Circle of Support Assisting Sam Apuzzo During Whirlwind Summer as New USC Coach

LOS ANGELES — Sam Apuzzo hasn’t been the head coach at USC quite long enough to feel uneasy about the U.S. Women’s National Team’s staging camp behind held on the grounds of her new archrival.

After the first practice Sunday morning at UCLA, she admitted to learning more about it every single day. The Boston College alum and longtime Eagles assistant was named the new head coach of the Women of Troy on June 17.

“I’m getting to understand,” Apuzzo said. “I’m understanding the rivalry and that I probably should, like, feel very uncomfortable being on this campus, but not quite yet.”

It’s been a whirlwind summer for the first-time head coach. She’s balanced recruiting, training for the World Lacrosse Women’s Championship in Tokyo that begins next week and packing up the life she and her fiancé built in Boston.

They plan to move out to Cali after the world championship, but their life is already in boxes. She has not shortage of people on the West Coast ready to lend a helping hand with the unpacking.

As a post-practice autograph session concluded with a local youth program, Apuzzo (a co-captain of the team) was greeted by program leaders and parents eager to welcome her. They offered assistance in with just about anything she could possibly need as a new resident of California.

Apuzzo grew up in West Babylon, N.Y., before spending four years at Boston College as a program-changing player. She stayed in Chestnut Hill as a graduate assistant in 2020 before spending the next six years as a full-time assistant. She is every bit an East Coast girl.

“My whole family is on the East Coast, but my fiancé is from the West Coast,” she said. “It’s something we were always thinking about, always wondering whether or not we’d go back to the West Coast, and then the opportunity of being able to coach at a place like USC definitely outweighed any hesitation.”

USC and Lindsey Munday, the only other coach in program history, parted ways in May just before championship weekend. Munday coached there since 2013, leading the Women of Troy to six NCAA tournament appearances and two quarterfinal berths.

After transitioning into the Big Ten, the past two seasons have been a little rockier. They were 3-5 in the Big Ten in 2025 and stumbled to a 1-7 in-conference record last spring, missing the NCAA tournament both times.

Apuzzo will have four senior leaders to lean on, though, in attackers Reese Robinson and Emma Bunting, goalie Annie Shields and midfielder Anna Regan. Bunting led USC in goals last spring, and Regan led the team in draw controls.

She also has an All-Star staff on hand to help. She hired Syndey Scales, her U.S. teammate, Caroline Steele and Jenika Cuocco to be her assistants and was showered with compliments from practice viewers about who she was able to get on board.

“That’s been the best part, knowing you have an incredible staff that’s on the same mission that wants the same things,” Apuzzo said.

It’s also helped to have friends and mentors in her corner.

Acacia Walker-Weinstein has proven to be an invaluable resource, as have Kayla Treanor and Jen Kent. They all helped shape Apuzzo as a player, person and up-and-coming coach. They’ve been key in helping her adjustment from assistant to head coach as she drinks from the proverbial firehose.

“Acacia has always been a person that I can go to for everything,” Apuzzo said. “She’s been on my speed dial of asking a thousand different things.”

With such a strong circle of support, Apuzzo should hit the ground running when her full focus shifts to USC — and she hopes to have a gold medal around her neck when that time comes.

“Everyone is so welcoming,” Apuzzo said. “They want to bring you in, and they’re thirsty for lacrosse or thirsty for coaching. They just want to grow the community of lacrosse out here.”