Softball Coaching Records & Program Facts
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Updated following 2025Â season First Game:Â Â March 24, 1982 (at Temple)
Ivy League Championships (23): 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2016, 2017, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 Ivy League Players of the Year (15): Margaret Niemann (1985), Angela Tucci (1986, 1988), Suzanne Fiske (1987), Linda Smolka (1989), Leslie Silverman (1992), Karen Drill (1993), Stacy Thurber (1994), Mandy Pfeiffer (1995, 1997), Brianne M. Galicinao (2001), Melissa Finley (2003), Jamie Lettire (2008), Serena Starks (2023) Ivy League Pitchers of the Year (12): Karen Drill (1994), Kristi Jelinek (1995), Maureen Davies (1996), Brianne M. Galicinao (2001, 2002), Erin Snyder (2005, 2006), Kristen Schaus (2008), Claire Klausner (2017), Alexis Laudenslager (2022, 2023), Brielle Wright (2025) Ivy League Rookies of the Year (9): Angela Tucci (1985), Dawn Roberts (1988), Lisa Moore (1991), Maureen Davies (1994), Erin Snyder (2003), Kristen Schaus (2005), Kathryn Welch (2006), Allison Harvey (2017), Sophia Marsalo (2022) Ivy League Coaches/Coaching Staffs of the Year (6): Lisa Van Ackeren/Princeton (2016, 2017, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025) Quick Facts: • Princeton softball has been very successful in the Ivy League since achieving varsity status in 1982. After finishing second its first year of varsity competition, the team won seven consecutive Ivy titles. With seven teams competing for the league title in 1995, the Tigers became the first Ivy team to post 12 league victories. Princeton set the record again in 2008 when it won 18 of 20 Ivy games in the second season of an expanded schedule. • Brianne Galicinao became the first player in Ivy League history to be named both the Ivy League Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year in the same season (2001). • Former head coach Cindy Cohen was named the Speedline/NSCA Northeast Region Coach of the Year four times (1988, 1994, 1995 and 1996). • The 1996 team finished the year ranked No. 1 in the Northeast Region for the second straight year. The Tigers had been the top ranked team only once before in 1985. Since then, the Tigers consistently have been ranked among the top five in the region and finished the 1994 season at number two. • The 1996 team set a then-NCAA Division I record by winning 37 consecutive games, two better than the 1993 Canisius team. Princeton won every game it played from March 20 to April 28 before falling to Brown 3-1. • Linda Smolka ’89 was the program’s first-ever All-America. She earned second-team honors following the 1988 season. Stacy Thurber ’96 was named to the third team in 1994, while Jen Babik ’95 and Mandy Pfeiffer ’97 earned third-team honors in 1995. • In 1994, Jen Babik ’95 became the program’s first player to earn first-team Academic All-America honors while Stacy Thurber ’96 was named to the second team, marking the second straight year that two Tigers were nationally recognized for academics. Both were selected as first-team Academic All-Americas in 1995, and Thurber was named to the second-team in 1996. • Princeton has made 12 NCAA tournament appearances highlighted by two consecutive appearances in the Women’s College World Series (1995, 1996). The Tigers have an all-time record of 9-24 in the NCAA Tournament and an 0-4 mark at the Women's College World Series. • The team also traveled to Macomb, Ill., to compete in the National Invitational Championship in 1987, 1992 and 1993. The Orange and Black were an early exit in 1987, losing both of their games, but finished second in 1992, dropping the title game to Northeast Louisiana, and tied for third in the rain-shortened 1993 tournament. • Maureen Barron and Jennifer Sewell were named the 2002 Northeast Region Coaching Staff of the Year. The Ivy League Coach of the Year award was inaugurated in 2015, and Lisa Van Ackeren was named Coach of the Year in 2016, 2017, 2022, 2023 and 2024. • Alexis Laudenslager won the Ivy League Pitcher of the Year award in 2022 and 2023, joining Erin Snyder (2005, 2006) and Brie Galicinao (2001, 2002) as two-time winners. Princeton players have won the honor 12 times. Princeton players have won 15 Ivy League Player of the Year honors, with Angela Tucci '88 (1986, 1988) and Mandy Pfeiffer '97 (1995, 1997) having earned the award twice. The Ivy Player and Rookie of the Year awards have been presented every year since 1985 and the Pitcher of the Year award every season since 1994. |
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