Kristen Nicholson completed her fifth season as the head coach of the Kutztown University women's lacrosse program in 2026.
Nicholson guided the Golden Bears to new heights this past spring, including a school record 16 wins (16-7), a PSAC runner-up finish, the program's first two NCAA Championship tournament victories, KU's first-ever appearance in the national quarterfinals and a program-best 11th-place final ranking in the IWLCA Division II Poll.
Three of Kutztown's winningest season have come under Nicholson's direction, with the program winning 15 games in 2024 and 13 in 2023.
The Maroon and Gold experienced a nine-win improvement from 2022 to 2023. In 2023, Kutztown qualified for its first PSAC Championship tournament in the conference tournament era, advancing to the semifinals, earned its maiden berth in the NCAA Division II Championship tournament, entered the IWLCA national rankings for the first time and captured its first-ever wins over a nationally ranked opponent. KU followed in 2024 by advancing to the PSAC Championship Game and qualifying for the NCAA Tournament for the second-straight year.
During her KU tenure, Nicholson has coached 23 all-conference selections, 18 IWLCA all-region picks, six IWLCA All-Americans and four USA Lacrosse Magazine First, Second or Third Team All-Americans. She is the program's all-time winningest coach with 57 victories (57-40).
Kutztown was ranked in every IWLCA Division II national poll during the 2026 season and finished a program-best 11th. The Golden Bears have been perennially ranked inside the top 25 since 2023, including a 12th-place final ranking in 2024, 18th-place final ranking in 2023 and 23rd-place final ranking in 2025. KU reached its highest-ever ranking of No. 10 for three weeks during the 2024 season.
The Golden Bears broke into the IWLCA national poll for the first time at No. 23 on May 1, 2023, after five consecutive weeks receiving votes, first appearing at No. 23. Following the 2023 season, Sam Graf and Emma Meakim earned IWLCA All-America Third Team honors, becoming the program's first All-Americans since 1984.
Nicholson was announced as the ninth head coach in Kutztown University women's lacrosse history on Aug. 3, 2021, after a successful seven-year stay at NCAA Division III Moravian College (now University).
She joined Moravian back in 2014 with the Greyhounds in the midst of a five-year hiatus from varsity play and spent the 2015 season leading the school’s club team, while vigorously recruiting a freshman class for a return to varsity competition in 2016.
Following two respectable seasons, Nicholson guided Moravian to its first winning season since 2008 --and second in its history-- with an 11-5 record in 2018. That started a run of four consecutive winning seasons for the Greyhounds and back-to-back appearances in the Landmark Conference semifinals (2018 and 2019).
Nicholson led Moravian to an ECAC Division III quarterfinals berth in 2017, signaling the program’s first-ever postseason game. In 2021, the Hounds defeated Elizabethtown College 15-12 in the Landmark quarterfinals for their first-ever postseason victory.
In six seasons with the Bethlehem-based school, Nicholson composed a 46-37 record (.554). She coached 11 All-Landmark student-athletes, two IWLCA All-Metro Region players, 2016 ECAC South Rookie of the Year Jillian Picciuto and 2019 Landmark Conference Player of the Year Liz Bill. Nicholson also had more than 40 representatives on the Landmark Academic Honor Roll since 2017.
Nicholson coached on Adrienne Carr’s staff at FDU-Florham, her alma mater, for three seasons prior to taking the reigns at Moravian. The Devils won 13 games and qualified for the postseason in each campaign. Nicholson was an assistant on FDU-Florham’s 2012 MAC Freedom championship team and led the program to a 13-8 record, its second straight conference title and a spot in the ECAC Mid-Atlantic Region Tournament in 2013 while serving as interim head coach with Carr on maternity leave.
The former Kristen Schuster played for FDU-Florham from 2007-10, scoring 179 career points on 131 goals and 48 assists. She also totaled 77 ground balls and 60 draw controls. As a senior, Nicholson was elected a team captain and named All-Middle Atlantic Conference Second Team. She also led the Devils to the ECAC Mid-Atlantic championship and was named Most Valuable Player of the championship game.
FDU-Florham made postseason appearances in each of Nicholson’s four seasons as a student-athlete, winning the MAC championship in 2008 and receiving a berth to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
Nicholson earned a Bachelor of Arts in fine arts from FDU-Florham in 2010 and later received her master's degree in sport management from the school. She currently resides in Milford, N.J., with her husband, David, and their son, Gavin.
| KRISTEN NICHOLSON YEAR-BY-YEAR COACHING RECORD |
|
Overall |
Conference |
|
| Year |
School |
Wins |
Losses |
Pct. |
Wins |
Losses |
Pct. |
Postseason & Honors |
| 2013 |
FDU-Florham |
13 |
8 |
.619 |
6 |
0 |
1.000 |
MAC Freedom Champions
ECAC Mid-Atlantic Region Semifinals |
| 2016 |
Moravian |
6 |
10 |
.375 |
- |
- |
- |
|
| 2017 |
Moravian |
7 |
9 |
.438 |
1 |
5 |
.167 |
ECAC DIII Tournament First Round |
| 2018 |
Moravian |
11 |
5 |
.688 |
5 |
2 |
.714 |
Landmark Semifinals |
| 2019 |
Moravian |
12 |
6 |
.667 |
5 |
2 |
.714 |
Landmark Semifinals |
| 2020 |
Moravian |
4 |
2 |
.667 |
- |
- |
- |
|
| 2021 |
Moravian |
6 |
5 |
.545 |
5 |
3 |
.625 |
Landmark Semifinals |
| 2022 |
Kutztown |
4 |
13 |
.235 |
1 |
11 |
.083 |
|
| 2023 |
Kutztown |
13 |
6 |
.684 |
9 |
3 |
.750 |
PSAC Semifinals
NCAA DII Championship First Round |
| 2024 |
Kutztown |
15 |
6 |
.714 |
9 |
3 |
.750 |
PSAC Runner-Up
NCAA DII Championship First Round |
| 2025 |
Kutztown |
9 |
8 |
.529 |
6 |
6 |
.500 |
|
| 2026 |
Kutztown |
16 |
7 |
.696 |
8 |
4 |
.667 |
PSAC Runner-Up
NCAA DII Championship Quarterfinals |
| Coaching Totals |
| 1 Season |
FDU-Florham |
13 |
8 |
.619 |
6 |
0 |
1.000 |
|
| 6 Seasons |
Moravian |
46 |
37 |
.554 |
16 |
12 |
.571 |
|
| 5 Seasons |
Kutztown |
57 |
40 |
.588 |
33 |
27 |
.550 |
|
| 12 Seasons |
|
116 |
85 |
.577 |
55 |
39 |
.585 |
|
Updated 6/25/2026
