Linda Bevelander, who successfully completed her fifth year as the head women's lacrosse coach by guiding the Dutchwomen into the second round of the 2002 NCAA tournament, was named the New York Region's “Coach of the Year” it was announced recently by the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association. It is the first time that a Union coach has ever achieved this honor.
“This is quite a thrill,” said Bevelander, who was named the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association's “Coach of the Year” after leading Union to the conference championship with an 8-0 record.
“I'm honored to have received this award from the IWLC, but to me this is much more of a recognition of how hard our team worked together to achieve the goals we set for ourselves.”
Bevelander, who has guided her Dutchmen into four postseason tournaments in five years at the helm (including two NCAA berths and the only NYSWCAA championship in the program's 28-year history), is 54-27 overall (a winning percentage of .666) and 26-8 (.765) against UCAA competition, including two league championships.
A three-time winner of the UCAA's “Coach of the Year” honors, Bevelander guided the 2002 Dutchwomen to a 14-2 overall record (the 14 wins ties a Union standard first set by her 1999 squad) and set a program record for best winning percentage in a season (.875). The Dutchwomen's only two losses came at the hands of Middlebury, which went on to win its second-straight NCAA title, and to Amherst, which advanced to the final four for the fourth time in the last four years.
Union, which had several of of its players receive all-league, all-state, regional and national recognition, will graduate just five players
Bevelander's selection as the regional coach of the year puts her in position to win the national award, which will be announced in July.