GEORGIA HOLLAND  |  ASSISTANT COACH

Georgia Holland joined the Northwestern staff as an assistant coach in January 2018 and was elevated to associate head coach in February of 2021.

Holland came to Evanston after spending the 2016 and 2017 seasons as an assistant coach at Michigan State.

The Wildcats began Holland’s first season as an assistant ranked No. 12 in the nation and earned a spot in every weekly poll that year, climbing as high as No. 9. She helped seniors Puck Pentenga and Eva van Agt both achieve All-Big Ten and NFHCA All-West honors while beating down three top-15 opponents.

Holland played a critical role in helping Bente Baekers break out as a redshirt first-year in 2019 after she missed her entire true first-year campaign with an injury. Under Holland’s guidance, Baekers scored 28 goals that year, the second most in a season in Northwestern history, and won Big Ten Freshman of the year as the Wildcats returned to the NCAA Tournament.

With COVID-19 pushing back the 2020 season, Holland was promoted to associate head coach in Feb. 2021 just before the start of the modified spring campaign. In her new role, Holland helped develop another breakout newcomer in Maddie Zimmer who won Big Ten Freshman of the Year and was named an All-American. Baekers and Kayla Blas also took home All-American honors that season en route to an NCAA Tournament berth and two wins over the No. 2 team in the nation.

Holland and the Wildcats lifted the first National Championship in program history in 2021, posting three shutouts and allowing just one goal during the run through the NCAA Tournament. Baekers and Zimmer both earned first-team All-American recognition while six Wildcats earned NFHCA All-West honors and three were named All-Big Ten. Holland also played a hand in the program’s first-ever win over a No. 1 opponent as the Wildcats beat top-ranked Iowa on the road.

Holland earned recognition as part of the NFHCA National Staff of the Year alongside Tracey Fuchs and Will Byrne for her efforts in 2021.

For the second straight year, Holland helped Northwestern back to the national title in 2022 after tying the program record for most wins in a season with 20. The Wildcats opened the season as the No. 1 team in the nation and won its first eight games, the longest win streak to start a season since 1985. They toppled 15 ranked opponents and posted a 7-1 record in overtime games, earning the “Cardiac ‘Cats” moniker, while also advancing to the Big Ten Tournament championship game. Baekers and Blas, who both started with Holland in 2018, took home major awards as Baekers winning NFHCA West Player of the Year and Blas winning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. A program-record eight student-athletes were named to the NHCA All-West Team under Holland in 2022.

In addition to her work at the Division I level, Holland has worked extensively with USA Field Hockey. Since 2018, she has worked within the Olympic Developmental Program in coaching stints for both the U21 and U17 national teams. Holland helped lead the U21 USA team to a bronze medal finish at the 2021 Junior Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile. This medal secured the team’s invitation to the 2022 FIH Junior World Cup in South Africa. Prior to her work with the U21s, she served as an assistant coach for the U17 team from 2018- 2019 and accompanied them on their tour to Cologne, Germany. Every summer since 2016, Holland has coached regional select teams at USA Field Hockey’s National Futures Tournament and Nexus Championship.

Prior to beginning her coaching career, Holland enjoyed a standout collegiate career as a player, first at Yale and then at Wake Forest. She twice earned unanimous All-Ivy League honors (2011, 2013) at Yale and was the 2010 Ivy League Co-Rookie of the Year. A team captain, NFHCA Second Team All-Mideast Region and the ECAC Division I First Team in 2013, Holland earned Yale's Francis Gordon Brown Prize that annually recognizes the athlete who best represents leadership, scholarship and service for the university.

She went on to play her final season of eligibility at Wake Forest where she was named to the NFHCA All-American Third Team and was the ACC Defensive Player of the Year and a second-team All-ACC pick. Holland’s second overall all-region selection of her career came as the NFHCA All-South Region first team.

A five-time NFHCA National Academic Squad selection, she played on both the U19 and U21 National Teams in stints from 2010-13, including competing for the USA at the 2013 FIH Junior World Cup in Monchengladbach, Germany.

Holland earned her bachelor’s degree in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology from Yale in 2014 and her master’s degree in Health and Exercise Science from Wake Forest in 2016. She is currently working toward her Master’s of Business Administration from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management.

WILL BYRNE  |  ASSISTANT COACH / RECRUITING COORDINATOR

Will Byrne joined the Wildcats in the spring of 2016, after most serving as a volunteer assistant coach at the University of Massachusetts under the direction of former Northwestern assistant Carla Tagliente. He earned Level 2 coaching accreditation through the US Field Hockey Association in 2010.

In his first year on the staff, the Wildcats rattled off an eight-match winning streak including back-to-back wins over No. 4 Penn State and No. 6 Maryland. Three individuals were named All-Big Ten while four were named All-NFHCA West Region.

Byrne guided the Wildcats to one of their most successful seasons in program history in his second year as a coach. Northwestern finished 15-7 and won an NCAA Tournament match for the first time since 1994, defeating Louisville in the first round. Three players earned All-Big Ten Honors and two Wildcats earned All-American selections with Puck Pentenga landing on the third team and Sophia Miller becoming the first selection to the first team since Chelsea Armstrong in 2012.

In just his third season, Byrne coached two All-Big Ten selections in Puck Pentenga and Eva van Agt, who also both were named to NFHCA All-West Region Teams. The Wildcats earned four ranked wins as well.

Byrne helped guide Northwestern back to the NCAA Tournament in 2019, taking down eight ranked opponents in the process. Under Byrne, redshirt first-year Bente Baekers broke out as one of the most prolific scorers in the nation, netting 28 goals, the second most in a season in program history, and winning Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Three student-athletes were named All-Big Ten and four earned NFHCA All-West honors.

After COVID-19 pushed the 2020 campaign to spring 2021, Byrne again helped develop one of the brightest young stars in the nation as true first-year Maddie Zimmer won Big Ten Freshman of the Year and was named an All-American. Three different Wildcats earned All-American recognition that season, the most since 1995, while Byrne coached Northwestern back to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Byrne and the Wildcats won the first National Championship in Northwestern history in 2021, posting three shutouts and allowing just one goal during the run through the NCAA Tournament. Baekers and Zimmer both won first-team All-American recognition under Byrne, the first time since 1991 Northwestern boasted two first-team All-Americans in the same season, while six Wildcats earned NFHCA All-West honors and three were named All-Big Ten. Byrne also played a hand in the program’s first-ever win over a No. 1 opponent as the Wildcats beat top-ranked Iowa on the road.

Byrne earned recognition as part of the NFHCA National Staff of the Year alongside Tracey Fuchs and Georgia Holland for his efforts in 2021.

For the second straight year, Byrne helped the Wildcats back to the NCAA title game in 2022 and posted 20 wins, tying the program record that had gone unmatched for 37 years. The Wildcats opened the season as the No. 1 team in the nation and won its first eight games, the longest win streak to start a season since 1985. They toppled 15 ranked opponents and posted a 7-1 record in overtime games, earning the “Cardiac ‘Cats” moniker, while also advancing to the Big Ten Tournament championship game. Byrne coached Kayla Blas to recognition as the Big Ten Defensive Player of the year, Northwestern’s first since 1995, and Bente Baekers to the NFHCA West Player of the Year Award. A program-record eight student-athletes were named to the NHCA All-West Team under Byrne in 2022.

In addition to his work at the Division I level, Byrne has worked extensively with USA Field Hockey.  Since 2018, he has worked with the Senior Women’s National Team as a video analyst, touring with the team in the FIH Hockey Pro League, and helping the team to a bronze medal at the 2019 Pan American Games. Since 2016 he has served as site director for Chicago’s Level I Futures site, and coached regional select teams at USA Field Hockey’s National Futures Tournament at Young Women’s National Championship.

His high school coaching experience includes stints at Amherst Regional High (Amherst, Mass.), Sidwell Friends School (Washington D.C.) and Colorado Academy (Denver, Colo.), helping the latter reach a pair of state finals.

Byrne graduated from Colorado State University with degrees in English and music in 2007 before earning his master’s degree in creative writing from American University in 2014.

EDEN RANE |  DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS

Eden Rane returned to her hometown, 20 minutes from Evanston, and joined the Northwestern staff as the Director of Operations for Field Hockey and Softball in October 2021.

Prior to beginning her administrative career, Rane competed as a D1 Lightweight coxswain for the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  In 2019, she coxed and took 4th place in the Lightweight 8+ at the IRA National Championships.  The team finished 3rd in team points.  In 2021, she coxed and too 2nd place in the Lightweight 8+ at the IRA National Championship.  The team finished 1st in team points.

In 2020, Rane was voted Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) President, representing the voice of Wisconsin Student-Athletes.  Rane was one of two student-athletes that served on UW’s Athletic Board.  She also represented the student-athletes in the Cabinet of Student Leaders, where leaders of major student organizations provided student advocacy to the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs.  She later joined the founding committee of UNCUT-Madison, a platform designed to empower student-athletes to share their own uncensored, stories.  These stories allow student-athletes to advocate for their own causes that are beyond the uniform.  Through Rane’s exemplified leadership, in 2021, the Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison selected Rane as the lone student to serve on the nine-person Search Committee that will help select the new Athletic Director.

Rane earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2021.