KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Kristen Nicholson was announced as the Kutztown University Dr. Dorothy Moyer Women's Coach of the Year, Monday, after leading the Golden Bear lacrosse team to new heights behind one of the biggest single season turnarounds in program history.
 
In just her second season with the Maroon and Gold, Nicholson led Kutztown to a record-tying 13 wins, their first-ever IWLCA national ranking and first-ever NCAA Division II Championship tournament appearance.
 
Located in an area ripe with talent, the KU lacrosse program feels like a sleeping giant. With Nicholson at the helm, the 2023 season may serve as the springboard to awakening that giant.
 
KU got off to a great start, winning its first five games for the first time since 2016 and outscoring opponents 78-26 in the process. Though the Bears dropped a hard-fought 13-11 road decision to 14th-ranked Lynn on March 17, the performance proved to a Bears squad that went 4-13 a season ago that they could compete among the nation's best teams.
 
The Golden Bears battled then 12th-ranked East Stroudsburg to a one-goal decision on the road in early April and staged a stunning comeback at Shepherd, April 12, with six unanswered goals to pull out a 10-9 overtime victory.
 
Kutztown clinched its first PSAC Championship berth in the conference tournament era with a 17-11 win at Millersville on April 22 and secured a quarterfinal home game with a 16-14 win over No. 13 East Stroudsburg in the regular season finale at Keystone Field. The win was the Bears' first over a nationally ranked opponent and second over ESU in 21 games since the lacrosse program returned to varsity status in 2008.
 
Nicholson's team rallied for a 12-9 win over those same Warriors in the PSAC quarterfinals, solidifying Kutztown's NCAA Tournament prospects. Though the Bears fell to Seton Hill by two goals in the PSAC semifinals and were toppled by East Stroudsburg in the opening round of the national tournament –the teams' third meeting in two weeks—those results did not diminish a banner year for the program.
 
Six players were named to All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Eastern Division teams, the program's most since 1982 (eight). A single season record five players received IWLCA All-Atlantic Region honors, while Sam Graf (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Hills) and Emma Meakim (Hatboro, Pa./Upper Moreland) captured IWLCA All-America Third Team recognition.
 
Kutztown ranked 18th in the final IWLCA Division II Poll. Its nine-win improvement over 2022 was tied for the biggest increase in wins in program history. Ironically, the 1981 team went 4-5-2 before the 1982 squad posted a 13-1-1 mark and won the program's lone PSAC title. The 2023 team tied the 1982 team for the most wins in a season in team history.
 
Nicholson is the first lacrosse coach to earn the Dr. Dorothy Moyer Women's Coach of the Year award, which dates back to 1993. From 1987-92 a combined department Coach of the Year was recognized. The award recognizes the coach of a KU women's varsity sport for leading their team to success in a given academic year and is voted upon by athletic department administration, coaches and support staff.