Wheeling University Athletics

Faith Flanagan enters her second season as the Head Women's Lacrosse Coach for the 2026 season.

Women's Lacrosse returned to Wheeling University for the 2025 season for the first time since 2019. Flanagan took her first head coaching job and made quite an impression. Her Cardinals finished 7-8 overall with a 4-4 conference record in the team's first season in six years as a program. The team hosted Davis & Elkins for their first playoff game since 2017 with it being a play-in game for the #4 seed. The Cardinals defeated the Senators 11-8, but would fall to Frostburg in the Mountain East Conference Semifinals. Flanagan's coaching did not go unnoticed as she was voted the MEC Women's Lacrosse Coach of the Year by the rest of the conference's coaches. Under Flanagan, four Cardinals earned All-MEC Honors, including sophomore Trinity Rose, who received First Team All-MEC Honors with her team-leading 43 goals and 55 points. Jovie Noack and Klara Domachowska were named Second Team All-MEC and goaltender Giavonna Perkins was named to the ALL-MEC Freshman Team.

“I am very excited to have this opportunity to step into the role of being the head coach for the Wheeling University’s women’s lacrosse program,” said Flanagan. “With the program being re-established for the 2025 season I am excited to get to help shape the program. Every practice, every game, and every interaction with the team is an opportunity to shape the foundation on the values of being a Cardinal.” 

Flanagan helped Notre Dame College compete for a championship in their final season in spring 2024. She was promoted to assistant coach at the start of 2024 and has helped lead the Falcons to a 4-7 overall record and a 2-0 mark in Mountain East Conference (MEC) play. One of their biggest wins of the season came against Walsh on March 16th, where Flanagan’s team downed the Cavaliers 10-9, defeating Walsh for the first time in eight seasons. Under her leadership, the Falcons sit in a three-way tie for first atop the MEC standings at 2-0 and have the highest shooting percentage in the conference at .460 this season. 

As a player, Flanagan was nationally ranked, finishing her career fourth in NCAA Division II in points per game and sixth in goals scored per game while scoring 200 points in her career. She played with three different programs at Long Island University Brooklyn and Erskine College, before ending her career with Notre Dame College in 2023. She was a three-time Second Team All-Conference player with Erskine in the Conference Carolinas and in 2020 earned both the Conference Carolina’s and the Erskine Comeback Player of the Year awards. She would graduate from Erskine college with a bachelor's degree in Elementary Education in 2022. 

After graduation, Flanagan would transfer to Notre Dame College for her final year of eligibility in 2023 and helped lead the Falcons to the MEC Championship game. She would appear in 10 games for the Falcons, making one start. During the year, she scored nine goals on 19 shots on goal while adding one assist. Her biggest game of the season came on April 16th against West Virginia Wesleyan, when she scored four goals on seven shots, six on goal, in a 27-0 win over the Bobcats.