Acacia Walker-Weinstein Sets Tone for USA Debut in Florida

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When Acacia Walker-Weinstein was named head coach of the U.S. Women’s National Team, it marked a full-circle moment for the woman who was the youngest player on the USA U19 team that struck gold in Australia in 1999.

The mentee is now the mentor, but she wasn’t about to go it alone. The first step after her hiring — and while leading Boston College to its second NCAA title — was deciding on the four women she wanted in the trenches with her.

Ultimately, it’s a mix of obvious choices and a critical outlier: Devon Wills, Kayla Treanor and Melissa Lehman will serve as assistant coaches. Jennifer Kent will be the team operations administrator.

Wills, the head coach at Harvard, played on the 2009 national team with Walker-Weinstein. She was a three-time world champion and All-World goalie, the 2009 championship game MVP and a fast friend of Walker-Weinstein’s. "Devon and I have been dreaming about doing this together for like 20 years,” she said.

Wills also won a world title with Treanor in 2017. Treanor’s addition to the staff was a “no-brainer.” She was Walker-Weinstein’s assistant at Boston College before taking the head coaching job at her alma mater, Syracuse.“She has such an innovative lacrosse mind,” Walker-Weinstein said.

Kent has long been Walker-Weinstein’s confidant and right-hand woman at BC, and she encouraged her to apply for the U.S. job.

Lehman may come as a surprise. A former Penn All-American and assistant, she’s currently the head coach at Rutgers. She isn’t a member of Walker-Weinstein’s coaching orbit. That was part of her appeal. “She thinks about things differently,” Walker-Weinstein said. “She's not directly in our little bubble, which was attractive. She’s smart, trustworthy and honest."

When interviewed for this article, Walker-Weinstein was mum when on which players would be invited to the team's first training camp this weekend in Lakewood Ranch, Fla. USA Lacrosse has since announced the roster of 44 players who will play in a Blue-White exhibition and scrimmage Walker-Weinstein's Boston College team during the IWLCA Presidents Cup.

Walker-Weinstein said she’s looking for "unselfish competitors" who are willing to push the tempo, share the ball and play different roles.

“I don't want a selfish competitor, and I don't want an unselfish player who could care less about elevating our program," she said. "I'm going to be looking hard and creatively to find players who will gracefully and willingly put their egos aside.”

Walker-Weinstein said the BC-USA scrimmage would be good for both teams.  

And hey, she can’t lose.