Hannah Nielsen

Biography

One of the most decorated athletes to play the game of lacrosse, Hannah Nielsen will enter her ninth season in the 2026 campaign as the head coach of Michigan women's lacrosse after being announced as the second head coach in University of Michigan women's lacrosse history on June 26, 2017. An Australian Hall of Fame inductee, a four-time national champion and a two-time Tewaaraton Award winner, Nielsen boasts 14 years of coaching experience at the Division I level. In 2025, the Wolverines appeared in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight season and earned their highest seed in the Big Ten Tournament at No. 3. U-M finished 14th in IWLCA poll and ranked as high as No. 5 in Nielsen's eighth season at the helm. Michigan defeated five ranked opponents with its first win over a top-five opponent in then-No. 5 Johns Hopkins and scored 263 goals and had 128 assists, both program records. Jill Smith had a team-best 82 points (59 goals, 23 assists), breaking her previous single-season mark of 77 points. The attacker was the second Wolverine in program history to surpass 200 career points, ending her time in Ann Arbor as the Michigan career points leader with 245 and a 37-game goals and points streak, from Feb. 24, 2024, to May 11, 2025 -- the longest streak in program history. Nielsen put together the best season in Michigan women's lacrosse history as she guided the team to its first-ever NCAA Quarterfinal appearance in the 2024 campaign. The Wolverines boasted a 16-4 overall r