Regy Thorpe's Homecoming All About Winning

Regy Thorpe spent 10 years as Gary Gait’s assistant coach for the Syracuse women’s lacrosse team. When he left to join Florida ahead of the 2022 season, Thorpe and his wife, Amy, decided not to sell their house.

“We’d come back in the summertime from Florida and for the holidays,” Thorpe said.

Logistically, it made sense. Thorpe grew up 20 minutes from the JMA Wireless Dome in Elbridge, N.Y., and spent two years playing for Syracuse, captaining the 1992 NCAA championship team. Florida winters? Pretty hot. Syracuse during the winter holidays? Pretty cold, but warmer because of the family and friends the Thorpes got to see.

Now, keeping the family’s Salt City-area abode is convenient for another reason: Thorpe came home this summer — and he isn’t leaving. He accepted the Syracuse women’s head coach job on June 6, replacing Kayla Treanor, who departed for the same position at Penn State in May.

For the Syracuse alum, area resident, and longtime women’s assistant coach, “dream job” doesn’t quite cut it, but it will have to do.

“As a kid, I always dreamed of going to school and playing for my local university,” Thorpe said. “And Syracuse had such a rich history of lacrosse on the men’s side. Then, I saw the women’s side grow as well. It’s always been my dream to play at Syracuse and then continue the culture of excellence that they built.”

It’s a culture the community considers part of its fabric in ways you won’t find at most other places. There is no professional sports team in Syracuse, and the school doesn’t sponsor varsity baseball.

“You have to understand the expectations of not only the university and the team but of the fans in the community,” Thorpe said. “It’s a lacrosse town. It’s a lacrosse school. Lacrosse is a big part of this place.”

Thorpe gets it because he lived it. He also helped continue it as a men’s player and build it as a women’s assistant coach. Thorpe joined Gait’s staff in 2012 and helped the Orange reach the final four six times. It marked Thorpe’s first time coaching the women’s game.

He had previously spent 15 years playing for the National Lacrosse League’s Rochester Knighthawks and was an assistant coach for the Iroquois men’s national team at the 1998 Outdoor World Championship.

“Before I took the job, I told Gary, ‘I don’t know a ton about women’s lacrosse,’ and he simplified it,” Thorpe said. “He said, ‘Lacrosse is lacrosse,’ and he’s coached and played on the men’s side, women’s side, box, field. He’s done everything.”

Thorpe has since become the same way. He coached the Long Island Sound of the United Women’s Lacrosse League to an undefeated season and title in 2017. He also served as the head coach for the USA Lacrosse Men’s Box National Teams in 2019 and 2024. As an assistant and associate head coach at Florida, he led the Gators to back-to-back 20-win seasons and trips to the final four. He, too, now coaches a “lacrosse is lacrosse” mindset, combined with a few more “assists” from his legendary former boss and once-again colleague Gait.

“It’s simplifying the game, but also adding in creativity and letting players develop,” Thorpe said. “One of the biggest things I took from Gary is that it doesn’t matter your size, how fast you are or your strength. Your skills, player development and lacrosse IQ are so important. And also being able to develop players off the field because it starts with that — not only good players but good families who are open to doing what it takes.”

Simplifying the game is one of Thorpe's key strategies. But first, he had to ease the program’s nerves.

“My biggest thing was to calm the program,” Thorpe said. “There’s always some uneasiness with any coaching change. I never went through one as a player, but I know it can be tough, so I started by reaching out to share my vision for the program, where I want it to go. I take to heart that these kids and their families have stuck with me through the changes. We have a good core group here at Syracuse.”

That core group includes returning leader Caroline Trinkaus (32G, 11A), who fits Thorpe’s mold as a high-IQ player with an even higher ceiling, and Emma Muchnick (34G, 7A, 27GB) figures to once again factor in all over the field. Her experience playing in the U.S. system, including as part of the 2024 U20 Women’s National Team that won gold in Hong Kong, China, also stands out to Thorpe.

“Emma’s our DNA person — hard-working, willing to learn,” Thorpe said.

Thorpe brought Nicole Levy, a Syracuse alum, with him from Florida to spearhead the offense. He retained Caitlin Defliese Watkins, who joined as defensive coordinator in 2016 under Gait and remained in that role under Treanor. Maggie Koch will also return to mentor the goalie corps. Syracuse primarily employed a zone defense since 2016, but Thorpe expects a versatile unit ready to throw anything at an opponent.

“We’ll play man, some different types of zone,” Thorpe said. “We’ll have a variety of defenses, and it’ll probably change based on the personnel and type of team we’re playing.”

But right now, the focus is on what’s within.

“The team culture is to be determined,” Thorpe said. “I can sit here and talk to reporters and go on talk shows and say, ‘We’re going to have a great culture,’ but I think at the end of the day, it's about getting buy-in from the players and families. It’s been positive so far.”

Next steps include the team meeting at the end of August, and then the first practices. Those are the ones Thorpe is most focused on. But he’s not going to hide from the expectations — the ones he’s known since birth.

“I mean, it’s Syracuse lacrosse,” Thorpe said. “The expectations are always playing Memorial Day. But we know it’s a lot of work to get there, and there are many good teams out there currently. But I wouldn’t want to be a Syracuse lacrosse coach if I didn’t say we planned on playing on Memorial Day weekend.”