Caili Guilday

Bio

Caili Guilday is in her eighth season at UT after being hired as the top assistant in the fall of 2018. Caili serves as the defensive coordinator and goalie coach for the Spartans.

In 2025, Guilday helped guide Tampa to its second NCAA National Championship victory, defeating Adelphi, 15-9. On the way to winning back-to-back NCAA titles, the Spartans were crowned Sunshine State Conference regular season champions for the fifth time and were SSC tournament champions for the fourth time, clinching the program's fourth consecutive NCAA appearance. After finishing with an overall record of 21-1, which set a program high for most wins in a single season, Tampa was named the IWLCA South Region and National Coaching Staff of the Year for the second straight season. Guilday and the Spartans had four players in Isabella Avila, Savvy Barbosa, Peyton Howell, and Lexi Waters earn All-American status. In addition to being named as an All-American, defender Lexi Waters was the IWLCA Defender of the Year. Guilday also helped mentor goalkeeper Savvy Barbosa, who finished fifth in the nation in save percentage, and Tampa to finish as the ninth-ranked scoring defense in the nation. The Spartans had six players tabbed IWLCA All-Region and All-SSC, and three players were named as SSC Players of the Year for their respective positions.

In her seventh season as the top assistant at UT, Guilday helped the program to its first-ever National title after defeating Adelphi, 13-8, in Winter Park, Florida. The Spartans finished the season with an overall record of 19-3 and ranked as the nation’s top team, which were both program bests. After capturing its second straight SSC Tournament Championship and first-ever NCAA title, Tampa was named the IWLCA South Region and National Coaching Staff of the Year. Guilday mentored eight players who earned All-SSC honors, while Cece Colombo, Alyssa Romano, and Alex Walling garnered major SSC Player of the Year awards for their respective positions. In addition, seven players were named IWLCA All-South Region, and four achieved All-American status.  In addition to being named as an All-American, defender Lexi Waters was the IWLCA Defender of the Year. The Spartans had six players tabbed IWLCA All-Region and All-SSC, and three players were named as SSC Players of the Year for their respective positions.

Guilday helped lead the 2023 Spartans to their highest ranking in the IWLCA Polls at No.2 and finished out the regular season undefeated in the Sunshine State Conference. As the back-to-back conference champions, the Spartans went on to win the SSC Tournament, their first since 2019, and won their first-ever NCAA Tournament game before falling in the Quarterfinals. Guilday mentored several Tampa players who earned All-South Region and All-SSC selections, including Dani Waters, Sarah Hinkle, and Erin Sistek, who received IWLCA All-America honors.

Guilday and the Spartans finished the 2022 season with an overall record of 11-8 and were crowned SSC Champions. The Spartans recorded four top-25 wins in a row, including a road win over No. 6 Rollins. Tampa had six players receive All-SSC honors, and Madison Birch, Lizzie Pierpont, and Dani Waters were named All-South Region. Waters also received IWLCA All-America honors.

In a shortened 2021 season, the Spartans finished the season with an overall record of 7-3. Guilday helped guide both Cece Colombo and Erin Sistek to All-South Region accolades, and Colombo also received IWLCA All-America honors.

In a shortened 2020 season, the Spartans went 6-1, and Guilday coached the Inside Lacrosse Player of the Year, midfielder Claire Swanson, along with two-time SSC Defensive Player of the Week Bridget Sutter in goal.

In her first season as an assistant coach at the University of Tampa, Caili Guilday helped lead the Spartans to several firsts. The squad won a program-best 14 games as it finished 14-4 in the 2019 season. The squad also received a top 5 national ranking for the first time ever, climbing as high as No. 3 (5/3/19). With a 5-1 Sunshine State Conference record, she helped lead the Spartans to capture their first-ever SSC tournament championship, taking down No. 3 Rollins and No. 5 Florida Southern along the way. Additionally, for the first time in program history, two of her Spartans, Claire Swanson '20 and Carly Vaccaro '20, received IWLCA All-America honors, while Swanson was also named conference player of the year. The Spartans 2019 campaign came to an end when they were defeated in the NCAA tournament, the program's first appearance, by the No. 10 Queens Royals. The Spartans finished the season ranked No. 7 in the IWLCA Coaches Poll.

Guilday, a former women's lacrosse player at the University of Tampa, graduated in December of 2016. Since graduating from UT, she has coached lacrosse at various levels from youth to college. Most recently, she acted as the Interim Head Coach at Millersville University, where she had previously assisted. Her primary responsibilities at Millersville included being the Defensive Coordinator and Goalie Coach for the Marauders. However, she additionally acted as a team trainer, operations personnel, and recruiting coordinator. 

In addition to her role at Millersville University, Guilday was also influential in helping grow the sport of women's lacrosse through NXT Lacrosse Club. At NXT Lacrosse, she served as the camp director and in 2017 was named NXT Coach of the Year. 

As a student-athlete, Guilday was the starting goalkeeper and two-time team captain for an upstart Division I Stetson University program. She then transferred to Tampa, where she played the 2015-16 season, earning All-Sunshine State Conference while setting Tampa's single-season record for saves and ground balls. At Stetson, Guilday was named All-Atlantic Sun in 2014 while leading Division I in saves, saves per game, and ground balls per game. She was named the league's Defensive Player of the Week three times in her career. Guilday also received the league's all-academic honors. In 2015-16, as a member of Tampa, she served as chair of the Team IMPACT Leadership Team. 

Originally from Wallingford, Pennsylvania, Guilday is excited to be back in Tampa and contribute to a program that she experienced firsthand.