Katina Polites enters her second season as an assistant under head coach Stacey Hart with direct responsibility for the program's defensive unit and goalkeepers.
Polites arrives at the Rock after two seasons as an assistant at NCAA Division I Saint Francis University in Loretto, Pa. During her stint with the Red Flash, the Berwyn, Pa. native helped guide the program to its winningest season to date and its first-ever Northeast Conference tournament berth. She worked directly with goalkeeper Erin Reifsteck, who finished the 2007 season ranking among national leaders in several statistical categories.
While working with the defense, Polites coordinated a corner unit that shut out the NEC in 2007, and mentored two NEC All-Tournament Team players. In her two seasons overseeing the defense, the program gave up 34 fewer goals from 2006 to 2007.
Along with her on-field duties, Polites developed and facilitated a strength and conditioning program for the athletes. She also spent one season as first assistant with Saint Francis' women's lacrosse, running the strength and conditioning for that program as well.
Prior to her time at Saint Francis, Polites spent one year as an assistant at Haverford (Pa.) College in addition to serving on the staffs of several camps and teams including the Vipers indoor and outdoor and USA Field Hockey Futures Program.
Polites played intercollegiately at the University of Connecticut, contributing on the Huskies' Big East regular season championship squads of 2002, 2003, and 2004 – two of which went on to capture Big East tournament crowns and made three NCAA first round appearances along with a quarterfinal in 2003.
A 2005 graduate of the University of Connecticut with a B.A. in Sociology, Polites also holds an M. Ed. from Saint Francis.
