As she takes the reins of the juggernaut Broadneck High School girls’ lacrosse program, Caitlin Gogoll is respectful of the culture and tradition her predecessor, Katy Kelley, established and all the success she achieved in the last 25 years.
The Bruins have won the last five Class 4A state titles, bringing their overall total in Kelley’s quarter-century with the program, including the last 12 as head coach, to eight.
Kelley was named the National High School Girls Lacrosse Coach of the Year for the 2024-25 school year by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) in January. The honor comes nearly nine months after she retired from coaching. She still teaches science at Broadneck.
Gogoll has been a part of Broadneck’s success, having served as an assistant coach for the last two seasons. And now, after being promoted to head coach in late September, she is eager to put her own stamp on the program while maintaining its culture and winning tradition.
“Obviously, I am not Katy,” Gogoll said. “That’s not meant to be a positive or a negative comment. It’s just a neutral, true comment. I think we have a lot of similarities in our personality of kind of who we are as people. But the way we go about certain things is different. And, again, different is not wrong.
“Some aspects will remain the same because it’s procedural within coaching high school athletics. … But there are some things that will be done differently due to my coaching style and my own personality. And I think the biggest thing for me is telling myself that that’s OK and not to compare myself.”
The Bruins return six starters from last season’s championship team, including leading scorer and Louisville commit Nora Lopes and starting goalie and Virginia Tech commit Molly Robison.
But until practices begin in March and she sees what she has on hand, the new head coach said it would be difficult to know what type of team she has and what any changes might look like.
Ideally, she wants Broadneck to play similarly to the way she played.
After growing up playing hockey in Atlanta, where the ice rinks were few and far between, Gogoll picked up lacrosse and was eventually recruited to play at James Madison University, where she starred as a midfielder and team captain.
Gogoll specialized in the transition game at James Madison. She could push the ball up the field and score goals on offense and hold her own on the defensive end.
Gogoll’s players appear willing to take on the challenge.
“I am really excited to be part of this new era of Broadneck lacrosse,” Lopes said. “The seniors and I are really working closely with Coach Caitlin. I’ve been able to talk to her about what I think is right for the team, which I haven’t really done the past few years. I would always kind of just go with the flow.
“But I feel like being a senior and being on the team for the last four years, I am really starting to give my two cents on what should be done to try and win another state championship.”
Though she has only been with the program for a short time, Gogoll’s connection with Broadneck lacrosse is well-established. She first learned about the program through one of her best friends and teammates on the James Madison team, Lexy Schwabenland, who played for the Bruins under Kelley. And now Gogoll informally advises Kelley’s daughter, Lilly, who is a junior midfielder at James Madison, just like she used to be.
Many interconnected paths have led to this point.
“It’s hard to put into words, but there’s something very special about Broadneck,” Gogoll said. “And I understand that because I feel the same way about James Madison and the lacrosse program there. You don’t really understand it unless you are in it.
“I considered other high schools in the area to coach at. But ultimately for me, my family, the proximity that I live to the high school and the connections I’ve made since I’ve been there, I think all of those aspects coming together kind of painted the right picture for me being where I am.
“I think I am exactly where I was meant to be.”
Photo Credits: Dennis McGinley
Issue 297: February / March 2026
Originally published Feb. 18, 2026