Katie Rhodes will begin her third season as an assistant coach with the University of Detroit Mercy women’s lacrosse team in 2013-14.
“Katie has a lot of great ideas that will help improve our program from both a recruiting and a playing standpoint. She will help make the overall experience for our student-athletes a great one,” said head coach Laura Maness on her hire.
In her first season, she helped the Titans break their school record with eight victories and reach the semifinals of the NLC Tournament.
In her second year, she helped Detroit to the inaugural Atlantic Sun Conference finals and worked closely with sophomore goalkeeper Lexie McCormick who became the school’s all-time career leader in wins and was recognized among the NCAA leaders. Individually, 2013 saw McCormick with three top ten finishes including second in the nation in total saves with 174, which was just 16 behind the national leader from Denver who advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. McCormick was also eighth overall in saves per game (9.16) and 10th in the nation in ground balls with 2.89 per contest. McCormick had two other categories in which she placed in the top 100 with a save percentage of .444 for 23rd in addition to a goals-against-average mark of 13.13 for 79th.
Before arriving in the Motor City, Rhodes served as the Head Junior Varsity Coach at Auburn High School. Before her time at Auburn, Rhodes worked as an assistant women’s lacrosse coach at St. Andrews Presbyterian College during the 2009-10 season. Rhodes had many responsibilities while coaching at St. Andrews. She was highly active in recruiting, she developed off-season conditioning workouts, and she was also involved in creating fundraising activities.
“I believe the athletes will look up to Katie as a role model,” Maness added. “She had a great playing career and has vast knowledge of the game. Her hardworking mentality and commitment to the growth of lacrosse will benefit the surrounding lacrosse communities.”
Before joining the St. Andrews coaching staff, Rhodes helped coach numerous camps in the Auburn, N.Y. area. Rhodes received as Associates Degree in Liberal Arts at Cayuga Community College and also earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies at St. Andrews Presbyterian College in 2010.
Rhodes played lacrosse and soccer while attending Cayuga C.C. She was a two-time All-Conference selection in lacrosse as well as a First Team NJCAA All-Region honoree in 2005. Rhodes continued to play lacrosse at St. Andrews and was a Second Team All-Conference player for the Knights in 2009.
