hayes

Talia Hayes

Talia Hayes was hired as the UWRF's second women's lacrosse head coach in program history in November of 2021. Hayes is the offensive coordinator and the draw team coach for the Falcons. 

During the 2026 season, Hayes guided the Falcons to one of the most successful campaigns in program history. UWRF tied the program record with 15 victories and advanced to the WIAC Championship game for the first time. Following the season, Hayes and her staff were named WIAC Coaching Staff of the Year for the second time. Julia Hayek was selected as the WIAC Defensive Player of the Year and earned First Team All-WIAC honors alongside sister Samantha Hayek. Both Hayek sisters were also named as IWLCA All-Region selections. Samantha Hayek concluded her career as the program's all-time leader in goals, assists and total points, further cementing her place among the most accomplished student-athletes in program history.

Under Hayes, the Falcons have compiled a 66-23 overall record since the 2022 season, totaling 12 or more wins during all five seasons of her tenure. During the 2024 season, the Falcons went 5-1 during the inaugural WIAC schedule with their sole loss coming against the eventual WIAC Tournament Champions from Colorado College. Hayes and her staff were named the WIAC Coaching Staff of the Year.

In 2023, UWRF went 12-5 and earned an 8-0 record at home and finished the season ranked seventh in NCAA Division III  Region VII. In her first season at the helm in 2022, Hayes led the Falcons to a 15-2 overall record, finishing the year ranked eighth in Region VII and leading NCAA Division III in shots per game (42.8) and shots on goal per game (32.4). 

Hayes has experience as an assistant coach at the high school level, spending time as the Eastview High School (Apple Valley, Minn.) girls lacrosse varsity assistant coach since 2017. In addition, she coached club lacrosse in Minnesota for several years.

A three-year team captain and Midwest Women's Lacrosse All-Conference honoree at the University of Northwestern in St. Paul, Minn., Hayes is the Northwestern women's lacrosse all-time leading scorer with 258 points off 179 goals and 79 assists. She was also the league's Rookie of the Year and was a three-time Team MVP.

Also a member of the Northwestern women's basketball team, she helped lead the Eagles to an NCCAA National Championship appearance as a team captain. In 2020, she was named an NCAA Woman of the Year nominee and earned the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference Scholar-Athlete Leadership Award. 

She graduated with a bachelor's degree in Biology and master's degree in Organizational Leadership from Northwestern.
 
Year W-L-T Pct. WIAC W-L-T, Place
2026 15-4 .789 7-1, 2nd
2025 12-5 .706 6-3, 5th
2024 12-7 .632 5-1, 2nd
2023 12-5 .706 NA
2022 15-2 .882 NA
Totals 66-23 .742 18-5

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