Kim Williams has brought the Wesleyan women’s lacrosse program into national prominence as she enters her 12th year at the helm in 2027. Williams is a three-time IWLCA Berkshire Region Coach/Coaching Staff of the Year recipient (2017, 2025, 2026), led the Cardinals to a NCAA Runner-Up finish in 2026, recorded her 100th career win with the Cardinals in the 2025 campaign, and has led the Cardinals to eight straight NCAA Tournament appearances heading into 2027.
Williams took over a program that was coming off eight consecutive losing seasons and just four conference wins from 2010-15. In her first season, Wesleyan finished 5-9 overall and 2-8 in the NESCAC, the two conference wins were the most in seven years. One year later, Williams led the Cardinals to what was their best season in program history as Wesleyan set team records in overall wins (11) and NESCAC victories (7) as the Cardinals finished 11-6 and 7-3. Additionally, the Cardinals ranked in the Top 20 in the country for the majority of the season, qualified for the NESCAC Tournament for the first time in eight years, and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in team history. Williams was named the 2017 NESCAC Coach of the Year and the 2017 IWLCA Berkshire Region Coach of the Year for her efforts in turning the program around.
The following season, in 2018, Williams guided the Cardinals to their second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. Wesleyan defeated No. 12 Messiah in the First Round for its first postseason victory ever, and the next day, the Cardinals earned an 11-6 win over No. 18 St. John Fisher to reach the Sweet 16. Wesleyan concluded the 2018 campaign with a 12-7 mark, as the 12 wins set a new program record by surpassing the win total from the year before.
In 2019, Williams’ program improved once again as she led the team to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament for the first time ever. The Cardinals had arguably the most difficult road to the semifinals, defeating No. 9 Mary Washington (11-6), No. 2 Washington & Lee (13-7), and No. 1 Gettysburg (10-7), before falling short to the eventual national champions, No. 3 Middlebury. The historic campaign saw Wesleyan set another program record in wins (17) and NESCAC victories (7) as the Cardinals finished 17-4 overall and 8-2 in league play.
Wesleyan entered the 2020 campaign ranked No. 5 in the IWLCA Division III Preseason Poll and were off to an incredible start, going 4-0 and outscoring its opponents 60-22 before the COVID-19 pandemic abruptly ended the season.
Since COVID, the Cardinals have been consistently one of the top programs in the nation, achieving win totals of 14 (2022), 15 (2023), 16 (2024), 15 (2025), and a single-season team record 19 (2026) in the last five seasons. Those single-season win totals are five of the six winningest campaigns in team history. Wesleyan has advanced to the Third Round (Sweet 16) of the team's last seven NCAA Tournament appearances (2018-19, 2022-26) and won the Little Three Championship four straight years (2021-24) and in five of the past six years (2021-24, 2026).
The 2026 season is undoubtedly its most successful season in team history, going 13-2 the regular season while being ranked as high as No. 2 nationally. Wesleyan went on to finish as the NESCAC runner-up for the third straight year, pulling off a miraculous comeback win over Tufts in the Semifinal round that featured an Addie Cummings ’26 goal with no time remaining in regulation to send the contest into overtime. Then in the NCAA Tournament, Wesleyan earned home wins over Cortland, UChicago, and Trinity to advance to the Final Four for just the second time in team history. The Cardinals went on to defeat No. 3 Salisbury in the NCAA Semifinal round, earning a spot in the National Championship game for the first time. Wesleyan could not get past No. 1 Middlebury in the NCAA Championship game, falling to the Panthers in an 8-6 defeat as Middlebury captured it’s fifth straight national title. Wesleyan’s 2026 campaign saw the Cardinals finish with a 19-4 record, setting a new program record for single season wins, while the Cardinals went 11-1 at home and captured its fifth Little Three Championship in the past six seasons. Four Cardinals earned AllAmerican honors while Lindsey Diomede ’26 was voted the D3 National Midfielder of the Year and Izzy Weintraub ’26 was named the D3 National Goalkeeper of the Year.
Prior to her tenure at Wesleyan, Williams served two seasons as head coach at Stockton University in New Jersey, three seasons as an assistant coach at Colby College in Waterville, Maine, and four seasons as a stellar competitor at C.W. Post University in Brookville, N.Y. Bringing the Ospreys at Stockton into their first varsity season in 2014, Williams met with immediate success behind a 16-4 victory over Notre Dame (Md.) in the team's varsity opener. Stockton posted a 10-5 record in 2014 and featured the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Rookie of the Year. The Ospreys followed up with a 10-6 mark in 2015 while boasting the NJAC Goaltender of the Year.
Williams began her collegiate coaching career with the Mules of Colby from 2011-13, in which the team qualified for the NCAA Tournament each year and amassed a brilliant 43-13 overall record, including a 22-7 mark against NESCAC rivals. The NESCAC is the top Division III women's lacrosse conference in the nation and had eight teams ranked among the top-20 nationally in the final 2015 Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Association (IWLCA) poll, led by NCAA Tournament runner-up Trinity College. No other conference had more than three teams in the top-20.
After a tremendous high school playing career at West Morris (N.J.), where she earned Third Team All-State recognition, Williams played four seasons at C.W. Post, helping Post reach the NCAA Division II Tournament each year with one title and three other appearances in the Final Four. She was recognized as an IWLCA All-American three times along with IWLCA Division II Defender of the Year accolades as a sophomore and Womenslacrosse.com Division II Midfielder of the Year recognition as a senior. She also earned First Team All-Conference accolades three times.
In addition to her on-the-field laurels, Williams was lauded by the IWLCA, the East Coast Conference, and the College Sports Information Directors Association (CoSIDA) with academic honors during her college playing days. She also earned a Woman of Achievement Award and Distinguished Graduating Student Leadership Award from C.W. Post before graduating magna cum laude in 2010 with a degree in childhood education.
