the fourth class of honorees to be inducted.