Kathy Taylor was named the head coach of Colgate the women's lacrosse program in June 2019.
During her tenure in Hamilton, Taylor has led the development of eight All-Patriot League honorees along with a pair of Academic All-League selections and numerous IWLCA academic recognitions. Her record at the helm stands at 21-47 overall and 14-19 in league play.
Taylor has helped guide the Raiders to four Patriot League tournaments in five years, including a semifinal appearance in 2021. Colgate most recently earned a No. 5 seed in the 2024 six-team conference tournament on the heels of dramatic one-goal victories over Lafayette and Lehigh late in the regular season to clinch a playoff berth.
The Raiders concluded the 2023 season 4-11 overall to go with a 3-6 mark in conference play. Three of those wins came at home, as the Raiders finished with an even 3-3 record at Andy Kerr Stadium. Colgate captured league wins over Lafayette, Bucknell, and American, with the latter coming in dramatic 16-15 overtime fashion to keep Colgate’s postseason hopes alive.
During the 2021 campaign, Taylor led the Raiders to a 5-6 overall record, 3-4 mark in the Patriot League, and a trip to the Patriot League semifinals. On the way there, Taylor earned the first Patriot League win in her career with a 12-9 victory at Holy Cross (March 13), before starting league play 3-0. For their success, two of Taylor's Raiders were named to Second Team All-Patriot League honors, while goalie Amelia Cunningham was named Patriot League Rookie of the Year.
In her first season at the helm, Taylor garnered a 3-4 overall record in the 2020 campaign prior to the cancellation of the season. Her first win with the Raiders came by a 14-9 victory over Marist (Feb. 8, 2020), before following it up with a 10-8 win at Vermont (Feb. 16). Most notable to the shortened 2020 season was the 11-8 victory over in-state rival Cornell on March 3. The victory earned Colgate's first win over the Big Red since 1998, effectively snapping Cornell's 20-game win streak in the series.
Taylor joined the Raiders after most recently serving as the women's lacrosse head coach at Le Moyne, where she garnered a 97-12 overall record through five seasons and led the Dolphins to the 2018 Division II National Championship.
Two-time National Champion and two-time Division I Coach of the Year at North Carolina Jenny Levy shared, "Kathy Taylor is a great fit for Colgate, she has been a proven winner and leader at every stop in her coaching journey. Her competitive fire and championship mentality has always been the margin of victory for every group of student-athletes she has led. Besides having a great passion for the game of lacrosse, Kathy is a great teacher and mentor for women. She uses the game of lacrosse to teach life lessons, helping her athletes find the best in themselves. The Colgate women's lacrosse program is in great hands."
In her tenure, the Dolphins captured three Northeast-10 Regular Season championships, one Northeast-10 tournament championship, and competed in five NCAA region championships, advancing to the NCAA Semifinals in her first four seasons. Under her tutelage, student-athletes have earned IWLCA All-Region accolades 28 times, and IWLCA All-America honors 16 times.
Most recently, the Dolphins posted a 20-2 record with a perfect regular season in the 2019 campaign just a season after capturing the program's first national championship. Behind an NCAA Division II record of 22-1, Taylor was named IWLCA Division II National and East Region Coach of the Year, while players collected IWLCA Defender of the Year and Goalkeeper of the Year accolades in the 2018 championship season.
Taylor was recognized yet again in 2017 as she was named Northeast-10 Coach of the Year and guided the Dolphins to an undefeated 13-0 mark in Northeast-10 action. The Dolphins won their first 18 games of the season, which marks the most wins to start a season and the longest winning streak in the program's history.
Consistently making appearances in the postseason, Taylor led the Dolphins to back-to-back NCAA Championships semifinal appearances in her first two seasons with the program in 2015 and 2016, while she mentored the Division II Attacker of the Year in her first with the team.
A 2010 inductee into the Upstate New York Chapter of the US Lacrosse Hall of Fame, Taylor joined Le Moyne after turning the women's lacrosse program at SUNY Cortland into a national power. Taylor, who guided the Red Dragons to the NCAA Tournament six times and to the NCAA Semifinals each of the last four seasons, compiled a record of 115-17 (.871) over her six years at Cortland. In her final season at Cortland, Taylor guided the Red Dragons to a school-record mark of 22-1 and the program's 16th straight SUNYAC title.
In addition to posting a 48-1 mark in SUNYAC action, Taylor led the Red Dragons to six straight SUNYAC Tournament Championships and five consecutive SUNYAC regular season championships. Named the IWLCA Empire Region Coach of the Year each of the last four years and the SUNYAC Coach of the Year in 2011 and 2014, Taylor led the Red Dragons to 41 consecutive SUNYAC regular-season victories and 53 straight wins against SUNYAC opponents. Under her guidance, 15 of her student-athletes received IWLCA All-America accolades, including nine first-team selections, while 27 were tabbed with All-Region honors. She coached 34 student-athletes to All-SUNYAC honors, with five of her players being named SUNYAC Player of the Year and two as SUNYAC Rookies of the Year.
IWLCA President and Service to the sport of lacrosse
In addition to her coaching duties, Taylor was elected President of the IWLCA in 2017 after serving as a member of the IWLCA National Board of Directors, a position she first began in 2012 and was re-elected to in 2014. She has been a member of the All-America Regional Committee since 2012 and the IWLCA Rules/Safety/Games Administration Committee since 2013. In 2014, she coached the North team to a victory over the South team in the North-South All-Star Game for the second time in three years and was also chosen to the United States Women's Team Tryout Selection Committee.
Before her stint at Cortland, Taylor served as the girl's lacrosse coach at Fayetteville-Manlius High School from 1988 to 2006. She led the Hornets to an overall record of 245-62-3 (.795), captured two New York State championships (Div. I in 2004 and Class A in 2005), five Section III titles and was named the Central New York Coach of the Year on two occasions. Twelve of her student-athletes were selected as high school All-Americans and five went on to be named to the United States National Team. Additionally, she developed the growth of the girl's lacrosse program at Fayetteville-Manlius from one team to five teams.
A 1984 graduate of Cornell University, Taylor holds a bachelor's degree in communications and was a three-year letterwinner for the Big Red. As a senior, she became the first Cornell women's player to be selected to the All-Ivy First Team after posting 49 points by 36 goals and 13 assists.
