Detroit Mercy Promotes Madeline Dugan to Head Coach

DETROIT — Detroit Mercy athletic director Robert C. Vowels Jr. has announced that former assistant coach Madeline Dugan has been named the new head women’s lacrosse coach. 

Dugan was an assistant coach for the Titans in 2022 and previously served as Trine University’s head coach. 

“I am very excited to be named the next women’s lacrosse head coach at Detroit Mercy,” said Dugan. “I want to thank Robert Vowels and Teri Kromrei ‘03 for the opportunity to lead the Titans. I am looking forward to building strong student-athletes on and off the field, creating a winning mentality, and leading the Titans into a bright future.”

“After talking to coach Dugan and hearing her passion for returning to the University and working with many of the student-athletes that were here when she was an assistant, it was clear that she was the right person to lead this program,” said Director of Athletics Robert C. Vowels, Jr. “She has helped build programs in the past at the high school and college level, and we believe she is the right person to help bring a championship culture on and off the field to our program.”

She spent last season at The Woodlands High School in The Woodlands, Texas. She led the team to a 9-4 overall record and was ranked first in Houston and sixth in the state, advancing to the quarterfinals for the state tournament. Her players earned six All-District, four All-State and an Academic All-American laurels, as well as a player honored with the Jackie Pitts Award, which recognizes high school seniors who go above and beyond in service to their team, school, and community.

Before coming to the Titans as an assistant, Dugan helped rebuild the Trine women’s lacrosse program during her tenure with the team, steadily increasing its win total in her first three years as head coach. She helped the 2019 squad to its most wins since the 2011 season and coached three players to All-Conference awards in three of her final four seasons with the program. During her final season as head coach at Trine, the squad reached the MIAA tournament quarterfinals.

During her tenure at Trine, the Thunder set numerous single-season and career records for points, goals, assists and draw controls, among other records.

Her Trine squads were also standouts in the classroom, as she coached 31 total student-athletes to MIAA Academic Honor Roll laurels (3.5 GPA or higher) and the 2020 and 2021 squads had team GPAs of 3.61 and 3.60, respectively.

She began her coaching career at Wartburg College (Iowa) in 2014-15 as an assistant coach, where she helped establish a first-year program. She helped coach the team to a 3-4 mark in conference play in its first season of competition.

She returned to her alma mater at Adrian as an assistant coach in 2015-16 and helped coach the team to a four-win improvement from the previous season. Dugan worked primarily with the attackers and helped the Bulldogs accumulate 9.8 goals per game and 192 total points, an 81-point improvement from the previous season.

Dugan has also coached several highly successful club lacrosse teams with Pure Advantage Lacrosse and Medusa Lacrosse Club.

A native of Rochester, Michigan, she played collegiately at Adrian College and was a two-time All-Conference performer at attack, including First Team All-Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association honors as a senior in 2014. She tallied 159 points (106 goals, 53 assists) during her standout career and helped the Bulldogs to four consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament. In high school, she lettered four years in lacrosse at Notre Dame Prep and was a member of the 2010 CHSL sectional championship team. She was tabbed CHSL All-League in 2009 and 2010 and was honorable mention All-State as a senior. 

Dugan graduated from Adrian College in 2014 with a degree in Criminal Justice.