Amanda O'Leary

Amanda O'Leary
Sport(s) Women's lacrosse
Current position
Title Head coach
Team Florida
Conference Big East
Record 81–21 (.794)
Biographical details
Born 1967
Playing career
1985–1988 Temple
Position(s) Midfielder
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1994–2007 Yale
2007–present Florida
Head coaching record
Overall 243–86 (.739)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Ivy League (2003)
ALC (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014)
ALC Tournament (2012, 2014)
Awards
Field Hockey All-American (1986, 1987)
Lacrosse All-American (1986, 1987, 1988)
NCAA Midfielder of the Year (1987, 1988)
Lacrosse Magazine Player of the Year (1988)
NCAA Most Valuable Player (1988)
USWLA Beth Allen Award (1997)
All-Century Women's Lacrosse Team (1999)
Temple Athletic Hall of Fame (2004)
US Lacrosse National Hall of Fame (2005)
ALC Coach of the Year (2011)

Amanda Moore O'Leary (born 1967), née Amanda Moore and also known by her nickname Mandee O'Leary, is an American college lacrosse coach and former player. O'Leary was an All-American lacrosse midfielder for the Temple Owls women's lacrosse team of Temple University, and she is a member of the US Lacrosse Hall of Fame. O'Leary was the head coach of the Yale Bulldogs women's lacrosse team of Yale University, and she is now the head coach of the Florida Gators women's lacrosse team of the University of Florida.

Playing career

During her collegiate playing career, O'Leary was a four-year starter for Temple University's lacrosse and field hockey teams from 1985 to 1988.[1] She was honored as a two-time first-team All-American in field hockey, and a three-time first-team All-American in lacrosse.[2] O'Leary led the Temple women's lacrosse team to a perfect 19–0 record and an NCAA championship in 1988, and an appearance in the NCAA finals in 1987.[2] She was named NCAA Midfielder of the Year in 1987 and 1988, and NCAA Most Valuable Player in 1988.[2] Lacrosse Magazine recognized her as its player of the year.[1]

After graduation, O'Leary played on the U.S. national lacrosse teams that won the International Federation of Women's Lacrosse Association (IFWLA) World Cup in 1989 and 1993.[1] She played nine years of post-collegiate club lacrosse.[1] O'Leary was named the USWLA's Beth Allen Award winner in 1997.[3] She was elected to the US Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2005.[2]

Coaching career

On June 22, 2007, the University of Florida announced that Amanda O'Leary would assume responsibility for the start-up Gators women's lacrosse program.[1] Before accepting the Florida job, she spent the previous fourteen seasons as the head lacrosse coach at Yale University, winning the Coach of the Year honors in 1996.[1] Through her final season at Yale, O'Leary compiled a 162–65 record as a head coach; her 162 wins and .714 winning percentage ranked seventh among all active coaches.[1] O'Leary's Yale lacrosse teams qualified for the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Tournament in 2003 and 2007.[1] Her 2003 Yale team was the Ivy League tri-champion.[1] Prior to coaching at Yale, she was an assistant coach at the University of Maryland and the University of Delaware.[1]

O'Leary has also served as the chairman of the U.S. national team selection committee, and was a member of the United States Women's Lacrosse Association (USWLA) Board of Directors.[2]

The new Gators women's lacrosse team officially began play on February 20, 2010, and now competes in the American Lacrosse Conference (ALC). O'Leary's first Gators recruiting class of twenty-four players featured seven US Lacrosse high school first-team All-Americans[4] and six Under Armour high school All-Americans.[5]

In only the second season of the Gators' lacrosse program, O'Leary's mostly-sophomore team clinched its first regular season ALC championship by defeating the defending conference champion and second-ranked Northwestern Wildcats 13–11 on April 14, 2011.[6] The Gators completed a perfect 5–0 ALC season three days later by defeating the seventeenth-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores 8–7.[7] O'Leary's Gators received their first invitation to the sixteen-team NCAA women's lacrosse tournament, defeating the Stanford Cardinal in the first round, before falling to the Duke Blue Devils in the NCAA quarterfinals. In their first five seasons of play, her upstart Gators have compiled an overall win-loss record of 81–21 (.794).

Personal

O'Leary was born Amanda Moore in 1967. She grew up in Royersford, Pennsylvania, where she attended Spring-Ford High School.[1] O'Leary graduated magna cum laude from Temple University with a bachelor's degree in exercise physiology and kinesiology in 1988.[1] She is married to Kevin O'Leary, a former goaltender for the Maryland Terrapins and current NCAA referee official, and they are the parents of daughter Madison and son Ryan.[1]

Head coaching record

Women's lacrosse

Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Yale Bulldogs (Ivy League) (1993–2007)
1993 Yale 6–8 0–6 7th
1994 Yale 10–5 2–4 5th
1995 Yale 14–2 2–2 3rd
1996 Yale 10–4 4–2 3rd
1997 Yale 12–5 4–2 T–3rd
1998 Yale 12–4 4–3 3rd
1999 Yale 14–4 5–2 3rd
2000 Yale 11–5 4–3 4th
2001 Yale 10–6 5–2 T–3rd
2002 Yale 11–5 5–2 3rd
2003 Yale 14–4 6–1 T–1st NCAA Quarterfinal
2004 Yale 12–4 5–2 3rd
2005 Yale 10–6 4–3 T–3rd
2006 Yale 9–7 3–4 T–5th
2007 Yale 13–4 6–1 2nd NCAA First Round
Yale: 168–73 59–39
Florida Gators (American Lacrosse Conference) (2010–2014)
2010 Florida 10–8 1–4 5th
2011 Florida 16–4 5–0 1st NCAA Quarterfinal
2012 Florida 20–3 5–0 1st NCAA Semifinal
2013 Florida 18–3 4–1 T–1st NCAA Quarterfinal
2014 Florida 18–3 6–0 1st NCAA Quarterfinal
Florida Gators (Big East Conference) (2015–present)
2015 Florida 15–5 6–1 T–1st NCAA Second Round
Florida: 97–26 27–6
Total: 265–99

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 GatorZone.com, Lacrosse, Coaching & Support Staff, Amanda O'Leary Biography. Retrieved May 4, 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 US Lacrosse, National Lacrosse Hall of Fame, Amanda (Moore) O'Leary. Retrieved May 4, 2011.
  3. ↑ US Lacrosse, Beth Allen Award. Retrieved August 29, 2009. "The recipient of this award shall be a 'highly skilled, creative and disciplined player who consistently makes a positive contribution to the team effort. Such a player shall show awareness and understanding of the spirit of this unique game and exemplify character traits of loyalty and sportsmanship.' Candidates are nominated by the National Selection Committee and each of the teams competing in the National Championship Division A. The recipient is chosen by the U.S. Team coaches and the former recipients of the award."
  4. ↑ Lax Power, US Lacrosse 2009 High School All-Americans. Retrieved May 4, 2011.
  5. ↑ Dave Yanovitz, "Florida Loads Up on Locals: Gators' Inaugural Roster Full of Area Players," The Washington Post (June 26, 2009). Retrieved May 4, 2011. Aaron Wright, "Before heading to Florida, six local girls team up at 'Classic': Gators will rely heavily on six Under Armour All-Americans in first season," Baltimore Sun (June 27, 2009). Retrieved July 5, 2009.
  6. ↑ Jeff Barlis, "Lacrosse tops No. 2 Northwestern," The Gainesville Sun (April 14, 2011). Retrieved May 4, 2011.
  7. ↑ "UF lacrosse team makes history," The Gainesville Sun (April 18, 2011). Retrieved May 4, 2011.

External links

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