Angela McMahon

Entering her 10th year as head coach of the UMass women's lacrosse team, Angela McMahon has built the Minutewomen into one of the premier programs in the Atlantic 10 and in New England. During her tenure as head coach, McMahon has six-times been named the A-10 Coach of the Year after leading UMass to seven Atlantic 10 Tournament Titles, nine regular season conference crowns, and seven berths to the NCAA Tournament.

As one of top young coaches in the country, McMahon was named in March 2018 to the United States Under-19 National Team coaching staff under her former coach at Northwestern, Kelly Amonte Hiller. McMahon, along with UMass junior Ally Murphy, helped guide the U.S. team to a gold medal at the 2019 U19 World Championship in Peterborough, Ontario with a perfect 7-0 tournament record.

McMahon's career started quickly with the Minutewomen as she posted the best record for any coach in NCAA history during their first three years with a program at 54-8 overall.

With an average of 17-or-more wins each year at UMass, McMahon sports an impressive 157-27 (.853) record leading the Minutewomen. The 157 wins during her nine years at UMass makes the Minutewomen the second-most winningest NCAA program during that time span behind only Maryland. Her win total with the Minutewomen after the 2016 season also made her the winningest coach in program history surpassing the legendary Hall of Fame coach Pam Hixon who originally set the program wins record (91) from 1979-1987.

She stands 176-56 (.759) overall as a head coach which includes her time at UMass, UConn, and Bentley.

Under her tutelage, UMass players have received high honors from the Atlantic 10 and the IWLCA. McMahon and the women's lacrosse program have produced seven Offensive Players of the Year (Jackie Lyons; Katie Ferris - three times; Erika Eipp - twice; Holly Turner), four Defensive Players of the Year (Katie Florence, Rachel Vallarelli, Kate Farnham, Sarah Crowley), two Midfielders of the Year (Hannah Murphy - three times; Stephanie Croke – twice), a Rookie of the Year (Ferris) and a Student-Athlete of the Year (Riley Perry). All told, 64 players have earned All-Conference accolades, while 15 were presented All-Academic honors. Seven players have earned All-America status (Ferris, Lyons, Kelsey McGovern, Eipp, Murphy (2x), Crowley), while 38 have been tabbed to the IWLCA All-Northeast Regional teams. On four occasions, UMass produced a program-high five All-Region First Team picks following the 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015 seasons.

When McMahon took over as head coach, it was not an unfamiliar program to her. She spent two years as an associate head coach for Alexis Venechanos in Amherst before moving on to be the head coach at Connecticut during the 2009 and 2010 seasons. Much of the foundational work she put in during the 2007 and 2008 seasons at UMass with Venechanos helped pave the way for the Minutewomen's current success. The highlight of her time as associate head coach came in 2008 when UMass defeated top-ranked Richmond in overtime of the Atlantic 10 semifinals putting the Minutewomen in the league finals for the first time since 2003.

That helped set the stage for UMass to win Atlantic 10 Championship titles in 2009 and 2010. The 2009 season saw the Minutewomen earn their first berth to the NCAA Tournament in 25 years.

In 2013, McMahon guided the program its first win in the NCAA Tournament since 1984 as the Minutewomen advanced to the second round following a win over Connecticut. That came on the heels of setting new Atlantic 10 records for overall league championships (6) and consecutive championships (5).

UMass once again posted an NCAA Tournament win in 2015 after defeating Jacksonville in the first round. The Minutewomen spent much of the season ranked as the No. 1 defensive unit in the country en route to their seventh Atlantic 10 Championship, fifth undefeated run through the Atlantic 10 regular-season and the second-most wins (19) in program history.

The 2016 season was one for the books with the Minutewomen reaching the NCAA Elite Eight after posting a program record-tying 20 wins. UMass captured its eighth consecutive Atlantic 10 title, recorded its sixth consecutive undefeated record in A-10 regular-season play, and posted a pair of wins over Princeton and Cornell in the NCAA Tournament. Following the campaign, she earned Atlantic 10 and ECAC Coach of the Year honors.

In her eight years at the helm, UMass has been one of the top offensive and defensive units in the country. The Minutewomen have been ranked in the Top 8 nationally in points, the Top 5 in scoring offense, the Top 11 in scoring defense and the Top 4 in win percentage within that span. Her 2012 squad led the entire nation in points with 491, while the 2015 addition finished as the No. 2 scoring defense nationally. In 2016, UMass ranked third in scoring offense, ninth in scoring defense and fifth in scoring margin. Additionally, the program has been ranked among the Top 10 in RPI during the 2012, 2013, and 2014 seasons.

McMahon has turned UMass into a dominant force among Atlantic 10 institutions. The Minutewomen won an NCAA record 61 consecutive league games spanning eight years and now holds the league record for overall (10) and consecutive championship titles (9). UMass also holds a 22-game home win streak during her tenure which is the fourth-longest mark in NCAA history. The Minutewomen also hold the third-longest home win streak with 31 wins at McGuirk Stadium between 2011 and 2014. Since taking over as head coach, McMahon has guided UMass to an impressive 68 wins in 72 home contests since 2011 - a 94.4 percent home winning percentage.

In addition to her coaching responsibilities with the Minutewomen, McMahon established and coordinated a partnership between the A-10 Conference and the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation, a charitable organization created to raising public awareness regarding pediatric brain tumors. She also directed all UMass camps, clinics and local tournaments; served the first-ever Italian National Women's Lacrosse Coach for the 2017 FIL World Cup; and has been a member on the IWLCA North/South Committee and the NCAA Championship Committee as well during her time with UMass.

Though her time at UConn was short, the native of Weston, Mass., helped revitalize a Huskie program that had fallen on hard times. In the year prior to her arrival in Storrs, UConn posted a 1-15 record. She led the Huskies to a 3-13 mark in 2009. In 2010, UConn had its first winning season since 2007 with a 9-8 overall tally.

Prior to taking over at UConn and UMass, McMahon also served as the head coach at Division II Bentley in 2006. She guided the Falcons to a 7-8 overall record and a fourth-place finish in the Northeast 10 Conference. At Bentley, she also served as a member of the Division II North Regional Lacrosse Committee.

McMahon began her collegiate lacrosse career at UMass before transferring to Northwestern in 2001 to help rebuild a program that had been dormant for the previous 11 years. She spent three seasons with the Wildcats on attack where she finished her career with 44 goals and 23 assists.

She was a two-time tri-captain of the squad that advanced to the 2004 NCAA Quarterfinals for the first time since the program reclaimed varsity status in 2002 and helped build the foundation for each of Northwestern's four consecutive national titles. In her senior season, she earned Academic All-Big Ten honors, American Lacrosse Conference Academic Honors and the Northwestern Scholastic Achievement Award.

Since 2002, McMahon has also worked as a counselor and administrator at a variety of lacrosse camps. During that time, she has instructed campers of all skill levels and helped with the organizational camp operations. In addition, she was the founder and CEO of Destination: Hawaii, a summer training trip to Hawaii for girls lacrosse players.

McMahon graduated from Northwestern in 2004 with a degree in communication studies. She added a master’s degree in Sports Leadership from Northeastern University in 2012. She married Justin Serpone in the summer of 2009 and resides in Hadley, Mass. Serpone is the head coach of men's soccer at Amherst College. The two had their first daughter, Lily, in 2011; son, Tyson, in 2013; and welcomed their second daughter, Annabelle, in 2016.