New women's lacrosse head coach Alyssa Guido is eager to lead her program toward success.

When the Raiders open the 2025 season on Feb. 7 with a home game against Monmouth, guiding them will be a new coaching staff led by head coach Alyssa Guido.

Hired in July, Guido represents the start of a new chapter for the program. After achieving success as an associate head coach and offensive coordinator at Drexel, Guido hopes for similar results with a Colgate program that is striving for improvement.

To make it happen, Guido wants to change the culture of the team. She wants everyone in a maroon-and-white uniform to have a positive experience. She wants her student-athletes to have fun, play with confidence, and understand that Game 1 of the upcoming season means a clean slate for all.

Along with a strong coaching background, Guido brings enthusiasm and passion. She understands that each student-athlete is different, and may have to be coached in a different way to build a connection.

The first six months on the job were a busy time for Guido, who had to meet her team, build a coaching staff, recruit, and prepare for the new season. Now, with the preseason underway, Guido and her staff have ramped up the pace. 

While it’s a fresh start for all, Guido has emphasized that a winning record and conference tournament bid is possible. But it begins with playing with confidence and enjoying the game.

Questions and answers with Alyssa Guido.

What did you do after you became head coach? 

I immediately tried to figure out who the players were. I was trying to look at the roster and see what I have. I wanted to look deep down into the team more than I did during the interview process.

When was the first time you met with the team?

We did a Zoom call about two days after I accepted the position. I let them know I was super excited to be here. I want it to become fun. I want the team to have confidence. I want there to be a new look and a new aura around the Colgate program.

I waited until the semester began before meeting everyone in person. I didn’t want the first true interaction to be just over Zoom. I wanted it to be more personable, so when they came in, I met them class by class so they wouldn’t feel super awkward with the coach in a one-on-one meeting.

It has now been a few months since you became the head coach. What has kept you busy in that time? 

When I began, I definitely had to hit the ground sprinting. I had to start recruiting right away. I was really trying to figure out how I was going to recruit. September 1 was quickly approaching. I had to get a camp going. That was an opportunity for me to meet the seniors because they came to help me with it. I was figuring out who the current players are, who is going to fit the program best, and getting to know the girls and learning more about the previous season. What did they like last year, what did they not like? The biggest thing was building relationships with them.

Head coach Alyssa Guido talks to her team at a practice in January.

Based on what you’ve seen so far, what’s your assessment of the team?

Skillwise, we have skill. I think it’s being able to put it together. You have all these puzzle pieces and you have to figure out how they will fit together best. Over the fall, I focused on letting everyone have an opportunity to play and show me who they are as a player. I wanted to see, baseline, how everyone was. We have a lot of talent. It’s being able to put the pieces properly and put them into sets that will show their strengths — something they will find fun and could work with.

What are your goals for the new season?

I let the players know that comparatively from last year to this year I just want them to have confidence. I want them to come to practice and have fun. We can have a winning non-conference season. Last year, looking at their non-conference games, they lost out. This year, we could have a winning record in our non-conference and we could compete to go back to the Patriot League playoffs.

What is your philosophy as a coach? 

My biggest thing is I always want my players to have a really great experience. I think comparing my college experience and my coaching college experience, you always want someone to have a similar, if not better experience than you had. A big part of that is, I stress to them, you can’t coach all the players the same. It’s not a one-size-fits-all when it comes to coaching. It’s something I said to them. If you want to come in, my door is always open. Each person is different, so I stress to them that I want to get to know how they work and who they are as people because it helps you coach them. Another thing I told them is that we are going to be learning together. I am always going to focus on your effort and energy. If you can give me your effort and energy and your enthusiasm throughout everything, we are going to work, we are going to figure things out together. I want them to understand that I want the experience to be something they remember and come back to. 

Have you noticed differences in how you recruit at Colgate compared to how you recruited at Drexel?

Drexel is a city school. That’s something you have to take in mind. Academically, it’s different. They have a whole different formation as far as how they run things. Colgate is looked at as a mini Ivy. And even regionally, I look at different places now when I’m recruiting. Now I can broaden my horizon a little bit and look at the New England area and find a whole different level of player. That’s one thing that’s been awesome about coming here. Colgate sells itself. How I structured reaching out is different than how I did it at Drexel. I wanted it to be more personable. I wanted to meet the parents sooner rather than later. I want to get a feel for the players and the parents earlier on in the process rather than wait until they get here. What I want to find out is, is this what you as a player are looking for or is this what your parents are looking for? I did face times with everybody so they could see me. Phone calls are sometimes tough for a 15 or 16-year-old girl, talking to someone random. So I was able to change how I first interacted with them. I had a lot of success with that. 

What’s next on your agenda?

We’ve watched a little bit of video from the previous season. We really want to figure out what was the difference and why we were falling short in some of the games last year to be better this coming year. Now, the staff is meeting to go over what we want to work on for the next three weeks. We only have three weeks until game No. 1. It’s a short amount of time to put a lot of stuff in. It’s a short amount of time to put our ducks in a row. We will organize our next few weeks right away, so we know how we are practicing. 

Is there anything else you want to say about going into the new season?

Our biggest thing this year is wiping the slate clean. We want to start fresh. I think we have a mountain to climb. But when you are climbing a mountain, you get to learn a lot about each other and the program. I’m really excited to see what this group brings because they are very passionate, they are very excited. And there is so much more to them than what they’ve shown in the past.