KENNESAW, Ga. - Head coach Laura Maness has led the Kennesaw State Owls women's lacrosse program to its best six-year stretch in program history, but this was almost impossible when she was graduating from West Virginia.
 
She went to school for dietetics because she was told as a player that there was no future in lacrosse. She never thought that being a coach could be a career, but with her degree in dietetics, she could stay in the sports world. As the years went on, Maness found that lacrosse opportunities kept presenting themselves to her.
 
Maness was working at Waynesburg University as a dining service coordinator, and the school wanted to start a lacrosse program at the Division III level. She coached there from 2006 to 2008, then was offered a full-time position at Lake Erie College at the Division II level. This was the moment she knew coaching was her future.
 
"That's kind of where the journey started, and I was offered a full-time lacrosse position at a Division II school," said Maness. "That's really when I made the decision that this is going to be a full-time career for me."
 
She wanted to continue to be the best she could be and wanted to be at the highest level possible, so she took the head coach position with the University of Detroit Mercy. At the time, Detroit Mercy was in the same conference that Kennesaw State is in now. That's when she got her first taste of what Kennesaw had to offer.
 
"When the job was posted for a new lacrosse coach maybe about seven years ago, I had already seen the campus and the potential in the players that were here as I was recruiting or scouting against them," said Maness. "I really thought it was a good opportunity and so I put my name in the hat for that and that's how I ended up down here."
 
Going into her first season, Maness wanted those seniors who had been there since the program started in 2013 to leave their mark on the program.
 
"They had felt all the growing pains but not much of the reward for all the hard work, so that first year we really focused on having the best possible year," said Maness. "I think we broke the single-season wins record that year with that with that group of girls so that was really exciting for them to know that they're going on the field to compete and to win and to put their best foot forward."
 
The 2022 season was the most successful season in KSU's history. Maness led the team to 11 wins in the season, which was a new school record. This was the team's first-ever winning season.
 
Maness believes that her current team still has so much more to accomplish. This season was filled with ups and downs, but it helped make the team mentally stronger as they get ready for ASUN Conference tournament play.
 
Mia Mackenzie, Zoe King, and Natalie Welch, who were freshman when Coach Maness recruited them in 2018, are currently seniors on the team. Maness stated that it has been great to watch them become mentors to the freshman on the team and create an environment where they feel welcome.
 
"Those girls have been a part of teams, like last season's team, that have had a high level of success, but they have also been a part of the teams where sometimes things don't come easy, and you have to work through a lot of adversity," said Maness. "That's why down the stretch you have seen us have success against Stetson late and Delaware State late because our seniors aren't quite ready to be done."
 
Maness talked about Shannon Harrington, who has had a phenomenal season, and how she will continue to improve as she goes throughout her lacrosse career at KSU. She noted that she is a hard worker, absorbs information well and is able to apply it to the game.
 
"I think a lot of people don't realize how different the game is in high school as it is in college, so there is a learning curve with that with younger players," said Maness. "The rules are different, the structure of the game is different, the pace of the game is different, so to see our freshman, like Shannon doing well right out of the gate is awesome."
 
Coming off of a win one week and a loss the next, this season has been a roller-coaster, but Maness preaches to her team that grit and determination they exhibit when they fight for wins builds high character. She wants her players to have great character on and off the field.
 
"The only thing you have at the end of the day is your character," said Maness. "Regardless of the score, the players on my team are demonstrating high character in those moments."
 
With the 2023 season coming to a close and conference tournament play starting this month, Maness wants this team to lay it all out there.  
 
"Something they [the team] are probably sick of hearing me say, but we train 132 days a year for 17 games, so why wouldn't you put your best foot forward."

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