Bio

The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) Department of Athletics hired Princess Zabel to be its next head women's lacrosse coach, it was officially announced by Director of Athletics Amanda Devitt on May 1, 2023. Zabel, who brings a wealth of experience from the Division I level to USJ, becomes the ninth head coach to lead the Blue Jays in women's lacrosse program history.

Zabel takes over the reins of the USJ women's lacrosse program after most recently spending the past season as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Division I High Point University. At High Point, Zabel served as the team's defensive coordinator and was responsible for all correspondence with recruits and organizing camps and clinics. Zabel also serves as the owner and director of Black Pirate Lacrosse, an organization she founded in 2019 that focuses on recruiting events, youth program consulting, and athlete performance. She consults for Westport, Avon, Southington, and Madison youth programs and builds personal training and group training programs for rapid development.

"Princess brings a great deal of experience to USJ and I am excited for our student-athletes to grow under her leadership," said Devitt. "During the search process she showed her commitment to student-athletes and developing them has a whole person. Her values aligned with our mission, and I am happy to have her as part of our team."

"I am thrilled to have the opportunity to return to Connecticut and be a part of the University of Saint Joseph Athletic Department. I look forward to building a competitive culture that is sustainable and empowers young women," said Zabel. "I want to thank Amanda, Wole and the search committee for believing in the vision I have set forth. With the enthusiastic support of the University, the women's lacrosse program will grow and thrive. I am excited to meet and work with the current team and then, on to the recruiting trail."

Prior to joining High Point, Zabel was an assistant athletic director and head coach of the women's lacrosse team at Cheshire Academy. At Cheshire, she completed administrative and facility tasks, effectively communicating expectations with coaches, and was accountable for all athletic department social media. Additionally, she was responsible for all women's lacrosse program organization, practice planning, game preparation, overall student-athlete development, and yearly recruitment and retention of highly skilled mission-appropriate student-athletes. Zabel also spent the 2021 season as a volunteer assistant at Sacred Heart University, where she implemented a new style of offense that led to a 43% increase in shots per game, 24% increase in goals, 18% increase in assists, and 17% increase in total shots.

Zabel joined the staff at Bucknell University in August 2018 as the team's assistant coach, defensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator. In her lone season (2018-19) with the Bison, the defensive unit finished second in the Patriot League and 16th in the nation in caused turnovers per game, 42nd in the nation in ground balls, and had two defenders finish in the top-50 across Division I in ground balls. In addition, one player was named to the All-Patriot League Second Team and two were named All-Academic Team members. Recruiting wise, Zabel yielded three Top-100 recruits and helped secure a nationally-ranked recruiting class in 2019 according to Inside Lacrosse.

Zabel also spent three years as the head coach of nearby Division I Central Connecticut State University (CCSU). During her time at the helm of CCSU, the Blue Devils achieved countless statistical leaders, including the leading scorer and leader in draw controls of the Northeast Conference (NEC). Zabel also coached IWLCA All-Academic team members, four All-NEC players, and 13 Academic All-Conference honorees.

Zabel returned to her alma mater, Villanova University, in 2014 as the team's assistant coach and defensive coordinator, before becoming the program's recruiting coordinator ahead of the 2015-16 school year. While at Villanova, she expanded recruiting to new territories such as New Zealand and Western U.S. to diversify prospects, and guided the team in a competitive BIG EAST schedule, securing the best conference record at the time and first conference playoff appearance in 2015, in four All-BIG EAST Players and the BIG EAST Player of the Year.

Before making the move back to Villanova, she began her coaching career as an assistant at the University of Mount Olive, before becoming a graduate assistant coach at Mercer University.

RECORD AS A HEAD COACH: