Sandy Lagana Bly

A successful player and coach at every level, Lagana Bly returned home to take the reins of the Green Terror women’s soccer program in 2012.

She immediately made an impact on the program, leading the team to a 4-0 start for the first time since 2000. Her 2012 squad finished with seven wins – the most since 2006.

In her first 10 years on the Hill, she has posted a record of 124-47-14, including eight straight 10-win campaigns and eight straight postseason appearances to become the program’s all-time winningest coach.

Last fall, she guided the Green Terror to its first-ever Centennial Conference (CC) women’s soccer title in a season in which the defense posted 17 shutouts in 21 games and posted the No. 2 defense in Division III with a 0.28 goals-against average. She also mentored Hannah Schepers to conference Player of the Year honors.

In 2016, she guided the squad to the best record in program history with an 18-3-1 mark. The squad also earned the CC tournament top seed with the regular-season crown and punched its second straight trip to the NCAA tournament, where the squad reached the third round. The Green Terror finished the season ranked No. 15 in the NSCAA national poll and third in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Four times she has been named the CC Coach of the Year (2013, 2015, 2016, 2022) and was the NSCAA Mid-Atlantic Region Coach of the Year in 2013 for her accomplishments in building the program from unranked to national and regional rankings.

She has led the program to new heights in each of her seasons at the helm. In 2013, she guided the squad to its first CC tournament appearance. Her squad also earned an ECAC South tournament bid, finishing the season 13-6-1 for the program’s first winning season since 2004. In 2014, Lagana led the Green Terror to the ECAC South tournament final. In 2015, it was the CC semifinals and first NCAA tournament berth.

For an encore after the record-setting year of 2016, her squad once again spent time in the national poll, rising as high as 16th, and reached the CC semifinals and NCAA tournament for the third straight year.

In 2018, she guided the team to an ECAC title, outscoring the four opponents by a 15-3 margin. In 2019, her squad made it back-to-back ECAC crowns by a 13-0 margin in four games.

She has coached the program’s first All-Americans, 15 all-region selections and 36 all-conference honorees in the past 10 years.

Prior to her arrival on the Hill, Lagana served as the head women’s soccer at Ferrum from 2007-11. She spent five seasons building the Panthers into a perennial playoff contender in the USA South Athletic Conference. In her tenure, Lagana produced 10 all-conference players, two all-state players and the program's second ever all-region selection. In 2010, she guided Ferrum to an 11-6-1 record, which was the program's best finish since 1998. The Panthers' third-place finish in the USA South standings was the highest ever, earning the team its first home playoff game. In 2011, she made it back-to-back winning season – the first time that occurred since 1997-98. Her five conference wins in each of the last two seasons were the most in program history. A six-game winning in 2010 was tied for the longest winning streak in program history.

A Sykesville, Md., native, Lagana graduated as Class Valedictorian from South Carroll High School in 2000. Following graduation, she played soccer and lacrosse at Bridgewater.

An All-ODAC selection after leading the Eagles with 11 goals and 22 points as a senior, she was also named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District III second team. An all-conference selection in both soccer and lacrosse, she cracked the top 10 in nearly every offensive category, including her 62 career points and 28 career goals.

She holds her NSCAA Premier Diploma and is part of the NSCAA State coaching staff.

Lagana graduated from Bridgewater in 2004 with a bachelor of arts in communication studies. She earned her masters of science in kinesiology and recreation studies with concentrations in athletic administration and coaching from James Madison in Dec. 2006.