Already one of the most accomplished young coaches in the country, Hannah Prince marks her fourth season leading the Saint Joseph's field hockey program in 2025. A former Hawk assistant, Prince has brought a wealth of knowledge and experience from her high-level playing and collegiate coaching careers into her first head coaching position.
In just her third season at the helm, Prince deftly guided the Hawks to a legendary season in 2024 as Saint Joseph's made a storybook run to the national championship game for the first time in program history, marking the first time in school history that a Saint Joseph's team competed for a national title. Along the way, the Hawks set a program record with 20 victories, won their fourth consecutive Atlantic 10 tournament title, achieved their highest-ever poll ranking (#3), hosted NCAA Tournament games on campus for the first time, and reached the program's first-ever Final Four.
For their efforts, Prince and her staff were named the NFHCA Mid-Atlantic Region Coaching Staff of the Year, while forward Manu Ghigliotti earned Mid-Atlantic Regional Player of the Year honors, the first in Hawk history to achieve that honor. Ghigliotti also became the program's first-ever two-time First Team All-America honoree. Julia Duffhuis and Lily Santi were named to the All-America Second Team as well; Santi and Ghigliotti became the fifth and sixth Hawks to earn multiple All-America honors on Hawk Hill. In addition, Ghigliotti and Duffhuis were joined by Sol Borensztein as the program's first-ever NCAA All-Tournament Team selections, while Santi also claimed her second Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Year Award in three seasons. All four were named to the NFHCA All-Region First Team as well.
The Hawks' magical run was keyed by a group that included 11 seniors and graduate students; six of those graduate students earned their degrees from Saint Joseph's and chose to return to Hawk Hill for their final season of eligibility. Collectively, their achievement and dedication to their program and University was recognized with the prestigious Philadelphia Sports Writers Association Team of the Year Award, which has previously been bestowed upon such illustrious squads as the Dream Team, the 1999 U.S. Women's Soccer Team that won the World Cup, and a host of World Series and Super Bowl champions.
Prince led the Hawks to familiar territory in 2023, as Saint Joseph's completed its third consecutive Atlantic 10 regular season and tournament sweep, accomplishing the feat for the second time in seven years (2017-19, 2021-23), and the program's sixth NCAA Tournament berth. She guided the Hawks to their eighth consecutive Atlantic 10 title game as well, a league record, and a second consecutive unbeaten season in league play. The Hawks finished the season ranked 13th in the NFHCA Coaches Poll and were one of the NCAA's Statistical Champions, leading the nation in penalty corners.
Ghigliotti earned First Team All-America honors, the fourth Hawk to be recognized as one of the very best players in the nation, and earned her second Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Year award to go along with First Team All-Region and All-Conference accolades. Santi was also tabbed for the All-Region First Team, while Borensztein and Katy Benton earned Second Team laurels. That quartet was joined on the All-Conference First Team by Kate Crist, while Hailey Bitters, Erika Culp, Annabel Lindemulder, and Celeste Smits also earned postseason accolades.
During her first season leading the Hawks, Saint Joseph's claimed its second consecutive Atlantic 10 regular season and postseason championship sweep, marking the fifth league title in six seasons and the sixth regular season crown in seven years for the program. The Hawks went on to make program history, securing their first-ever NCAA Tournament victory with a 3-1 win over Wake Forest on November 11. Prince's charges would end the season ranked seventh in the NCAA RPI and ninth in the NFHCA Coaches Poll, the highest end-of-season marks in program history, and also led all of Division I in shutouts.
For their efforts, Lily Santi and Freke van Tilburg were named the Atlantic 10 Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year, respectively, and would go on to earn All-America honors. The pair was joined on the All-Mid-Atlantic Region Teams by Katy Benton, Robin Bleekemolen, and Manu Ghigliotti; that quintet also earned All-Conference honors alongside Maaike Gorissen, Anna Miller, and Meike van Nieuwland.
Prince returned to Hawk Hill in 2022 after spending the previous two seasons as the associate head coach at Louisville, where she helped lead the Cardinals to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances. Louisville reached the Final Four in the spring of 2021 after the NCAA Championship was moved due to the COVID-19 pandemic and claimed the 2021 ACC regular season title last fall, going unbeaten in conference play. The Cardinals spent the entirety of the 2021 season ranked in the top 10 of the NFHCA Coaches Poll and were ranked as high as third in the nation at one point.
During her two seasons as an assistant at Saint Joseph’s under Lynn Farquhar, the Hawks swept the Atlantic 10 regular season and tournament titles, with the 2017 postseason crown clinching the program’s first-ever berth in the NCAA Tournament. Prince was instrumental in the growth and development of four All-Americans in Tonya Botherway, Victoria Kammerinke, Pepa Serrano, and Anna Willocks; Kammerinke, Serrano, Willocks, and Kathrin Bentz would all go on to earn Atlantic 10 Offensive or Defensive Player of the Year honors as well.
After her initial tenure on Hawk Hill, Prince spent two years on the coaching staff at Princeton, helping guide the Tigers to the national championship game in 2019 before the squad’s 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Princeton won the Ivy League title in 2019 as well, while its coaching staff was named the NFHCA Mid-Atlantic Region Coaching Staff of the Year and Clara Roth earned Mid-Atlantic Player of the Year accolades.
Prince began her coaching career at New Hampshire, helping lead the Wildcats to the America East title game in each of her two seasons on campus, prior to coming to Saint Joseph’s. Hailing from Gorham, Maine, Prince is a 2014 graduate of UMass, where she was a four-year starter and three-time Atlantic 10 champion and reached the NCAA quarterfinals with the Minutewomen in 2013. She also played with the U.S. Women’s Outdoor National Team before going on to serve as the captain of the Indoor National Team for six years, where she won a gold medal at the 2017 Pan American Cup and took part in the 2018 Indoor World Cup in Berlin, Germany.
An active member of the national team program, Prince earned her USA Field Hockey Level 3 Coaching Certification, the highest level of accreditation currently offered by the organization, in 2023 and graduated from the NCAA Women’s Coaches Academy in 2018. She also served as an assistant coach with the Indoor National Team in 2024 as well as the U-16 Junior National Team at its selection camp in 2023. Prince is also the founder and director of Prince Elite Field Hockey and the Prince Elite club program.
What They’re Saying About Coach Prince:
“Congratulations to Hannah on this great opportunity as she embarks on her first head coaching position. She is one of the brightest young coaches out there and St. Joe’s is lucky to have secured her. Hannah was always destined to lead her own program and I wish her nothing but the best now and in the future.”
– Justine Sowry, Head Coach, University of Louisville
“St. Joe’s has made a great hire with Hannah Prince. She has a relentless work ethic and an energy and passion for the sport that is contagious. I am excited for Hannah to have this opportunity. The St. Joe’s program has risen into the ranks of being a consistent top-15 program; the decision on who to hire to lead the program forward was such a critical decision, and I think they made an excellent decision.”
– Carla Tagliente, Head Coach, Princeton University
“Welcome back, Hannah! Hannah epitomizes the ideals of selfless leadership and community and embraces the competitive greatness journey; I love her courage to take calculated risks and earn it! This is the Hawk legacy, starting with role models such as Ellen Ryan, Michelle Finegan, Regina Johnson, and so many more. The Hawk Will Never Die!”
– Lynn Farquhar, Head Coach, Syracuse University, and former head coach, Saint Joseph’s University
“I am thrilled to see Hannah return to Saint Joseph’s as a head coach after all the hard work she has put in at top schools. Her ‘never quit’ attitude and high expectations were monumental in helping us win Atlantic 10 tournament titles when she was on our coaching staff in 2017 and 2018. I am excited to see what she will do with one of the most talented groups of athletes I have seen represent Hawk field hockey.”
– Nicholl Fenton ‘21, Saint Joseph’s all-time leader in games played
