Bridget LaNoir '99 has been the field hockey coach at Rensselaer, her alma mater, since 2001.
She became
the program's all-time leader in wins in 2009, passing her former coach Beth Hallenbeck in October 2009 with a 2-0 win over Utica College. During her tenure, she has posted a pair of 13-win seasons - the most in a single campaign in school history - and five years of double digit victories.
LaNoir has guided Rensselaer to five Liberty League Tournaments, including in 2018, an ECAC Tournament appearance and to the 2001 New York State Tournament title. She has had more than 50 student-athletes chosen All-Liberty League and in excess of two dozen named All-Region.
Most recently, three student-athletes captured All-League and two were selected All-Region with Mikaela DiBello
earning First Team on both squads in multiple seasons.
Academically, LaNoir's student-athletes have excelled each year with more than 200 garnering Liberty League All-Academic recognition. Two have been named National Academic All-America, while several others have earned Academic All-District honors.
The 2016 season was the second straight in which Rensselaer had at least 10 wins against one of the toughest schedule in the conference. The Engineers peaked to close out the campaign, winning their final three games and four of their last five to finish 10-7 after a 2015 season in which it was 11-6.
Rensselaer also had 11 wins in 2011 when LaNoir guided the team to the Liberty League Tournament as the third seed.
Her squad received the 2008 NFHCA Division III Academic Team Award with a team grade point average of 3.53, ranking second in Division III and third nationally when including all divisions. The Engineers were also honored with three consecutive NFHCA Division III Academic Team awards for earning the highest combined GPA in the country (2003, 2004 & 2005).
LaNoir, a native of Glens Falls, NY, saw her teams win a school-record 13 games in both 2001 (13-5) and 2002 (13-7). The former started with a four-game winning streak and finished with three wins to capture the New York State Tournament. The latter won five straight games midway through the year and qualified for the league tournament before reaching the final of the ECAC Mid-Atlantic Tournament.
In addition to her efforts at Rensselaer, LaNoir is also integral to the area's USA Field Hockey Futures Development program. She has been a Capital District head coach since 2012, mentoring Capital District U14, U16 and U19 teams with a Level 2 Coaching Certification.
She was a field hockey and ice hockey standout at Rensselaer prior to graduating with a biology degree in 1999. She joined the RPI staff following an 18-month stint at the National Sports Academy in Lake Placid, N.Y., where she was a science teacher and ice hockey coach.
A midfielder, LaNoir tallied 46 points (16 goals, 14 assists) in 64 field hockey games, including two New York State Tournament appearances. A two-time captain, she was a three-time All-Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association (UCAA), three-time All-New York State, two-time team Most Valuable Player and two-time All-Region honoree. Following her final season, she was selected to play in the prestigious North-South Senior Game.
Also a four-year letter winner in ice hockey, LaNoir graduated with every school scoring record for defensemen. She finished with 52 goals and 77 assists for 129 points in 96 games, twice earning National All-America status. She was a two-time captain, a three-time All-ECAC selection and the team’s MVP twice. As a senior, she led the Engineers to their first-ever post-season appearance, advancing to the ECAC semifinals.
LaNoir, who is a member of Olympia (Rensselaer’s student-athlete honor society), earned RPI’s Female Athlete of the Year Award in 1997-98, the Livingston W. Houston Citizenship Award in 1998-99 and the Rensselaer Female Career Athlete Award for 1995-99. She was inducted into the RPI Athletics Hall of Fame in 2004.
She earned a master's degree from Rensselaer's Lally School of Management in 2008.
Updated January 2019
