Email coach
Ginny Martino
Entering her 26th season on the sidelines, West Chester University women’s lacrosse head coach, Ginny Martino has built the Golden Rams’ program into a perennial Division II national power while becoming the all-time winningest head coach in the NCAA at the Division II level.
Martino, the longest tenured head coach in the PSAC as well as at West Chester University, has led her charges to the Division II national title game 11 times in 22 years that the NCAA has sponsored a Division II national championship in the sport of lacrosse. The hardware crowding Martino’s trophy case is evidence of the dominance the Golden Rams have displayed both nationally and within the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference during her administration.
In 25 seasons at West Chester, Martino has authored a 384-82 (.824) record overall and a 240-21 (.920) mark against PSAC competition. She became the all-time winningest women's lacrosse coach in Division II history in 2012 and pushed past the 300-win plateau in 2018. She is now knocking on the door of 400 wins. Additionally, Martino has authored a 32-10 (.762) record in the PSAC Tournament and an 22-15 (.595) record in the NCAA Division II Tournament - 22-17 overall, counting the two seasons that Martino participated in the Division I Tournament (1998, 1999).
Martino's .824 career winning percentage is the sixth-best in Division II history and seventh-best among women's lacrosse coaches at any level. Her 384 career victories ranks seventh at all levels of coaching.
Under Martino's tutelage, the Golden Rams strung together a 72-game conference winning streak that spanned seven years. A loss at Bloomsburg in March 2012 brought an end to the streak that was just eight wins shy of the NCAA all-time record of 80 straight conference wins set by Stonehill College. The Golden Rams have reached double figures in wins in each of the past 21 seasons.
Martino's teams have won 14 conference titles, two national crowns, earned four league coach of the year honors (2001, 2005, 2018 and 2023) and two national coach of the year (2002, 2008) recognitions while leading her team to the national semifinals an amazing 12 times.
Over the past five seasons, West Chester has gone 90-8 overall and 57-2 in conference play while winning four PSAC titles. Last spring (2023), Martino and the Golden Rams found themselves in the national championship game once again after running through the regular season, conference tournament and first three rounds of the NCAA Tournament undefeated. Martino brought home the Atlantic Region crown for the second time, before topping Grand Valley State in the national semifinals to run her career record in the semifinal round of the NCAA Tournament to an astounding 11-1. Pace University ended West Chester's bid at a perfect season in the national championship.
Martino and her charges were ranked No. 1 in the country for seven consecutive weeks last spring from March through the end ot the regular season. West Chester finished the campaign with the best record in the nation at 21-1. It's 21 wins were a program record and tied the national mark for most wins in a single season. West Chester's appearance in the national championship game broke a tie with Adelphi for the most appearances in a final (11) in Division II history. Both the Golden Rams' appearances in the NCAA Tournament (15) and wins in the NCAA Tournament (22) are second all-time behind Adelphi.
In 2019, the Golden Rams made another run to the national championship game - its first appearance in the title game since 2012 - before a loss to Adelphi ended their quest for the national crown. Along the way, West Chester won the regular-season PSAC title and the postseason tournament, before taking the Atlantic Regional title for the first time.
In 2018, Martino guided her charges through an undefeated regular season and grabbed the 12th PSAC Championship in her illustrious career. She followed that up with her 12th trip to the NCAAs. The Golden Rams' loss to East Stroudsburg in the quarterfinals was the lone blemish on the team's ledger in 2018.
In 2015, West Chester made an NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2012.
In 2013, West Chester University won its conference-record 21st PSAC Championship with an 8-7 victory over rival Lock Haven on the road. It marked the 11th PSAC title for Martino, but first since 2008. West Chester has missed the NCAA Tournament just seven times since the NCAA instituted a Division II championship in 2001.
In 2012, Martino once again landed her Golden Rams in the national championship game at the Division II Festival in Louisville, Ky. A 17-16 setback to then-C.W. Post was all that stood between Martino and her third national title. Junior attacker Tori Dugan set the school record with 134 draw controls while posting 94 points.
In 2011, Martino guided the Golden Rams to the national semifinals after a 16-5 campaign that saw them play for the conference championship for the sixth straight year. A 10-9 setback to No. 3 Limestone in the national semifinals marked the first time that West Chester lost an NCAA Tournament game that was not the national championship game. West Chester was 11-0 in the PSAC regular season.
In 2010, The Golden Rams put together a perfect 10-0 mark in regular season conference play and a 19-2 overall ledger. West Chester played for the PSAC championship for the fifth consecutive year and eventually reached the NCAA title game for the eighth time under Martino. She was lauded IWLCA South Region coach of the year after entering the campaign with a young and inexperienced roster and little expectations for postseason play.
In 2009, West Chester won the PSAC Eastern Division crown in the first year that the conference split into two divisions. The Golden Rams finished a perfect 10-0 in conference play and 14-3 overall. The Rams dropped a 13-10 decision to No. 4 Lock Haven in the conference final, after defeating No. 5 Mercyhurst, 10-8, in the semifinals. However, that resume was not sufficient to earn West Chester an opportunity to defend its national title in the NCAA Tournament. It marked the first time since 2003 that the Golden Rams did not qualify for the NCAAs.
Martino guided her charges to the school's second national championship in 2008, winning the last 20 games of the season in the process. The Golden Rams finished 20-1 overall and avenged the season-opening loss to Limestone in the national semifinals. The 14-year veteran on West Chester’s sideline captured her second national championship in seven years with the Rams’ 13-12 victory over C.W. Post in the title game in Houston, Texas.
West Chester captured the school’s fifth straight conference title and 20th overall before heading to the NCAA Tournament. The Golden Rams’ 20-1 record set a new school mark and represents the second most victories in a single season by any Division II program in NCAA history.
As a result of the Golden Rams’ success that year, Martino was named IWLCA national coach of the year at the Division II level as well as FieldTurf Division II coach of the year for the second straight campaign.
Martino tutored attacker Stephanie Kienle’s extraordinary college career as the local product finished her career with a national record 146 points in 2008, topping her previous record total of 140 the year before. Kienle graduated as the NCAA all-time scoring leader with 369 points in her four seasons at West Chester University.
In 2005, the Golden Rams posted a 17-2 overall mark and a perfect 12-0 record in the PSAC. Martino was selected as the loop’s coach of the year for the second time.
In 2001, Martino led WCU to the PSAC title and an appearance in the NCAA II national championship game. In recognition of that outstanding achievement, she was named the 2001 PSAC coach of the year.
The Golden Rams also made consecutive appearances in the predominantly Division I National Collegiate Lacrosse Championship in 1998 and 1999. Martino was selected the 1998 Division II national coach of the year in her rookie season.
A 1988 graduate of the University of Massachusetts, Martino was a four-year standout for the Minutewomen, while also a member of the New England National Lacrosse Team from 1987-88.
Martino’s career at UMass culminated in a New England Regional Lacrosse and National Lacrosse all-star team honors. After graduation, Martino played lacrosse in what was then Czechoslovakia for Team USA in 1989, the Philadelphia National Lacrosse Team in 1990-91, and the Central Region National Lacrosse Team in 1993.
Martino resides in Cochranville, Pa., with her husband Dan, and their two children, Ryan and Jordan.
show more