Expectations can be tough to gauge for any first-year coach, but there’s really not anywhere to go but up for Fort Lewis College women’s lacrosse coach JoJo Lutz in Year 1.
Lutz takes over the program after former head coach Ariannah Ritter led the Skyhawks to a 1-15 overall record and 0-10 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference record in her one season as head coach. FLC lost 12 of its 15 games by 10+ goals.
A former Skyhawk defender from 2019-2024, Lutz was the assistant coach for the Skyhawks last season. She hopes to improve on last season as the Skyhawks haven’t had a full winning season since 2017 (FLC went 2-0 in a COVID-19 shortened 2020 season).
“I’m very excited,” Lutz said. “Obviously, with anything new, you feel nerves, but it’s excited nerves because I care about this team. I want them to be successful, and I want to be successful as well. I have faith in what we have done practice-wise, and I know that they’re well conditioned.”
The Skyhawks have been practicing together since the second semester started in January. Lutz said it was hard to have her team away for winter break, but she trusted that they were putting in the work away from FLC. The first-year head coach has liked the chemistry her team has together so far; they care about each other off the field.
After a poor 2025 season, there was a lot for the Skyhawks to improve on. Lutz wanted to make sure her team was conditioned, endurance and sprint-wise, and the team needed to have good basic stick skills. Then the team could work on the next levels of stick skills like passing and catching on the moves and catching clears from the goalie. Lutz wants her team to play with passion and put their endurance to good use.
One positive from last season is the Skyhawks return a lot of players. One of those promising players who jumps off the page is sophomore midfielder Jasmine Nguyen, who led the team with 24 goals and had a team-high 27 points.
“She has so much to offer as a player; she did really well last year,” Lutz said about Nguyen. “So continuing to build off those moments. She's very fast, and a lot of the girls know she's very fast. That can also be used and utilized in defense to high-pressure the ball.”
FLC also returns junior attack Piper Price, who led the team with nine assists last season and was third on the team with 21 points. Lutz has been excited to see her evolve as a leader with her high lacrosse IQ.
One of the most important positions is goalkeeper, and the Skyhawks will have a new one after Caley Lay graduated last year. Junior Olivia Tilbury will start for FLC. She’s a great communicator and has a good clear, according to Lutz.
At 25, Lutz is a young enough head coach that she’s even played with some of the players she now coaches. It’s not that big of a deal for her because she was in a leadership role as a captain when those players were younger. Lutz also has some help from assistant coach Megan Hoffman, who was an offensive player at the Division I level.
The Skyhawks were picked sixth in the six-team RMAC in the conference preseason coaches’ poll. FLC will begin the season on Tuesday against Missouri Western State in Grand Junction, and will play one more non-conference game before conference play starts on March 14 with its home opener against CSU Pueblo.
“Goals are hard because you want to set something realistic for yourself, but also you have a feeling that sometimes unrealistic goals can be achieved,” Lutz said. “So my goal is just to beat last year's scores. That's a realistic goal that we can do. But these girls are capable of a lot more than that.”
bkelly@durangoherald.com
