Jill Vacanti enters her third season as the assistant coach at Lewis & Clark.
In the program’s first season as a member of the Northwest Conference, Vacanti helped the River Otters finish with an 11-6 overall record and 4-4 NWC mark, tying for fourth place. She developed six All-NWC student-athletes.
Vacanti brings a strong playing and coaching background to Lewis & Clark, both in the Pacific Northwest and on the East Coast.
She most recently served as the first-ever head coach in Multnomah University's history. Vacanti led the Lions from December 2020 through the inaugural 2023 season. In Multnomah’s first-ever year of competition, Vacanti led the program to a 4-6 record, including a three-game winning streak to end the season. The Lions went a perfect 4-0 against their fellow Cascade Collegiate Conference members.
While coaching the Lions, she also served as the head coach and women’s league director of Lacrosse Northwest starting in 2019. Within her duties, she implemented club-wide offensive concepts and plays, hosted high-level training and strength training programming and created league play opportunities for all levels, ranging from youth to adult leagues. Vacanti also served as the head coach at Ida B. Wells High School during the 2019-20 academic year.
Prior to moving to the Portland Area, Vacanti played collegiately and then began her coaching career in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She competed for four seasons at Division I Duquesne University. Vacanti started for all four seasons and led the team in scoring in each of her final three years. She was named to the Atlantic 10 First Team All-Conference Team on two occasions and the Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team. Over her four seasons, she posted 134 goals, 37 assists and 171 points in 68 starts.
While still in school, she worked as a program director and a coach for under-14 teams at the Duquesne Lacrosse Camps. After graduating, Vacanti worked in a similar role for North Hills Lacrosse in Pittsburgh.
