Dana Cahill is entering her third season on the sidelines at Mount St. Mary's in 2015 as an assistant coach for the women’s lacrosse program.
Working closely with the goalkeepers, Cahill has been instrumental in the development of Sarah Jane Leder and Steph Rurkowski during her first two seasons. Under Cahill’s guidance, Leder earned All-NEC Tournament Team honors in 2013, and Rurkowski ranked 16th in the nation in saves per game (8.56) in 2014.
Cahill came to the Mount after a four-year playing career at Penn State that included two years as the starting goalkeeper for the Nittany Lions in 2011 and 2012. She registered 361 saves and a 9.80 goals against average in 2381.40 minutes in her career. In her two seasons as a starter, Cahill posted a 22-15 record and helped the team to the NCAA Quarterfinals in 2012. She was one of two goalkeepers selected as a Tewaaraton Award nominee in her senior year.
Along with being nominated for the national award as a senior, Cahill ranked second in the nation in saves (180), ninth in saves per game (9.47) and 10th in save percentage (.486). A team captain in 2012, she started all 19 games for Penn State on her way to her second American Lacrosse Conference (ALC) Goalkeeper of the Year award and All-ALC first-team selection. She was also named to the 2012 IWLCA/Under Armour North-South All-Star Game. In addition, Cahill was named to the IWLCA All-America second team while also earning spots on the womenslax.com All-America team and was honored by SynapseSports.com as an All-America third-team honoree. She was selected to the IWLCA All-West/Midwest Region first team and was named the ALC Defensive Player of the Week once.
Cahill collected 150 saves and a 9.95 goals against average in 1037:40 minutes as a junior to be tabbed as the ALC Goalkeeper of the Year along with a spot on the All-ALC first team. She also earned IWLCA All-West/Midwest Region first team honors and was the womenslacrosse.com National Defensive Player of the Week for Mar. 21, 2011. Cahill paced the ALC in saves percentage (.466) and ranked second in ground balls (47). Cahill, who garnered ALC Defensive Player of the Week recognition twice as a junior, was named to the ALC All-Tournament team in 2011.
Along with her exploits on the field, Cahill also excelled in the classroom all four years. She was named to the ALC Academic Honor Roll all four years and was selected to the Academic All-Big 10 in her final three seasons and was the Big 10 Distinguished Scholar Award recipient in 2010. She was also named to the IWLCA Academic Honor in 2011.
A native of Towson, Md., Cahill graduated from Penn State with a degree in advertising and public relations in 2012.
