Girls Coaches

LIZ CONNELLY, Girls Head Coach

Now in her second year as the head coach of the girls’ lacrosse program at Los Alamitos High School, Liz Connelly oversees more than 60 players on three teams. In her first year as the program’s head coach, Connelly guided the Lady Griffins varsity team to the program’s third consecutive CIF Southern Championship.

Coach Connelly was a three-time All-American lacrosse player in high school and then played three years at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. At Rollins, she was named team captain all three years, and was named to the Division II All-Rookie Team her freshman year and to the Second Team All Region in 2009. She was also named the Division II Unsung Hero of the Year in 2009 by womenslacrosse.com.

Her passion for lacrosse translated to coaching. She has dedicated much of her time to the growth and development of lacrosse in Florida, working with several youth, middle school and high school teams in the greater Orlando area.

She has worked for Bounce Entertainment the past two years in pursuit of a lacrosse coaching career. She started out as a Bounce Hot Pink Coach, undergoing more than 200 hours of training by CEO Crista Samaras, and gaining experience in different aspects of the company. She was Director of Player Development for The ATL, a Bounce club team in Atlanta, GA, Director of TEAM OC in Orange County. She was also involved with the international lacrosse club XTEAM as a player development specialist and head coach.

EMILY WALLACE, Girls Varsity Assistant Coach

Emily Wallace grew up in Syracuse, New York where she played varsity lacrosse for three years at Bishop Ludden High School. She was named to her school’s All-Ludden team and was a Second Team all-league selection in her senior year, which was even more impressive since she also played varsity tennis, was the class vice president and a member of the National Honor Society.

Now in her second year as a coach at Los Al, Coach Wallace helped guide the girls’ varsity to a CIF Southern Section title in her inaugural year as a part of Head Coach Liz Connelly’s staff. She assists Coach Connelly on all parts of the varsity team, with an emphasis on goalies and defense.

When she is not coaching the Lady Griffins, Wallace also coaches the Newport Wedge from Newport Beach and a U-13 team affiliated with Team OC and Bounce Entertainment.

Aside from her lacrosse activities, when she is not working a retail job in Newport Beach or at her family’s Greek restaurant in Tustin, Coach Wallace can be found hitting the books as a student at Orange Coast College.

EMILY MUKAI, Girls JV Head Coach

Coach Emily Mukai is in her second season as a coach at Los Al after guiding the Girls JV squad to an undefeated season in 2011. She was also an assistant coach during the 2011 season for her alma mater, Whittier College.

At Whittier College, Emily was a four-year starting mid-fielder and a three-year team captain. She graduated in 2010 with a degree in Art and Business Administration. During her senior year, she was awarded Team MVP and selected to the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) First Team.

Originally from Massachusetts, Emily was four-year varsity player at the Bancroft School in Worcester, MA. At Bancroft, she was a three-time Eastern Independent League First Team All-Star, two-year captain, two-time Most Valuable Player, and leading scorer for her junior and senior seasons.

She is a US Lacrosse certified coach and a part of the Positive Coaching Alliance.

LIBBY BARNISH, Girls Assistant JV Coach

Now in her second year as a coach of the Lady Griffins, Libby Barnish brings more than a decade of high level field experience to the Los Alamitos lacrosse program.

She enjoyed a successful first season as the Lady Griffin’s Assistant JV Coach in 2010, helping to guide the team to an undefeated 18-0 record and winning several tournament championships, including the OC Invitational Lacrosse Tournament, the Placentia 7v7 Tournament and the Surf City Tournament.

After playing midfield in Whittier College’s lacrosse program for three seasons beginning in 2001, Barnish graduated with a BA in Psychology in 2004. As a two-sport athlete, she also played forward for the women’s soccer program for four seasons and was named the team’s Rookie of the Year in 2000. After Whittier College, she played club lacrosse for seven more seasons as a member of Tricheck Lacrosse.

For the past five years, Barnish has also coached middle school girls in the Beach Cities Youth Lacrosse program. Through her efforts, those teams have been ranked as one of the top two teams in the league for the past three consecutive seasons.

In addition to her on-field accomplishments, she received Educational Specialist (Ed.S) and Masters of Arts (MA) degrees in Educational Psychology from Chapman University in 2009.

Currently, she is a Licensed Educational Psychologist (LEP) and works as a school psychologist at a high school in south central Los Angeles.

BLAKELY RICE, Girls Frosh/Soph Head Coach

Blakely Rice is in her first year as head coach for the freshmen/sophomore girls lacrosse team. 

She was born in Houston, but spent grew up in Aspen, CO.  Rice attended Holderness School in Plymouth, NH where she learned how to play lacrosse, but completed high school in San Clemente where she played for the OC Starz and Mission Viejo Club teams. She was team captain for 2005 and 2006 seasons and was the her team's leading scorer in her senior year. 

Coach Rice continued playing lacrosse at Whittier College where she was a starting midfielder and captain for the 2009 and 2010 seasons.

She graduated from Whittier in 2010 with a degree in biology and minor in business.  While at Whittier, she was also president of the Student Athletic Advisory Committee for three years and represented Whittier College for two years at the NCAA leadership conferences.

LEE LINDQUIST, Girls Frosh/Soph Assistant Coach/Goal Keeper Coach

Coach Lee Lindquist brings many years of “on the field” experience to the girls’ lacrosse program through his lifelong love of athletics, a physically active career as a fireman for the City of Downey, and his 30-year career as a Hollywood stuntman.

After running the Downey YMCA sports program for many years, Lindquist continued his ongoing love of working with children by coaching local softball and soccer teams for 10 years before turning his expertise to the Los Al lacrosse program.

He still competes as an athlete in a men’s softball league, but finds plenty of time to root for his daughter Dani who attends Cal State Long Beach where she is a goalkeeper in the lacrosse program. His daughter Cassie graduated from LAHS in 2011. She is now attending CSU Channel Island and playing volleyball.

This is Coach Lindquist’s third year as a part of the LAHS girls lacrosse program and second years as the head coach for the Frosh/Soph team.