Women's Lacrosse
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- Email:
- emilia.ward@marquette.edu
- Phone:
- 288-2006
Emilia Ward finished her second season as the Assistant Coach for the women's lacrosse team at MU in 2021 after joining Coach Black's staff in July 2019.
During her two years at MU, the Golden Eagles finished 6-4 in 2020 and 7-9 (4-6 BIG EAST) in 2021. Ward, who specializes in defense and goalies, oversaw the Golden Eagles ranking second in the BIG EAST in saves per game (11.00) and save percentage (.460) in 2020. Junior Sophia Leva led the BIG EAST and set the single-season program record for save percentage (.509) while Jules Horning broke the program record for all-time saves (429) after saving 53 in her fourth season of action.
In 2021, senior goalie Sophia Leva tallied one of the best seasons in program history, becoming the first MU goalie in program history to garner All-BIG EAST honors. Leva ranked No. 1 in the BIG EAST in saves (134), saves per game (8.25) and save percentage (.482) among goalies who played at least 10 games. Leva started in 15 of 16 games in 2021 and recorded multiple saves in every game. She tallied five-or-more saves in 14 games and had six double-digit save games. She tallied season-bests of 15 saves against then top-20 ranked Louisville and in a road win at Georgetown. Her seven wins in 2021 put her at No. 2 all-time for a single season in MU history and her 134 saves put her at No. 3 all-time. Her .482 save percentage for the year is the No. 2 mark in program history.
In addition to Leva, senior defender Jocelyn Miller earned Second Team All-BIG EAST honors as well. MU's best overall defender, Miller started in all 16 games on defense, consistently being tasked with marking the other team's best player. She ranked third on the team in caused turnovers (12), leading a defense that ranked in the top-50 nationally in scoring defense (11.94), caused turnovers (8.94) and clearing percentage (.874).
She comes to MU after leading Northern Michigan's women's lacrosse program for the past four years. She arrived at NMU in 2015 and had one year to start the program from scratch, leading the team into its first varsity competition in 2016-17. Before her time as a Wildcat, Ward also spent time as the head coach of the Pfeiffer University (N.C.), Kalamazoo College (Mich.) and Alderson Broaddus University (W.V.) women's lacrosse programs.
Ward began her career as an assistant coach at Division III Adrian College (Mich.) in 2008. In her three years as a member of the staff, she helped the team to a 40-12 overall record and brought in three consecutive recruiting classes of at least nine players from 2009-11. She coached 10 all-region and nine all-conference players in her three seasons there and helped Adrian to the Division III NCAA Tournament in 2011.
She spent the 2011-12 season as an assistant coach at Winthrop University before landing her first head coaching job at Alderson Broaddus, where she recruited and developed the first varsity team in school history as they entered the Division II level.
Her success in building the ABU program led her to her next opportunity as the head coach at Kalamazoo College, where she guided the program into its inaugural season in 2013-14. In two years at Kalamazoo, Ward's teams garnered IWLCA Team Academic Honor Roll honors and she had 14 players earn All-MIAA Academic honors.
Before joining the Golden Eagles, Ward reigned over the Northern Michigan women's lacrosse program, leading the team into its inaugural season at the Division II level in 2016-17. After winning just two games in each of her first two seasons on the job, Ward guided the Wildcats to four wins in 2018-19 on the way to their first GLIAC Tournament bid in school history. All three of her teams made the IWLCA Team Academic Honor Roll and 14 of her players made the GLIAC Academic Select Team (3.5 GPA or above).
Ward graduated from Manhattan College in 2008 with a bachelor's degree in communications. She then earned her master's degree in sports science with an emphasis on coaching from the United States Sports Academy in 2013.
