Lacrosse Coaching Staff

Head Coach Pat Genovese

Assistant Coach Lindsey Breese

Head Coach Pat Genovese

Under the leadership of legendary Head Coach Pat Genovese, William Smith lacrosse has registered 25 winning seasons since the start of the 1982 campaign, including 16 trips to the NCAA Tournament.

The only coach the Heron lacrosse team has ever known, Genovese has more wins than any other Division III women’s lacrosse coach, sporting a career record of 338-125-1. She has firmly entrenched William Smith at the forefront of the game.

The Herons have an impressive postseason resume thanks to the direction of Genovese. She has led her charges to the NCAA tournament 16 times, the NCAA semifinals 11 times, and the national championship game five times. William Smith also boasts a pair of ECAC regional championships (1985, 2001).

Genovese has been highly decorated throughout her tenure. She is a three-time Division III National Coach of the Year, a three-time Regional Coach of the Year, and a three-time NYSWCAA Coach of the Year. Her involvement with women’s lacrosse is extensive, working for Munzy’s All-American camps, while running the William Smith Lacrosse camp for over a decade.

Also a three-time coach of the North-South All-Star Game, Genovese has tutored 94 All-Americans, while seven Herons have earned the prestigious Player of the Year Award.

Genovese also coached the field hockey team from 1971 through 1987, leading William Smith to three state titles, an NCAA regional title, and a trip to its first NCAA Division III title game (1987).

In addition to her coaching duties, Genovese also serves as an assistant director of athletics. She plays an integral role in the department's fundraising, overseeing the Heron Society's Corporate Alliance Program. Genovese was also a central figure in the management of the 2006 NCAA Division III Field Hockey Championship which was hosted by William Smith.

A magna cum laude graduate of SUNY Cortland, Genovese earned a master’s degree from Ithaca College. She was inducted into the Cortland “C” Club Hall of Fame in 1990, the Rochester/Western New York Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1998, and the William Smith Athletics Hall of Honor in 1999. In 2007, Genovese received the NYSWCAA Service Award for her contributions to women’s athletics.

Assistant Coach Lindsey Breese

Lindsey Breese is in her second season as assistant coach for the Herons. A Geneva native, she spends the summers working as an assistant to the Director of Conferences and Events at Hobart and William Smith.

Breese served as the assistant women’s lacrosse coach during the 2005-06 season at Springfield College, where she was involved in all aspects of the program including planning practice, organizing travel, fundraising, and recruiting. She also began work on a master’s degree in athletic administration during her time at Springfield.

In 2005, Breese earned a bachelor’s degree in health and physical education from Ithaca College, where she was a four-year member of the women’s lacrosse team. As a senior, Breese served as team captain and earned the Ithaca College Women’s Lacrosse Douglas Armstrong Leadership Award. She was a four-time Empire 8 Scholar-Athlete and helped lead the Bombers to two NCAA tournament appearances and two consecutive Empire 8 tournament championships.

At Ithaca, Breese served on the student-athlete advisory committee and as the treasurer of the Ithaca College health sciences and human performance major’s club.

In addition to her collegiate coaching experience, Breese has served as an assistant varsity cross country coach at Groton Central schools, as well as an assistant modified volleyball coach at Lansing Middle School. She has coached soccer, basketball, and lacrosse summer camps at Hobart and William Smith since 2000, and is active in the HWS community as a lifeguard and water safety instructor.

Breese is a member of US Lacrosse, as well as the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance.