Women's Lacrosse | 8/18/2023 12:00:00 PM

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C.  Methodist University Vice President and Director of Athletics Dave Eavenson has announced the hiring of Kirsten McKay as the next head coach of the Methodist women's lacrosse team.

"We are pleased to announce Kirsten McKay as our new head women's lacrosse coach," said Eavenson. "Kirsten brings a very successful background as a head coach to our program. We are very excited about her enthusiasm for Methodist and the future of our women's lacrosse program. Her wealth of experience coupled with her dynamic personality will be a great fit to our team, department, and university. We look forward to a bright future ahead for our women's lacrosse program under her leadership."
 
McKay takes over the Monarch program following a four-year stint as the head coach of the Piedmont University women's lacrosse team. During that time, she oversaw all aspects of the Lions' program, including but not limited to monitoring the academic success of student-athletes, coordinating game & practice schedules, creating scouting reports, and building the team's culture.
 
"I would like to thank Dave Eavenson and Deputy Director of Athletics DeeDee Jarman for this awesome opportunity to be the next women's lacrosse head coach at Methodist University," said McKay. "I'm thrilled to be able to build off of the success that former coach Rebecca Hart brought to the program during her time here. I can't wait to get started working with the team and compete for championships. Go Monarchs!"
 
On the field, her team compiled a 33-25 record, had 12 players named to the USA South Athletic Conference All-Conference teams, and won the 2021 USA South West Division Regular Season Championship. Her teams have also qualified for the USA South Women's Lacrosse Tournament each of the past three seasons. Off the field, the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) has honored her teams with the IWLCA Team Academic Award in 2021, 2022, & 2023. Additionally, in that time frame, nine of her student-athletes have be named to the IWLCA Academic Honor Roll.
 
Before arriving in Demorest, she spent a year (2019) as an assistant coach at Young Harris College, a Division II institution. While there, she helped the Mountain Lions to an 11-7 record and a runner-up finish in the Gulf South Conference Tournament.
 
Prior to Young Harris, McKay spent three seasons at fellow D-II school Wingate University where she served as the assistant coach for two seasons, before being named interim head coach for the 2017-18 year. During her time with the Bulldogs, McKay helped coach 23 All-Conference players and had two players named to the IWLCA's Zag Sport Academic Honor Roll. As a team, Wingate was named to the Academic Honor Squad twice.
 
In 2017, the Bulldogs posted, at the time, a school-record for victories (13) and advanced to the South Atlantic Conference women's lacrosse tournament championship game for the first time in the program's history. Wingate won 31 matches during McKay's (Smith) three seasons with the program.
 
McKay got into coaching following a four-year career at Lenoir-Rhyne University from 2012-15. She completed her Bears' career with 110 points (85 goals and 25 assists), 90 ground balls and 28 caused turnovers. The midfielder served as a team captain during her senior season.
 
McKay earned a Bachelor of Science in exercise science with a minor in sport studies from Lenoir-Rhyne in 2015, and she received a Master of Arts degree in Sport Management from Wingate in 2017.