Former Duke Blue Devil All-American Christie Kaestner was added to the Monmouth Women's Lacrosse staff in August of 2017. Kaestner enters her seventh season on the sidelines at Monmouth in 2024.
In 2023, midfielder Cassidy Orban was named First Team All-CAA while attacker Caroline Brennan and defender Brianna Falco took home Second Team All-CAA honors. Attacker Shea Berigan secured a spot on the CAA All-Rookie Team. Orban and Falco also excelled in the classroom as both received Academic All-District honors from College Sports Communicators.
During Monmouth's time in the MAAC, Kaestner transformed the Hawks' offense to one of the most efficient and highest scoring units in the conference.
The 2022 season was highlighted by Monmouth earning a share of the MAAC regular season title for just the second time in program history after playing to a 6-2 mark in MAAC action. Monmouth earned the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament for the first time as a member of the MAAC and the first time since the 2013 campaign when Monmouth was still a member of the Northeast Conference (NEC). Monmouth finished second in the conference in goals scored and third in assists.
In the shortened 2021 Spring season Kaestner held the role of Interim Head Coach, leading the team to an 8-5 record and an appearance in the MAAC Semifinals. Under her guidance Monmouth senior Nicole Ceraso earned All-Region honors by the IWLCA as well as collecting her second MAAC Offensive Player of the Year honor. Ceraso graduated as the Hawks' all-time leader in points (308) and assists while finishing as a four-time all-conference honoree. In 2021 the Hawks had six players earn All-MAAC designation, including three starting attack players and midfielder Rachel Mills.
Kaestner came to Monmouth after two seasons as an assistant coach at Ohio State University where she helped lead the Buckeyes to 19 wins, a Big Ten Tournament appearance and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. While in Columbus she served as the team's offensive coordinator, a position she also held at Coastal Carolina. Kaestner spent three seasons and an assistant in Conway, helping start the Chanticleer program while directing the offense, coordinating recruiting efforts and handling academic supervision.
A native of Trappe, Md., Kaestner was a first team All-American at Duke where she finished her Blue Devil career with 93 goals and 98 assists to rank ninth all-time in the Duke record book with 191 points. As a senior in 2011, Kaestner earned first team first team All-ACC honors as she led the Blue Devils to the NCAA Semifinals and was named to the IWLCA All-South Region team in both 2010 and 2011. During her senior campaign, Kaestner set the Duke single-season assists record with 47 on her way to ranking second all-time with 98.
