Rye girls varsity coach Michelle Mason is serious about lacrosse. How serious?
When she first started playing the sport in Rochester in third grade, there weren’t many girls teams in that part of the state. So, she played against boys. At Keene State College in New Hampshire, Mason played two sports, soccer and lacrosse, and eventually returned to her alma mater to become the coach of the women’s lacrosse team at the age of 23.
From Keene State, she moved on to become head coach of the women’s Division I lacrosse team at Iona College for 10 years. Today, in addition to coaching the Garnets, Michelle owns and operates a private girls lacrosse club in Westchester County.
So, how did such an accomplished professional coach end up at Rye High School?
“When the Rye job opened up in 2019,” Mason said, “it was just too good an opportunity to pass up. Everyone in southern New York knows that Rye has a tremendous youth program. You see that deep-seated skill development and familiarity with each other every time our girls take the field.”
Last year, Mason, now in her sixth season at Rye, watched her Garnets lose an extremely close state final game to Sayville High School.
“I think about that game from time to time, sure,” she said. “But it’s not paralyzing for us. We practically have all of our starters back from last year’s team. Now the challenge is: how do we get better? How do we tap into the creativity inside each of our players?”
The Garnets are legitimate contenders to get back to the Class C state final this year, with an impressive lineup of senior leaders who are committed to play Division I lacrosse, including Taylor Bainbridge (Washington & Lee), Kathleen Denvir (Brown), Caroline Doyle (Duke), Katherine Ebeling (Columbia), Mary Sack (Penn), Lucy Wyckoff (Skidmore), and Cami Brooks, who may play club at Wake Forest.
In the first three games of the 2025 season, Rye outscored opponents 50-14. With comfortable wins over Somers, Horace Greeley, and Pelham already to their credit, Mason’s girls have begun their journey.
Yes, this team (and their coach) is serious about winning, but they’ll have fun along the way. And they’re going to be fun to watch.
