NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Vanderbilt lacrosse head coach Beth Hewitt announced Tuesday the addition of Sophie Leva to the coaching staff.
“Sophie brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the goalie and defensive position,” said Hewitt. “She has an incredibly competitive spirit and wants to help elevate our program to the next level. Our staff couldn’t be more excited to welcome her to our Vanderbilt Lacrosse family.”
“I could not be more excited to join the Vanderbilt family and to call Nashville home,” said Leva. “I am so grateful to Coach Hewitt and her entire staff for giving me the opportunity to be a part of such an incredible program. I look forward to working with an exceptional group of student-athletes and helping them reach their goals.”
A native of Macedon, New York, Leva joins the coaching staff from Binghamton where she served as an assistant coach during the 2023 season.
In 2023, Leva helped lead Binghamton to its first playoff victory in the America East semifinals against Vermont, 12-10. The Bearcats’ record-breaking season included its first-ever America East Championship game appearance, best conference record (5-1) and tournament seed (No. 2), most overall wins (11) and most consecutive wins (7). It also was filled with individual honors with Emily Manning named the league’s Goalkeeper of the Year and a record eight Bearcats earning all-conference honors (three first-team, five second-team).
Before Binghamton, Leva was at Indianapolis, where she was a graduate assistant for the Division ll national champion Greyhounds. In her first year of coaching, Leva helped guide the Greyhounds to a 22-1 record, finishing the season with 17 straight wins and a national championship. With her guidance, the Greyhounds ended the season with a .510 save percentage and 5.57 goals against average.
Prior to her stop in Indiana, Leva was a goalie for four years at Marquette. A part of the Golden Eagle record books, Leva is the all-time leader in save percentage (.461), is third in career saves (245) and sits second for wins in a single season (7). Leva earned second-team All-BIG EAST recognition in 2021 after a career-best seven wins in net along with 134 saves. As a co-captain, she led the BIG EAST in saves, saves per game (8.25) and save percentage (.482) among goalies who played 10 or more games.
Leva obtained a bachelor’s degree in exercise physiology from Marquette in 2021. She was named to the BIG EAST All-Academic team three times during her career as well as the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) Academic Honor Squad her senior season.
