NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Senior attacker
Lily Spinner (Summit, N.J.) will captain the Yale women's lacrosse team captain for 2026-27. Spinner was chosen by a team vote.
Spinner and the Bulldogs are coming off a 2026 season in which they won the Ivy League regular season championship for the second time in three years, advanced to the Ivy League Tournament championship game for the fifth straight year and earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the third straight season.
In Spinner's first season, 2024, the Bulldogs won the Ivy League regular season title and went 7-0 in Ivy regular season play for the first time in school history. Yale's 17 wins that season set the school record, and the Bulldogs' 16 wins in Spinner's sophomore season are second-most in school history. The Bulldogs won the Ivy League Tournament and made the NCAA Quarterfinals in both of those seasons.
Erica Bamford, Yale's Joel E. Smilow '54 Head Coach of Women's Lacrosse, praised Spinner's leadership.
"Lily has proven to be a leader among her peers since she arrived at Yale," said Bamford. "She embodies what it means to be a Yale Women's Lacrosse player – hard working, dedicated, relentless, a fierce competitor and a selfless, loyal teammate. I am thrilled that Lily and her fellow seniors will be leading our team headed into the 2026-2027 season."
Spinner is part of a rising senior class of eight. It includes Spinner, defender
Katie Clare (Bayport, N.Y.), defender
Sydney Grogan (Bedford, N.H.), attacker
Karina Herrera (Catonsville, Md.), attacker
Ashley Kiernan (Chatham, N.J.), defender
Lauren McCartin (Somers, N.Y.), goalkeeper
Laura O'Connor (Greenwich, Conn.) and attacker
Paris Panagopoulos (Old Brookville, N.Y.).
That group is charged with leading the Bulldogs into the 2027 season, with 23 players from the 2026 roster set to return – including 10 who started 10 or more games.
"I attribute our team's success to a culture of selflessness, dedication, and grit," said Spinner. "It is easy to show up on game day, but ever since I stepped onto Yale's campus, there has been a clear expectation to perform at your highest level every day, even when nobody is watching. That standard was not just stated; it was shown through the actions, leadership, and commitment of the players who came before me. It helps that at the heart of our culture is how deeply we care about each other. We are willing to push ourselves harder because we were doing it for people we trust, respect, and genuinely want to succeed with. Our success came from a group that put the team first, held each other accountable, and cared about something bigger than themselves."
An economics major, Spinner spent the summer of 2024 studying at the London School of Economics and Political Science. In the summer of 2025 she worked in accounting at Gellert GlobalGroup, a food distribution company. This summer she interned at Jefferies in their Investment Banking Generalist program. She will return there full-time next year in the Consumer Investment Banking group.
Spinner was a three-time USA Lacrosse All-American and two-time USA Lacrosse Academic All-American at Summit High School. She also played for Steps Elite.
Spinner is the fifth Yale women's lacrosse captain from New Jersey.
- 2002: Megan Strenski (Moorestown, N.J.)
- 2008: Kat Peetz (Spring Lake, N.J.)
- 2018: Madeleine Gramigna (Summit, N.J.)
- 2025: Sophie Straka (Chatham, N.J.)
- 2027: Lily Spinner (Summit, N.J.)
