Bucknell University Athletics
Goldsborough Makes Long-Awaited Return to Bucknell to Lead Women's Lacrosse Program Once Again
1/24/2012 7:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
Jan. 24, 2012
By Jon Terry, Bucknell Athletic Communications
Seven years ago Randall Goldsborough had a feeling that one day she might find herself back at Bucknell. One of the most successful figures in American women's lacrosse, Goldsborough came to Lewisburg in 2003 for her first Division I head coaching job. But after two strong seasons, she resigned to focus on one more run with the U.S. National Team.
A part of three national championship teams as a student-athlete and coach at Maryland and a 12-year member of Team USA, where she was part of a World Cup-winning squad in 2001, Goldsborough served as head coach at two top prep schools in the Washington, D.C., area and as an assistant coach at Stanford after departing Bucknell. But when the head coaching position at Bucknell opened up last spring, it seemed like an obvious fit from both sides.
"Bucknell has always had a special place in my heart ever since I left, and I have been waiting for the right chance to get back," Goldsborough said after accepting the position in June. "I am absolutely thrilled to be back. The timing worked out perfectly for me to come back into a role that I once cherished. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but this is a program that can be successful in the very near future."
In her first stint at Bucknell, Goldsborough coached back-to-back Patriot League Offensive Players of the Year in Suzanne Raffaele and Meredith Wright, as well as a PL Defensive Player of the Year in goalie Nicole Kallis. The Bison finished 8-8 in 2003 and 8-7 in 2004, and in 2003 they defeated Colgate in the Patriot League Tournament semifinals to reach the championship game for the first time in program history. Bucknell has finished .500 or better six times since the program's inception in 1978, and Goldsborough presided over two of those teams.
Goldsborough's Bison squads averaged better than 10 goals per game, finished 7-5 against Patriot League competition and 8-6 at home. Both of her teams featured five 20-goal scorers, and seven players earned All-Patriot League honors, including the three major award winners.
As she returns to Bucknell, Goldsborough will be taking over one of the youngest teams in the country. The 2012 Bison have no seniors, two juniors, 10 sophomores and 11 freshmen. The program has struggled in the win-loss column recently, but with such a young team there is very little institutional knowledge of past seasons, and Goldsborough says that every bit of the team's focus is directed on the future.
"The bottom line is that we want our student-athletes to have a great experience at Bucknell," says Goldsborough. "We want them to truly be a family, to care about their teammates, and also to play great lacrosse. That emphasis on family has happened already through fall ball and the offseason, and now we are able to focus on X's and O's. It is going to take a lot of hard work, but everyone really wants to do it."
The team's two juniors - Madison Hurwitz and Adrienne Wendling - along with sophomore Sophie Kleinert, have been elected captains for 2012. Hurwitz scored a career-high 29 goals last season, tying her with then-freshman Ali Carey for the team lead. Last year's top point-producer, midfielder Katelyn Miller (24 goals, 13 assists, 37 points), is also back as a sophomore this year. Wendling has played both defense and midfield, and she was coached by Goldsborough as a freshman at The Bullis School, so she is familiar with her coaching style and system.
The Bison lost three starters to graduation following last season, including two former All-Patriot Leaguers in do-everything middie Julia Braun and four-year starting goalie and Academic All-American Alyssa DeLorenz, along with four-year starting defender Ashley St. John. Fortunately, Goldsborough inherited a solid first-year class, featuring several players who will be counted upon for key minutes right away.
Goldsborough prides herself on skill development, particularly with younger players, since she was a late comer to the game of lacrosse herself. Goldsborough was a basketball and soccer star growing up in Annapolis, Md., and she was offered a scholarship to play hoops at the University of Miami. Lacrosse had been an afterthought for her, a way to pass the time in the spring, but in October of her senior year in high school she was asked to fill in at a 3-on-3 lax tournament.
The event was held at the University of Maryland, and her team won every game to capture the tournament. That day, legendary Maryland coach Cindy Timchal - who is now the head coach at Navy - asked Goldsborough to come for an official visit. What's more, the Terrapins' soccer coach jumped on board as well, offering her a spot as a recruited walk-on if she came to play lacrosse. After an agonizing decision, Goldsborough turned down the Miami basketball scholarship and went to Maryland as a two-sport athlete.
It proved to be a terrific decision. Goldsborough was a four-year starting midfielder for the powerful Terps women's lacrosse team. She played on back-to-back national championship teams in 1995 and 1996, and she stayed on as a student assistant coach in 1997 and collected a third straight national title.
Her collegiate success led to a tryout with the U.S. National Team. Initially she made the developmental squad, and after three years she made the elite team. In 2001, she was on the squad that defeated Australia in the final to capture the gold medal at the World Cup.
After leaving Maryland, Goldsborough spent a year as an assistant at North Carolina, then she returned home to coach lacrosse, basketball and soccer at St. Mary's High School, her alma mater. In 2000 she earned her first collegiate head coaching job at Franklin & Marshall, and from there she moved on to Bucknell, where she had immediate success with a program that was coming off four straight sub-.500 seasons.
Even though she only stayed for two years, Bucknell left a lasting impression.
"The Bucknell athletics department is such a well-run organization, and they are recruiting the right kinds of student-athletes here," Goldsborough says. "I knew when I left that they were trying to upgrade the facilities, and now we have one of the best in the country. We came close to winning a championship here, and I felt like I had some unfinished business, so I jumped at the chance to come back. I look at what Frank Fedorjaka and the men's lacrosse program has been able to accomplish here, and I don't see any reason why we can't do the same in the women's program."
Bucknell will face a daunting schedule in 2012, starting with a road game at Duke on Feb. 4, followed by a home game against Penn State on Feb. 15 at Graham Field.
"The girls are so excited to open the season with Duke," says Goldsborough. "They are going to be in a position to challenge themselves right away, and hopefully we can draw on that experience for the rest of the year. Duke is one of those programs that we would like to emulate. I can't predict how many games we will win this year, but I know that the program is going to be in a good place. We are fit, excited and dedicated to being as good as we can possibly be. The players in the program truly want to be good. They have so many great things going for them as student-athletes at Bucknell, but they want success in lacrosse to help define who they are."
