ERAU Women: Villareal Kenahan Selected to Lead Women’s Lacrosse Program
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Caitlin Villareal Kenahan has been named the head coach of the Embry-Riddle women’s lacrosse program. The announcement was made by ERAU Director of Athletics John Phillips on Thursday.
“I am absolutely thrilled to formally announce Caitlin as our women’s lacrosse head coach,” Phillips stated. “From my very first interaction with her, I have been thoroughly impressed with her professionalism, her positive attitude and her ability to build genuine relationships with her student-athletes. She comes from a rich family history of lacrosse and will be a tremendous role model for our student-athletes. During the formal interview process, she did a great job sharing her vision for leading this program.”
As assistant coach and offensive coordinator for ERAU Women’s Lacrosse for the last two seasons, Villareal Kenahan was given an interim head coach designation in August before being cemented as the program’s third head coach on Thursday.
“I’m so excited for the opportunity to lead the Embry-Riddle women’s lacrosse program as the head coach,” Villareal Kenahan said. “I’d like to thank John Phillips for supporting me and my ability to guide this talented and hardworking group of young women as we continue to make our mark on Division II lacrosse. I’m looking forward to another successful year!”
Prior to coming to Embry-Riddle, Villareal Kenahan worked as a volunteer assistant coach for one season and as an assistant coach/scouting report coordinator for two seasons at Salve Regina University in Rhode Island. She also spent two years as the head varsity lacrosse coach and three years as the assistant varsity field hockey coach at Portsmouth Abbey School in Rhode Island.
Villareal Kenahan enjoyed successful careers at the collegiate and professional levels. She played collegiately at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire, where she was a four-time Northeast-10 Second Team All-Conference selection. She led the Hawks to their first NCAA Tournament bid in 2014 and played in the 2016 IWLCA North/South All-Star Game. She wrapped up her career ranked fourth in points (226), third in goals (184) and ninth in assists (42) in program history.
After graduation, Villareal Kenahan played in the United Women’s Lacrosse League, which was the first professional women’s lacrosse league in the United States. She played for the Boston Storm in 2017 and 2018 helping them to the championship game in both seasons.
Villareal Kenahan earned a degree in Business from Saint Anselm in 2016.