Katie Powell 2021-22 Women's Lacrosse Staff
Women's Lacrosse Associate Head Coach
Katie Powell enters her eighth year on the Irish coaching staff after helping Notre Dame reach the NCAA Tournament in six of the last seven completed seasons.
During her time at Notre Dame, the Irish have led their conference in caused turnovers in six different campaigns.
The 2017 squad featured two IWLCA All-Americans: Casey Pearsall (first team) and Cortney Fortunato (second team). In 2015, Sullivan became Notre Dame’s first-ever defensive finalist for the Tewaaraton Trophy, and Sullivan repeated as a Tewaaraton Trophy finalist in 2016. Among other accolades awarded to Irish players, Margaret Smith was named a Tewaaraton Trophy nominee and the co-Defensive Player of the Year nationally following Powell’s first season.
Powell spent three seasons at James Madison as the associate head coach and defensive coordinator. While with the Dukes, Powell helped JMU win the 2011 Colonial Athletic Association Championship to secure an automatic berth in the NCAA Championship. She helped mentor four all-CAA defenders, including Cally Chakrian, who twice earned a spot on the IWLCA All-South second team and was named the 2012 CAA Defensive Player of the Year.
The 2007 George Mason alum helped the Dukes’ defense rank in the top 30 nationally for scoring defenses in all three seasons, including a No. 9 ranking during the aforementioned 2011 season. In addition to her on-the-field coaching duties, Powell was the recruiting coordinator, the director of camps, clinics and fundraising and planned the travel for the team during the season among many other tasks.
Before coaching at James Madison, Powell spent three seasons at Boston University (2008-10) as an assistant coach and defensive coordinator. While in Boston, Powell helped the Terriers to three America East championships and three appearances in the NCAA Championship. She coached four all-conference performers, three IWLCA All-North Region players in Rachel Collins, Corcoran Downey and Kelly Munroe and a developmental participant on the U.S. National Team in Munroe.
Similar to JMU, Powell coached the defense to impressive national rankings as all three squads were ranked in the top 20 for scoring defense, including a high of No. 8 in 2008. Powell also played a key role in the program’s recruiting and camps and clinics.
As a four-year student-athlete at George Mason, Powell started 59 of 60 games for the Patriots at defense, totaling 104 ground balls and 93 caused turnovers in her career. A standout in the classroom, Powell earned a spot on the IWLCA National Academic Honor Roll twice before graduating in the spring of 2007 with a degree in government and international politics.
A native of Syracuse, N.Y., the former Katie Linnertz married Brian Powell in August of 2013. The couple has three sons, Cooper, Brooks and Fitz.