Jill Batcheller was named the Mary Semanik Head Coach of Women’s Lacrosse at Drexel University on July 2, 2018. Batcheller spent three seasons with the Dragons before taking the head coaching position at Villanova.

After several rebuilding seasons, Batcheller led the Dragons to new heights in the 2021 season and put Drexel on the map as a serious contender. In a year of firsts, Batcheller led a program that only put up four wins in 2018 to regular season champions, a national ranking as high as #10, a #4 RPI and a top national ranking in three different stat categories. The Dragons went on several runs in 2021, including an eight-game win streak from March 20 to May 7. Batcheller tallied her 100^th career victory in the Dragons final regular season matchup of the year against Towson. After having their impressive 2020 run cut short, Batcheller pushed the Dragons to a 13-3 overall record and an appearance in the CAA Championship matchup and NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. The Dragons were only the third team in Drexel Athletics history to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Following the conclusion of the regular season, Batcheller was named the Dragons first ever CAA Coach of the Year. In addition to her own accolades, Batcheller also mentored the CAA Player of the Year, CAA Goalkeeper of the Year, a Tewaaraton Top-25 nominee and had two athletes receive IWLCA All-American status. The Dragons entered their NCAA matchup against Rutgers favored to make a run in the tournament, but had their season cut short in a tough 16-13 loss to the Scarlet Knights in the opening round.

Batcheller, a native of Philadelphia and graduate from Archbishop Carroll High School, has guided the Dragons to an 11-12 record in her first two seasons. The Dragons went 6-10 in 2019 before going 5-2 in the seven-game 2020 season that was shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Drexel ended the 2020 campaign on a four-game winning streak while its only two losses came to ranked opponents.

Batcheller arrived in University City after six years leading the women’s lacrosse program at Bryant University where she turned the Bulldogs into a conference powerhouse and one of the most formidable teams in the region.

Bryant won the NEC title three times under Batcheller’s watch. The first came in 2014, her second season in Smithfield. That team won 15 games, including a perfect 7-0 mark in the NEC. The team repeated as regular season and tournament champs in 2015. After a title game loss in 2016, the Bulldogs were back in the NCAA Tournament in 2017 with another undefeated run through the conference regular season and tournament schedules. That year, Bryant was one of just eight teams nationally to maintain a perfect record at home all season long.

Batcheller’s Bryant squad went 12-6 in 2018, capturing a fifth consecutive Northeast Conference regular season championship. The Bulldogs advanced to a sixth straight NEC title game on the strength of a powerful offense which averaged a program-record 14.50 goals per game over the course of the season.

The success came right away for Batcheller’s Bulldogs. In her first year at the helm, just the second for Bryant as a Division I program, she led them to a 10-8 overall record and a 6-3 mark in NEC action, propelling them to their first NEC championship game appearance.

Batcheller is no stranger to Philadelphia lacrosse. A native of Philadelphia, Batcheller spent her high school years at Archbishop Carroll. Following her undergraduate career at Syracuse University, her first collegiate coaching experience came in the 2008 and 2009 seasons at Saint Joseph’s. There, she helped turn around a struggling program and made the Hawks one of the Atlantic-10’s most formidable programs. The 2009 squad broke every offensive program record, going 5-2 in league play and advancing to the A10 title game for the first time.

Following her time on Hawk Hill, Batcheller was named the top assistant at Brown University, where she spent three seasons implementing a dynamic offense that made the Bears one of the top teams in the Ivy League. While there, she also founded the New England United Lacrosse Program. Still the program director, Batcheller has grown the program to include over 120 players, grades 5-11.

A 2007 graduate of Syracuse, Batcheller was a four-year starting midfielder for the Orange. She became the eighth player in school history to reach 100 career points, leading the program to its first Big East championship in 2007, following an at-large NCAA bid in 2005. She was a two-time All-Big East honoree and a three-time Big East Academic All-Star. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Sport Management, and went on to receive a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Saint Joseph’s in 2009.

Career

Season	Wins	Losses	Conference
2013	10	8	6-3 NEC/Runner-up
2014	15	4	7-0 NEC/Champions
2015	14	5	6-1 NEC/Champions
2016	13	5	6-1 NEC/Runner-up
2017	13	5	7-0 NEC/Champions
2018	12	6	6-1 NEC/Runner-up
2019	6	10	1-5 CAA/t-5th
2020	5	2	0-0 CAA
2021	13	3	4-0 CAA (1st)
Bryant	77	33	0.700 (6 years)
Drexel	24	15	0.615 (3 years)
Career	101	48	0.678 (9 years)

Name	Title	Email	Phone
Jill Batcheller	Mary Semanik Head Coach of Women's Lacrosse	jmb934@drexel.edu	215-895-1885
Kelsea Donnelly	Assistant Women's Lacrosse Coach	kmd466@drexel.edu	215-895-0591
Maddison Lesher	Assistant Women's Lacrosse Coach	mml356@drexel.edu	215-895-0591

Drexel University Athletics

2020 Women's Lacrosse Coaching Staff

Coaching Staff