Northwestern University Women's Lacrosse

Amonte Hiller's Accolades • 10-time NCAA Champion (eight as coach, two as player) • Five-time IWLCA Coach of the Year • IWLCA Hall of Fame (class of 2023) • 2020 Tewaaraton Legend Award • Five-time Big Ten Coach of the Year (2019, 2021, 2024, 2025, 2026) • Three-time IWLCA West/Midwest Regional Coach of the Year (2019, 2021,2024) • Career coaching record of 389-94 (.805) • Record-holder, NCAA Tournament wins and winning percentage (59-13, .819) • 2012 U.S. Lacrosse Hall of Fame Inductee • 2009 Italian-American Hall of Fame Inductee • Two-time NCAA National Player of the Year (1995, 1996) • 1996 ACC Female Athlete of the Year • Three-time participant in IFWLA World Cup • 2005 All-World Team selection • Team USA U20 (Previously U19) Head Coach Already a legend in the game as a player, Kelly Amonte Hiller has established herself as one of the sport's greatest coaches after building Northwestern Lacrosse into a dynasty. In May of 2005, Amonte Hiller etched her name in the annals of college athletics when she guided her upstart Northwestern team to an undefeated season and the first NCAA Lacrosse Championship ever won by a team outside the Eastern Time Zone, the first of an incredible eight national titles. Under Amonte Hiller’s direction the Wildcats most recently claimed the 2023 NCAA Title, her eighth as a head coach, tying her for the most championships by a head coach in the sport’s history. Northwestern has made six consecutive appearances in the NCAA Semifinals (2019-25), r

After serving as an assistant coach/recruiting coordinator for the Wildcats from 2004-06 and helping the 'Cats to a pair of national titles (2005, 2006) and a 56-4 record, Alexis Venechanos returned to Northwestern ahead of the 2023 season and immediately impacted the program, helping the 'Cats to their eighth national title and a 21-1 record. During the last two seasons of Venechanos' first stint at NU, the 'Cats compiled an impressive 41-1 record and won back-to-back national championships. Under Venechanos' tutelage, Morgan Lathrop and Ashley Gersuk flourished as goalkeepers and NU's defense posted top five national marks in scoring defense and scoring margin. Since departing NU after the 2006 season, Venechanos enjoyed a 15-year run as a collegiate head coach at UMass, Ohio State and Otterbein. The Yorktown, N.Y. native also served as the associate athletic director and head girls lacrosse coach at Lake Forest Academy. Venechanos is no stranger to the Big Ten Conference and as head coach, guided Ohio State to an 86-73 record (.550) from 2011-19. The Buckeyes appeared in two NCAA Tournaments (2014, 2015) during her leadership and finished as the league's runner-up in 2015. In 2014, OSU tallied its second-most single-season wins in program history (13) and qualified for its first NCAA postseason in 11 years. Prior to her arrival in Columbus, Venechanos spent four seasons as head coach at UMass where she inherited a program in 2006 that had not been to the NCAA tournament in

Following her four-year career playing for the ‘Cats, Kiera Shanley joined the Northwestern coaching staff as director of women’s lacrosse operations in 2024. Under her leadership, Northwestern has made it to back-to-back National Championship appearances in 2024 and 2025. The team has posted an impressive 37-6 record while she has held this position. As a student athlete, Shanley posted a career 12 goals and six assists over 38 games played throughout her four years at Northwestern (2020-2023). During Shanley’s accomplished career, she helped the Wildcats to two NCAA championship appearances (2022, 2023), taking home the title in 2023. The New York native graduated from Northwestern School of Education and Social Policy in 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in Learning and Organizational Change and earned her master’s in Sports Administration from Northwestern in 2024.

After serving as director of lacrosse operations for the ‘Cats from 2018-2021, Nicole Beardsley Montag returned to the Northwestern coaching staff as an assistant coach ahead of the 2026 season. During her first stint at Northwestern, Beardsley Montag led Northwestern to an impressive 50-15 record, capturing two Big Ten Tournament titles (2019, 2021) and the Big Ten regular-season title in 2021. Beardsley Montag helped the Wildcats to three NCAA appearances (2018, 2019, 2021) making it to the Final Four in 2019 and 2021. Over the past five years, Beardsley Montag has built upon her illustrious coaching career as an assistant coach at UMass Amherst, Colorado, and Stanford. The New York native also served as a film coach for the Women’s U20 USA National Team leading up to and during the 2024 World Championship in Hong Kong. Most recently, Beardsley Montag led Stanford to a third-place regular-season finish in the Cardinal’s 2025 inaugural season in the ACC. Stanford had its second-most wins in program history with a 15-6 overall record under Beardsley Montag’s leadership. The Cardinal finished its season with an intense overtime second-round game in the NCAA tournament and clinched three IL Women All-American honorees. Prior to her time at Stanford, Beardsley Montag led Colorado to the Pac-12 Tournament Championship game in both 2023 and 2024, securing a 24-14 record under her leadership. In her additional roles as director of recruiting and draw controls, as well as offensive

Scott Hiller has been a part of the Northwestern lacrosse program since 2001 and was named to his current position of assistant coach in 2020. Hiller, the husband of head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller, was previously the volunteer assistant coach and involved in a myriad of responsibilities with the program. Alongside Amonte Hiller, Hiller has helped lead the Wildcats to eight national championships -- most recently a dominant 18-6 win over Boston College for the 2023 national title. Throughout his coaching career, Hiller has been involved with both men's and women's professional lacrosse. He served as the co-president and general manager of the Washington Bayhawks of Major League Lacrosse (MLL) after his dual role as head coach and general manager for the 2006 and 2007 seasons. Prior to coaching the Bayhawks, Hiller served as the head coach of the Boston Cannons. He was a two-time selection as the league's Coach of the Year as he led the Cannons to back-to-back American Division titles and four straight playoff appearances. He guided Boston to a 10-2 record in 2005, tying Baltimore for the best regular season mark in league history. During his four-year tenure with the Cannons, Hiller compiled a 32-18 regular season record. In his inaugural 2002 campaign, Hiller led the team to a 7-7 record and was named Coach of the Year. In 2003, the Cannons went 7-5 and secured their third consecutive postseason berth. The following season, Boston won a then team-record eight games and clinch