VILLANOVA, PA- Villanova University head women’s lacrosse coach Julie Young announced her resignation Friday after leading the Wildcat program for the last 10 years. Young will remain as the program’s head coach until a replacement is found.
A national search for Young’s successor will begin immediately.
“I would like to thank Father Peter, Mark Jackson, and the entire Athletic Department for the opportunity to coach at Villanova and for all of their support and friendships over the years. I’m so thankful to have worked alongside such a compassionate and motivating group of people,” said Young. “I will cherish all the memories I’ve made with Villanova and the women’s lacrosse program over the past decade. We’ve accomplished so much together and I feel fortunate to have been able to experience this journey with my Wildcat family. My family at home has made a lot of sacrifices for me to pursue my passion for coaching and I am looking forward to being there for them, especially my four children who are all involved in sports themselves. I’ve decided that it’s the right time for me and I’m confident that Villanova Women’s Lacrosse will continue to build upon the success we’ve created over the last 10 years together.”
“It is with a lot of mixed emotions that we accept Julie’s resignation from Villanova. She has built a foundation of excellence for our lacrosse program both on and off the field over the last decade and she will be difficult to replace,” said Villanova Vice President & Director of Athletics Mark Jackson. “Julie and her family will always be welcomed at Villanova and we will always appreciate her warm heart, unwavering commitment and all she gave to the program.”
During her Villanova career that began in 2012, Young led the Wildcats to a 53-86 overall record, including three berths in the BIG EAST Tournament. After making the program’s first ever trip to the conference tournament in 2015, Young guided the Wildcats to back-to-back BIG EAST Championship appearances in 2019 and 2021.
The 2019 season saw Young guide the Wildcats to a school record 10 wins, in addition to having six players earn All-BIG EAST accolades, including a program record three first team honorees.
Throughout her Villanova tenure, Young coached eight first team All-BIG EAST performers, including Jessica Mucci and Jackie Froccaro in 2015, Syndey Frank, Devin Hassinger and Liz Trojan in 2019 and Katie Comerford, Libby McKenna and Frank this past season. Young was also instrumental in Froccaro being named the 2015 BIG EAST Attacker of the Year and Comerford earning 2017 BIG EAST Rookie of the Year distinction. She also mentored 11 student-athletes to second team All-BIG EAST distinction.
Young helped numerous Wildcats make their mark on the Villanova record book highlighted by Comerford who finished her illustrious career holding school records for points, goals and assists. During the 2015 season, Mucci broke the all-time assist record that had stood for 18 seasons by dishing out 102 helpers during her four seasons. This record stood until Comerford surpassed the mark in 2021. In the 2020 season, Comerford became the all-time points leader and finished with 264 on her career, while this past year she broke the final two records and finished with 153 goals and 111 assists. Hassinger set the draw control record during the 2019 season finishing with 237, while Sam Scarfogliero established the all-time career caused turnover record at Villanova in 2017. Scarfogliero had her school mark broken this past season by Frank who accomplished the feat during the final game of the regular season.
Young was also instrumental in helping her student-athletes excel in the classroom. Throughout her 10-year Villanova coaching stint, 256 Wildcats earned BIG EAST All-Academic Team honors and 230 players garnered a spot on the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll.
Prior to arriving to Villanova, Young was an assistant coach at the University of Pennsylvania from 2003-07, while also playing on the U.S. women’s national team from 2001-04. Young coached seven All-Americans during her time as a Penn assistant and helped the team to back-to-back undefeated seasons in Ivy League play.
In 2008, Young took her first head coaching position at Haverford College, where she was named the Centennial Conference Coach of the Year in her first season at the helm of the program. The following two seasons she led the team to the program’s first conference tournament and in 2010, the team set the highest single season win total in program history with 13. During the 2011 campaign, one of Young’s players was named to the IWLCA All-American team for the first time in 11 years.