Bridget Looney, a 2009 graduate of Syracuse, joined the Harvardcoaching staff in August 2010. She was a two-time captain forOrangewomen and came to Cambridge after serving as an assistantcoach at St. Mary’s.
Over her first three years with Looney on staff, Harvard boastedconsecutive appearances in the Ivy League Tournament in 2011-12,including a trip to the championship game in 2011, four wins overtop-20 teams, 12 All-Ivy League selections, an overall record of22-24 and a 12-9 mark in the Ancient Eight.
In 2013, the squad earned four all-Ivy League honors, includinga first-team nod to Micaela Cyr '13. Kyleigh Keating ranked 28th inthe country with 3.79 draw controls per game, as the Crimson was19th in the nation as a team in that statistical category(13.57).
In stark contrast to the previous season, Harvard's strength in2012 laid in its defense. The Crimson finished the year rankedfourth in the NCAA in scoring defense (7.81) while freshmangoalkeeper Kelly Weis '15 posted the third-best goals againstaverage (7.63) and 14th-best save percentage (.474) in the country.Harvard held 12 of its 16 opponents to under 10 goals, while fiveopponents scored five or fewer goals. As a result, seven Crimsonwere named to the All-Ivy League teams, including unanimous firstteam selection Ellen Gleason '12, representing the most All-Ivypicks for the team since 1990.
Harvard posted its best overall (10-6) and conference (4-2)records since 1994 in 2011. The Crimson advanced to the Ivy LeagueChampionship game after knocking off No. 10 Dartmouth in thesemifinal game. Harvard handed Princeton a lost on its home turffor the first time since 1991. The win over the Tigers also markedthe first back-to-back wins over Princeton since 1991-92. Harvardalso picked up its first win over the Big Green since 1994. TheCrimson made five second-half comeback wins and fell in threeothers by a single goal. Five Crimson players earned a spot on theAll-Ivy League teams and three were named All-Northeast region.
Looney founded Looneypalooza Lacrosse Camp, a camp for girlsages 8-17. In 2006, she worked with Warriors Lacrosse in Australiaas a coach, instructing, motivating and organizing players ages8-35.
Looney helped Syracuse to two Big East Championships. She brokethe school record for caused turnovers in a game and career causedturnovers and earned second-team All-Big East honors as a senior.She was a peer leader and member of the Student Athlete AdvisoryCommittee.
