SUNY - Cortland Women's Lacrosse

Kelsey Van Alstyne enters her fifth season as Cortland's women's lacrosse head coach in 2026. She has a combined record of 57-22 (.722) over four seasons with two league titles and three NCAA Division III tournament appearances. In her inaugural season with the Red Dragons in 2022, Van Alstyne and her assistants were named the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Coaching Staff of the Year after leading the program to a 17-5 record and both the SUNYAC regular-season and tournament titles. Cortland won two NCAA Division III playoff games and tied for ninth place nationally. The Red Dragons featured a first team All-American along with four all-region and eight All-SUNYAC selections. In 2023, Van Alystyne's squad posted a 14-5 record. The Red Dragons won the SUNYAC regular-season title, finished second in the SUNYAC tournament and earned an NCAA tournament at-large berth and a bye into the second round. The team featured four all-region and six All-SUNYAC selections, including the league's Rookie of the Year. In 2024, Cortland finished 15-5 and won both the SUNYAC tournament and regular-season titles, along with an NCAA first-round game to tie for 17th nationally. Three Red Dragons earned All-America honors, four were named to the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) all-region team and eight were chosen to the All-SUNYAC team, including the league's Attack Player of the Year and Goalie of the Year. Cortland finished second in the SUNYAC regular season with an 8-1 record in league play in 2025 and reached the championship game of the SUNYAC Tournament for the fifth consecutive season, ending the year with an 11-7 record. Two Red Dragons garned IWLCA all-region honors and nine were selected to the All-SUNYAC team, including the SUNYAC Defensive Player of the Year in Lexi Caron. Van Alstyne previously served as head coach at Division II Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania for four seasons from 2018-21. The winningest coach in program history, she guided The Rock to a combined 27-24 record, including a program-best 13-5 mark and a berth into the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) tournament in 2018 for the school’s second playoff showing in nearly 30 years.    Van Alstyne coached nine All-PSAC players, including the 2018 conference Player of the Year, along with six all-region and one All-America honoree. Her 2021 squad boasted a cumulative 3.53 grade point average. Under her guidance, Slippery Rock finished 2018 leading the nation in ground balls per game (29.06) while also ranking third in caused turnovers per game (14.78), third in save percentage (.535), 11th in goals allowed per game (8.78) and 22nd in win percentage (.722).   Prior to her tenure at Slippery Rock, Van Alstyne was the head coach at Morrisville State three years from 2015-17. She led the Mustangs to North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) titles and NCAA playoff appearances in 2015 and 2017, while never posted a losing record. She was selected as the 2017 NEAC Co-Coach of the Year and she coached 20 All-NEAC selections, including the 2015 Player and Rookie of the Year and the 2016 and 2017 Defensive Player of the Year.    A native of Burnt Hills, N.Y., Van Alstyne also served as interim head coach at Buffalo State in 2014 after being an assistant coach the previous year. She led the Bengals to an 8-7 record, including a win over 16th-ranked Brockport as part of a schedule that featured six national top-20 teams. Van Alstyne also served as an assistant coach for one season at Ithaca College and one year as a strength and conditioning intern at Cornell University. During her season at Ithaca, the Bombers finished 7-0 in league play and the coaching staff was named the Empire 8 Women’s Lacrosse Staff of the Year. Van Alstyne, whose maiden name is Kelsey Schwan, graduated from Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania in 2011 with a degree in exercise science and earned a master’s degree in sport management from Cortland in 2014. Her collegiate athletic career began at West Chester University, where she played volleyball for one season and earned PSAC Scholar-Athlete honors. She transferred to Bloomsburg following her freshman year and played three years of lacrosse for the Huskies, serving two seasons as captain and earning Scholar-Athlete honors in each of those years. In addition to her collegiate coaching experience, Van Alstyne also has coached USA teams in International competition in Australia, Germany and the U.K. and has worked at various camps, including the Nike Cup.    Van Alstyne and her husband, Chris, have a daughter, Adelynn, and a son, Odin. Chris, who is currently an assistant strength and conditioning coach at Cornell University, is a 2013 Cortland graduate and was a member of the Red Dragon football team during the 2011 and 2012 seasons. In addition, Van Alstyne's uncle, Pete Schwan, was a wide receiver for the Red Dragons from 1978-81 and her brother, Ian, was a tight end on the team in 2010. (updated 6/18/2025)  

Adams joined the Cortland coaching staff in 2026 after a standout career as a two-sport athlete in lacrosse and field hockey for the Red Dragons from 2021-25. A two-time All-SUNYAC selection on the lacrosse field as a midfielder, Adams played in 76 games with 68 starts over four seasons, scoring 16 goals and seven assists for 23 points. She also scooped up 94 ground balls, caused 44 turnovers, and collected 67 draw controls. She was also named to the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) Academic Honor Roll in both her junior and senior seasons.  Adams played in 74 games with 60 starts in the midfield over four seasons on Cortland's field hockey team, recording 15 points on three goals and nine assists. She earned All-SUNYAC honors as a senior in 2024, scoring three goals and adding four assists.  A native of Burnt Hills, NY, Adams graduated from Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake High School in 2021. She was a five-year starter in lacrosse and a four-year starter in field hockey, earning all-section honors in both sports. Adams also started for two years on the basketball team, receiving honorable mention all-section recognition.    

Lickert-Orr enters her third season as Cortland's women's lacrosse head coach in 2017. She's been nearly perfect in her first two seasons at the Red Dragon helm with a combined record of 43-2 (.956). Lickert-Orr led Cortland to a 22-1 record and the program's first-ever NCAA Division III title in 2015, followed by a 21-1 mark and a national semifinal showing in 2016. Lickert-Orr was named the 2015 Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) National Coach of the Year and Empire Region Coach of the Year after Cortland won five NCAA playoff games, capped by a 17-6 victory over Trinity University (Conn.) in the national title contest. She also led the Red Dragons to the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) crown and was voted as the league's Coach of the Year as well as the ECAC Div. III Mid-Atlantic Coach of the Year. In six total seasons as a collegiate head coach, Lickert-Orr has a career record of 95-13 (.880). Prior to coming to Cortland, Lickert-Orr served as womens lacrosse head coach from 2011-14 at Keuka College, where she posted a 52-11 overall record, including a 32-1 mark in the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC).   Lickert-Orr earned NEAC Coach of the Year honors in both 2013 and 2014 after guiding Keuka to back-to-back league titles and NCAA Div. III tournament appearances. Keuka won a school-record 16 games in 2014 and was the NCAA Div. III leader in scoring defense at 5.47 goals per game allowed. She also was NEAC Coach of the Year in 2011 as the Storm won the NEAC title, although the league did not have an NCAA automatic berth that season.   In the summer of 2012, Lickert-Orr led a U.S. travel squad that finished in third place at the annual European Championships. Lickert-Orr served as an assistant coach at Nazareth College in 2011, and she has coached the Finger Lakes Flamingos club lacrosse team since 2012.   Lickert-Orr earned a bachelors degree in health and wellness from Limestone College (S.C.) in 2009 and was the schools all-time scoring leader with 259 points (121 goals, 138 assists) at the time of her graduation (she currently ranks second). A three-time All-America attacker, she helped the Saints win three Conference Carolinas titles and earn three trips to the NCAA Div. II Final Four.   A native of Penn Yan, N.Y., Lickert-Orr graduated from Penn Yan Academy in 2005 and helped the Mustangs win the 2004 New York State Class B girls lacrosse championship. She currently resides in Penn Yan with her husband, Jarrod.