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Kara Reber
Kara Reber is the only women’s lacrosse head coach that Florida Southern College has ever known, joining the program at its inception in 2012. In just 12 years, Reber has won an NCAA Division II national title (2016), twice finished as the national runner-up (2017 & 2018), national semifinalists (2023) and compiled an overall record of 184-38.
In this short time, Reber has thrust Florida Southern into women’s lacrosse royalty. In 2017, the Mocs won 18-straight games en route to the national title game. Florida Southern's path to the 2016 national championship concluded with a stunning come-from-behind win over No. 1 Adelphi in the title game. Reber's squad held the seven-time national champion Panthers without a goal in the first 17 minutes of the second half to rally back from a 6-3 halftime deficit.
In the process, the Mocs became the first team from outside the states of Massachusetts, New York or Pennsylvania to win an NCAA Division II women's lacrosse championship. Florida Southern finished the season on a 14-game winning streak, and Reber was tabbed as the NCAA Division II Coach of the Year by Inside Lacrosse and the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA).
During the 2019 campaign, Reber earned her 200th career victory as a head coach, as the Mocs defeated Tiffin, 17-4, on April 12, 2019. Florida Southern's success continued in 2019 as the Mocs had their fifth consecutive NCAA tournament appearance. An exit in the second round after a double-overtime loss ended their 2019 season, as the COVID-19 pandemic set in to shorten their next two seasons. A full schedule of games in 2022 rejuvenated the Mocs, hungry for another opportunity at a title. The Mocs had a great season with tough competition, ending with another SSC Championship title. Selected to Reber's sixth NCAA tournament appearance with the Mocs led to a 19-6 rout of Wingate in the first round, before a close loss to No. 1 Queens ended their NCAA run.
In her 12 seasons at Florida Southern, Reber has led the Moccasins to a record of 116-18 at home and a 54-12 mark on the road. The Mocs are 38-6 in the nine seasons that the Sunshine State Conference has been sponsoring women's lacrosse (2015-2023). Florida Southern won or shared the regular season SSC title for six straight years, from 2015-2021, with no title awarded in the 2020 season due to COVID-19. Reber won the SSC Championship three years in a row from 2016-2018, with the title once again brought back to Lakeland in 2022.
During her time as the head coach of the Moccasins, Reber has coached 34 IWLCA all-Americans, including 21 IWLCA First-Team All-Americans. In addition to first-team All-America honors in 2013, former FSC goalie Katie Hammerer was also named the IWLCA Division II Goalie of the Year in 2013 and 2014. Emily Santoli was named the IWLCA Co-Midfielder of the Year in 2016, and the IWLCA Midfielder of the Year in 2017. She was also the 2017 Sunshine State Conference Player of the Year. In 2018, Meghan O’Brien earned Attacker of the Year in addition to being named the Division II Player of the Year. Most recently, in 2019, Sam Keesey earned Defender of the Year laurels, as freshman goalie Patricia Werker earned SSC Freshman of the Year honors. That same year, three players were selected to participate in the annual IWLCA North-South game: attacker Aubriana Benedetto, midfielder Dani Bursinger, and defender Sam Keesey. In 2023, Gina Verrone was named the IWLCA Defender of the Year, joining Keesey to have earned the honor.
Reber has also coached 45 All-SSC honorees, including two Freshman of the Year (Ashley Seborowski – 2015; Patricia Werker – 2019) and three Player's of the Year (Emily Santoli - 2017, Marina Jozokos - 2021, Jackie Stoller - 2023). Reber was named the SSC Coach of the Year in 2021 and 2022 consecutive seasons.
Her teams have also been highly successful off the field, as the Moccasins have been named as an IWLCA Team-All Academic Squad 11 times with a streak of eight straight going from 2012 to 2019. The Moccasins have been awarded the IWLCA Community Awareness Award twice (2012, 2015) and have had at least 15 players earn a spot on the SSC Commissioner's Honor Roll each year since 2012. In 2023, 29 student-athletes were named to the SSC Commissioner's Honor Roll.
Prior to being named the head coach at Florida Southern, Reber spent two seasons at St. Mary's College in Maryland, where she compiled a record of 21-14 and led the Seahawks to the Capital Athletic Conference semifinals in both seasons. At St. Mary's, Reber coached one all-American, seven all-region, and 11 all-conference players, including the CAC Player of the Year (2009) and Rookie of the Year (2010).
Reber's 2010 team at St. Mary's earned the NCAA Division III Community Service Award for their various community service projects.
Before her stint at St. Mary's, Reber spent five seasons as the head coach at Lycoming College in Pennsylvania, where she led the Warriors to an overall record of 47-34, including a pair of 14 win seasons in 2006 and 2007. She was named Middle Atlantic Conference Coach of the Year in 2006 after leading her team to a 14-4 record - nine more wins than the previous season. At Lycoming, Reber coached two all-America selections, 10 all-region, and 12 all-conference honorees.
She also saw her 2008 squad earn the NCAA Division III Community Service Award for raising more than 6,000 to benefit breast cancer research.
A 1999 graduate of Bowling Green State University, Reber was a two-sport athlete for the Falcons, playing both soccer and ice hockey. She holds a degree in sports management from BGSU, and a second bachelor's degree in physical education from SUNY Brockport. A native of Pittsford, NY, Reber began her coaching career at the high school ranks at Newark High School in Newark, NY.
Reber and her husband, Matthew, reside in Lakeland with their four daughters: Eve, Kylie, Kendall and Kenzie.
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