Kristin Blanchette is in her first season as Plymouth State's head women's lacrosse coach.  Blanchette was an assistant coach at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2008-09 after two seasons as an assistant at Brown University.

           Blanchette has gained valuable experience in her three seasons as an assistant coach. In 2009, UMass won the Atlantic 10 regular season and tournament titles and earned a berth to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1984. The Minutewomen won 11 games - the most since 2003 - including eight of its last nine. While at UMass she helped coach nine Atlantic-10 All-Conference players.

            While at Brown, Blanchette coached two freshmen Regional All-Americans who were two of just five freshmen in the Northeast Region, nine nationally, to earn the distinction. The duo also earned spots on the womenslacrosse.com All-Freshman Team.  In 2008, Blanchette coached a Regional All-American and two All-Ivy selections.

            Blanchette continues to work at numerous lacrosse camps and clinics around the country and was a member of the United States Development Team from 2005-07.

            Blanchette played for the Irish National Team at the 2009 World Cup in Prague, Czech Republic, where it finished fifth out of 16 countries. The finish was a World Cup record for a newly-entered country. Blanchette finished third on the team in scoring and notched three goals and an assist in the quaterfinal game vs Japan and the fifth-place game against Wales.

            A 2006 graduate of the University of New Hampshire, Blanchette was a team captain and four-year starting midfielder for the Wildcats.  Blanchette helped UNH to national rankings in 2004, 2005 & 2006 including a berth in the NCAA Tournament in 2004.  She earned America East All-Conference First Team and America East All-Championship team honors in 2006, when she was also a Regional All-American and was selected to play in the prestigious North/South Senior All-Star game. Her senior year she led the team in draw controls and ranked second in points (56), assists (18) and ground balls. Blanchette compiled career totals of 112 goals and 39 assists for 151 points to tie for eighth on the all-time goals list and ninth in career points.

            A native of Sudbury, Mass., Blanchette played soccer, ice hockey and lacrosse for Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School. She was a 2002 high school All-American and was coached by Deb DeJesus, a former All-American goalie at UMass Amherst. Blanchette's sister, Steph played for the Plymouth State from 2004-2007 and was a two-time All-Little East Conference defender.