Women's Lacrosse Welcomes New Assistant Coaches
9/22/2025 10:35:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
LEWISBURG, Pa. — Women's lacrosse head coach Jackie Dando announces her new coaching staff ahead of the 2026 season. The Bison welcome two new assistant coaches in Emily Mitarotonda and Emma Telatovich. The two coaches each bring collegiate playing experience and club coaching experience to Bucknell and are ready to foster a winning mentality in the Bison.
"We took our time with this search and really made sure we were finding the right candidate to fit our needs as a program," said head coach Jackie Dando. "It was important to us to find coaches that would further elevate the competitiveness and team culture of our group. I'm really excited to see how our two new additions in Emily and Emma balance each other and how they can each work with their specific positions for greater success this year."
Coach Mitarotonda will be focused on the offensive side of the ball and the draw control for Bucknell. She brings four years of playing experience at East Stroudsburg University and a year of club and youth coaching experience to the Bison.
"Emily has a great competitive spirit and tremendous playing background at East Stroudsburg University," said Dando. "Her career speaks for itself and I'm excited to see how she translates that to our players on the field. Not only did she have individual success, but also team success. Her winning spirit will translate to pushing our players and creating a winning team mentality. Overall, it's the toughness and competitiveness that she brings that is what I'm excited for."
Mitarotonda most recently served as the head coach of Garden State 2028 and was a part of the coaching staff's at True Club Lacrosse, Garden State Elite and True National 2031. She designed and executed personalized coaching programs that enhanced performance and skill growth for both individuals and teams and led team-building activities, promoting collaboration, communication and problem-solving among participants. Mitarotondo also evaluated progress regularly, adjusting training plans to ensure continual improvement in skills and performance.
The midfielder played four years of collegiate lacrosse at East Stroudsburg University. She was a four-time All-American, All-Region First Team and All-PSAC First Team player. She was a two-time PSCAC Player of the Year and a three-time NCAA All-Tournament Team athlete. Mitarotonda finished her career as the second all-time leading scorer in DII lacrosse. She set ESU's all-time career goals record, career points record and was named a USA Lacrosse All-America First-Team player. In four seasons as a Warrior, Mitarotonda started all 79 games and recorded 314 goals and 79 assists for a total 393 points. She also broke PSAC records in career goals and single season goals. While at ESU, they were the 2022 PSAC Champions, two-time NCAA DII Atlantic Region Champions (2022,2024) and made two NCAA Final Four appearances.
While at East Stroudsburg, Mitarotonda also served as an Athletics Operations Intern for one season and a Student Athletics Worker for two years for ESU, where she learned about more of the operations and side of being involved in college athletics.
Mitarotonda graduated with her Bachelor's degree Sports Management with a minor in coaching from East Stroudsburg University.
Coach Telatovich will hone in on the defensive side of the ball for the Bison. She brings seven years of club coaching experience and A10 playing experience to the Bucknell coaching staff.
"Emma brings great leadership and six years of college lacrosse to our team," said head coach Jackie Dando. "I know she will make a great impact on the defensive side with her consistency, work ethic and proactiveness in preparing the team. She has a lot of new ideas and is really prepared to take her first step in a coaching career with this position. Emma also understands the balance between athletics and academics and will be able to provide our student-athletes with a lot of support both on and off the field."
Telatovich served as a head coach for Ultimate Lacrosse Club's 2033/34 team in Lehigh Valley and helped develop players through structured practices and tournaments. She focused on individual growth and team success. While serving as the head coach, Telatovich worked directly with goalies on skill development, positioning and confidence. She evaluated players at Ultimate and ELITE tryouts for team placement and development opportunities and also assisted with the College Coaches Clinic, supporting drills and facilitating coach engagement.
Prior to becoming the head coach at Ultimate, Telatovich served as a coach at Triple Threat Elite Lacrosse Club in Lehigh Valley for four years. As a coach, she assisted in all aspects of practices, camps and clinics for youth players and developed both position specific and full-field drills. Telatovich created game strategy for the team as well.
Telatovich most recently played her final year of eligibility at George Mason University for the 2024-2025 season. While at George Mason, she started all 17 games on defense, recorded 18 ground balls and caused 22 turnovers. Telatovich was a 2025 IWLCA Coaching Symposium participant and a 2024-25 IWLCA Division I Academic Honor Roll athlete.
Prior to transferring to George Mason, Telatovich played the other years of her eligibility at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and served as a captain for two years. The defender started all 60 games over her four seasons, recorded 100 ground balls and caused 54 turnovers. She also organized the 2024 Prospect Day to evaluate recruits and showcase the university and lacrosse program, assisted with clinics, camps and assisted with recruiting tours. Telatovich guided the defensive group film breakdowns and managed captain-run practice and contributed to the team reaching its highest-ever ranking (8th nationally in IWLCA polls). Telatovich was named 2023 DII Preseason All-American Honorable Mention, 2022 Second Team All-Sunshine State Conference and was on the Sunshine State Conference Commissioners Honor Roll from 2020-24.
Telatovich graduated with her Bachelor of Science in Homeland Security from Embry Riddle and her Graduate Certificate in Sport Coaching.
"I am excited for Coach Emma to work with our upperclassmen defenders and our zone that was very successful last year and I am also excited to see Coach Emily help revamp the offense and draw," said Dando.