Katie O'Donnell - Mary Semanik Head Women's Lacrosse Coach - Women's Lacrosse Coaches

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Katie O'Donnell

Title:
Mary Semanik Head Women's Lacrosse Coach
Email:
kgo27@drexel.edu

Katie O’Donnell enters her fifth season as Mary Semanik Head Women's Lacrosse Coach, serving as the interim head coach during the 2022 and 2023 seasons.

O’Donnell has helped guide the Dragons to three NCAA Tournament appearances in four seasons at the helm, with the women’s lacrosse team being the first in program history to earn four straight NCAA Tournament bids. Under her guidance, Drexel secured their first CAA Championship in program history during the 2022 campaign, with three appearances in the conference championship game overall. Four Dragons have earned All-American status in her time as Head Coach, including six CAA major award winners and 20 All-CAA selections.

Last season, the Dragons finished with a 14-4 record, the most wins in program history. During the 2025 campaign, DU had a single-season program best ten game winning streak. This tied for the most consecutive victories by a CAA team since the turn of the century. DU reached the CAA Championship game for the second consecutive year, after defeating Delaware with a record breaking 20 goals in the semifinals. Jenika Cuocco became the first player in program history to collect three straight CAA Goalkeeper of the Year awards, receiving All-American Honorable Mentions from Inside Lacrosse and USA Lacrosse. Along with Cuocco, Allison Drake was named to the All-CAA First Team, as Anna Maria Gragnani, Camryn Ryan and Kate Quinn earned Second Team honors. Additionally, Teagan Quinn and Emma Nikalic received All-Rookie Team recognition.

In 2024 O’Donnell guided Drexel to a 13-6 record and their fourth consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament, the first team in Drexel history to do so. DU had monumental victories over ranked opponents, including a 10-8 victory at home against No. 25 Penn State and a 13-12 win on the road at No. 16 Navy. O'Donnell helped lead the Dragons to the CAA Championship game for the first time under her tenure, falling to eventual champion Stony Brook. Corinne Bednarik was named CAA Attacker of the Year and Jenika Cuocco earned CAA Goalie of the Year, with Cucco receiving All-American honors by USA Lacrosse, Inside Lacrosse, and IWLCA. Overall, six Dragons were selected to All-Conference teams.

As interim head coach, O'Donnell guided the Dragons to a 12-6 record and their third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance in 2023. Under her tutelage, Corinne Bednarik and Jenika Cuocco were named USA Lacrosse Magazine All-Americans. Bednarik was selected as the CAA Attacker of the Year, and Cuocco was both the Goalkeeper of the Year and Rookie of the Year. In total, five players were selected to All-Conference teams.

O'Donnell assumed the leadership role midway through the 2022 season and made an immediate impact on the team, helping to lead Drexel to its first-ever CAA Championship with a thrilling overtime victory against Towson in the title game.

A West Chester, Pa. native, O'Donnell joined the Drexel staff after spending two seasons with Lehigh University. Under the direction of head coach Jill Redfern, O'Donnell helped lead the Mountain Hawks to back-to-back winning seasons. The Mountain Hawks finished the shortened 2021 season with a 9-4 record and 6-1 in Patriot League play. O'Donnell helped push the Mountain Hawks to their first Patriot League title game for the first time since 2010 and win two Patriot League Tournament contests for the first time in program history.

In her inaugural season with Lehigh, the Mountain Hawks competed to a 6-2 record heading into conference play before the season was canceled due to COVID-19. With the help of O'Donnell, Lehigh saw only the second athlete in women's lacrosse history to be named to the Tewaaraton Award Watch List.

A two-time All-American midfielder, O'Donnell was a two-time team captain at Penn State, was an IWLCA first team All-American, and won Big Ten Midfielder of the Year. She ended her career fourth in program history for career goals (203) and sixth in points (227) and went on to be selected fourth overall in the 2018 WPLL (Women's Professional Lacrosse League) Draft by the New England Command. O'Donnell is currently a member of the United States National Team and tried out to be part of the 2021 World Lacrosse Championship team.