Kelsey Richardson enters her third season as Head Coach of the Florida Tech women’s lacrosse program, a position she has held since June 2023.
In her second season at the helm in 2025, Richardson led the Panthers to multiple signature wins, including two victories over ranked Rollins teams. Florida Tech defeated the No. 17 Tars 14–12 on February 21 and followed with another win on March 29 over a No. 13 Rollins squad. Under her leadership, the Panthers climbed as high as No. 19 in the national rankings during the season. The team also celebrated its second Sunshine State Conference Freshman of the Year in program history, with Clare McGuire earning the honor. McGuire and Gillian Craig were both named All-SSC Second Team selections, while Sophia Scichilone earned All-SSC First Team recognition.
In her first season in 2024, Richardson guided the Panthers to a 7–10 overall record and a 1–6 mark in SSC play. She led Florida Tech to a ranked win over No. 18 Saint Anselm, a 17–15 victory on March 14, and helped the program reach as high as No. 19 in the IWLCA national rankings—its highest ranking since the 2021 preseason poll.
Richardson came to Florida Tech after serving on the Campbell University women’s lacrosse staff from 2021 to 2023, where she helped guide the program through two record-setting seasons. During her tenure, the Camels posted a 22–14 record, reached the Big South Championship game, and earned seven all-conference selections along with five major individual awards. The program also ranked among the top 10 nationally in several defensive statistical categories.
In 2023, Campbell set program records in wins (12), goals, assists, points, draw controls, ground balls, and caused turnovers, while leading the nation in ground balls per game and ranking among the national leaders in caused turnovers per game. The Camels also reached the Big South title game for just the second time in program history.
Prior to Campbell, Richardson served as an assistant coach at IMG Academy from 2019 to 2021, where she oversaw program operations, training design, and athlete development for the girls’ lacrosse program. She also implemented leadership and empowerment initiatives for student-athletes through programs such as the Leadership Council.
Richardson has extensive club coaching experience as well, including head coaching roles with Orange Crush Girls (2013–15), West Tampa Wolves Youth Lax Club (2016–19), and Lax Maniax 2023 Black (2018–19).
A former standout goalkeeper at Syracuse University, Richardson served as team captain and helped lead the Orange to four consecutive NCAA Final Four appearances from 2012 to 2015, including two national championship game appearances. She was part of an ACC Championship team in 2015 and a Big East Championship team in 2012, and finished her career ranked among Syracuse’s all-time saves leaders with 329 stops.
Richardson earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in athletic coaching from Syracuse in 2015.
