Penn State coach Missy Doherty watches from the sideline during a 2023 game at Johns Hopkins

Missy Doherty Steps Down as Penn State Women's Lacrosse Head Coach

May 1, 2025

Matt DaSilva

John Strohsacker

Missy Doherty will not return to Penn State as its women’s lacrosse head coach next season, the university announced Thursday. Steph Lazo has taken over as interim head coach.

Doherty’s 155-107 record in 15 seasons with the Nittany Lions includes consecutive NCAA semifinal appearances in 2016 and 2017. They’ve made three more tournament appearances since then but have not advanced beyond the first round. Penn State finished 7-9 this year, falling to Johns Hopkins in the Big Ten quarterfinals.

The school said Doherty is stepping down to pursue other professional opportunities.

“I am ready for a new challenge,” Doherty said, “and look forward to the future.”

The 2015 Big Ten Coach of the Year, Doherty spent seven seasons as the head coach at Towson prior to her arrival in Happy Valley in 2010-11. Before that, she was an assistant at Princeton.

Written By

Matt DaSilva

Matt DaSilva is the editor in chief of USA Lacrosse Magazine. He played LSM at Sachem (N.Y.) and for the club team at Delaware. Somewhere on the dark web resides a GIF of him getting beat for the game-winning goal in the 2002 NCLL final.