Rachel Ward completed her eighth season as an assistant coach for ESU in 2026.
Ward oversaw the best offensive season in ESU history in 2026, as the Warriors broke multiple team and individual records on their way to the NCAA Semifinals. ESU netted 403 goals, 75 more than the previous mark of 328 set in 2022. The Warriors went 20-2, tying their most wins in a season, while winning 15 games by double-digit goals and scoring 20-plus nine times. ESU had two players, Paige Moreland and Jolee Roth, who each recorded 50-plus assists for the first time in program history, while Sadie Kauffman, Ariana Tucci, and Lauren Hallman became the second trio to each score over 50 goals. Kauffman, the leading point scorer in Division II, was awarded Attacker of the Year honors by the IWLCA, as she broke her own single-season records for goals and points that she set in 2025. Ward and Xeni Barakos-Yoder were honored after the season by the IWLCA by being named the Coaching Staff of the Year for the Atlantic Region.
Ward coached Emily Mitarotonda for all four years of her career, whose 314 goals and 393 points still stand as the most in the history of the PSAC. Mitarotonda finished her career as a four-time All-American, including three First Team honors, and was the PSAC East Athlete of the Year in 2022 and 2024. The East Stroudsburg University Athletics Department retired her number 24 jersey during the team’s Atlantic Region championship ring ceremony in 2025.
Ward served as Interim Head Coach to start the 2023 season, with Xeni Barakos-Yoder on medical leave after welcoming her second child. She helped the Warriors begin the season with an 8-2 record.
She was named the IWLCA Division II Outstanding Assistant Coach in November 2022 after helping ESU to a record-breaking season.
Since joining
Xeni Barakos-Yoder's staff in July 2019, Ward has helped the Warriors to a 50-13 record with an NCAA Semifinals appearance in 2021 and the program's first national championship appearance in 2022. During the 2022 impressive season, ESU set records for wins in a season (20), best start to a season (7-0), and claimed its second-ever PSAC Championship and collected its third NCAA Atlantic Region title for the third time over the past four seasons.
Under Ward's watch,
Emily Mitarotonda (111 pts.),
Gianna LeDuc (108 pts.), and
Kiki Fitzpatrick (103 pts.) became the first three Warriors to tally 100-points in a season. The three-headed monster provided 315 points in just 22 games, and all ranked in the top-12 nationally in points last season. All three Warriors were honored as IWLCA All-Americans after the impressive season.
ESU has earned four NCAA DII Atlantic Region Championships and a PSAC Championship over the past six seasons with Ward on the staff.
Ward joined the ESU coaching staff as an assistant coach in July of 2019. The Warriors were able to offer the position to Ward thanks in part to the Division II Coaching Enhancement Grant, which is made possible through the NCAA Division II Presidents Council.
Ward came to ESU from Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan, where she served four seasons as the first assistant coach, offensive coordinator, and goalie coach for the NCAA Division II Lakers. While at GVSU, Ward was tasked with recruiting, social media, film, and strength and conditioning responsibilities.
During her time in Allendale, the Lakers won the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) regular-season championship three times and captured the 2016 GLIAC Tournament crown. GVSU received its first-ever bid to the NCAA DII Women's Lacrosse Championship following its conference title in 2016.
Ward guided an offense that finished second in the country in goals per game (18.50) in 2018 while coaching 11 all-conference selections, five all-region players, and the GLIAC Midfielder of the Year. As a goalie coach, she was able to work with the 2018 GLIAC Goalie of the Year, Briana DeMilia.
Ward was a three-year starter on the women's lacrosse team at Lock Haven (2013-15) and was an All-PSAC selection in 2013 and 2015. The Bald Eagles advanced to the NCAA DII Quarterfinals in 2013 and finished as the national runner-up in 2014 and 2015. Lock Haven also captured the PSAC Women's Lacrosse Championship in 2014 and 2015. Ward was named to the IWLCA North-South Senior All-Star Game in 2015.
Ward competed for Team Ireland in the European Championships in 2015 in the Czech Republic, where she was the second-leading goal scorer on the team and helped Ireland take fifth place, its highest finish in team history.
She also played in the 2017, 2022, and 2025 Women's Lacrosse World Cup with Team Ireland and ranked sixth on the squad in scoring in the tournament in 2017. Ward helped the team place 13th overall, and she was named the Most Valuable Player in a game against the Netherlands.
Ward earned her Bachelor of Science degree in recreation management with a concentration in fitness from Lock Haven University in 2015. Ward attained her Master's degree in higher education while at GVSU in April 2018.
