HEAD COACHES
Laurie Downs-DIRECTOR
Laurie has been coaching lacrosse at Greenwich Academy since 1983. A field hockey and lacrosse player at Penn State, she won a NCAA lacrosse championship in 1980 and captained her lacrosse team her senior year. Laurie then went on to play on the US Lacrosse squad for seven years and has competed on New England teams at the National Tournament. Laurie has been active as a coach in the Greenwich community as well, coaching winter clinics and as Director of Lax Her Way (Lightning), a spring/summer travel program for middle school girls. She holds a Level I and Level II coaching certification from US Lacrosse and has written coaching materials geared toward this age group.
Cayla Liptak
Hailing from Fairfield, Cayla currently teaches Physical Education and coaches field hockey, soccer, and lacrosse at The Holderness School in NH. She played Division III lacrosse at Bowdoin College and graduated with a B.A. in Art History and Italian. During her freshman year at Bowdoin, the team reached the NCAA Final Four and Championship game. Cayla has been coaching with Comet for the past four summers and helps direct our overnight and day camps. Her favorite coaching memory is winning the Schoolgirls' Division win the Comet 2023 team at the 2017 World Cup in London, England!
Julia Giorgio
Julia graduated from the University of Notre Dame, earning a Bachelor's Degree in Accounting from the Mendoza College of Business in 2014 before continuing on to obtain her Masters of Science in Accountancy degree in 2015. During her undergraduate years, she was a midfielder on the Varsity Women's Lacrosse Team and named captain during her final senior season. She was a member of the 4.0 Club (for all Student Athletes who obtain a 4.0 in a semester), named Big East Academic All- American and earned four monogram awards. She is currently in her fourth season as a midfielder for the New York Athletic Club in NYC. She grew up in Greenwich and attended Convent of the Sacred Heart for 5 years where she played varsity field hockey and lacrosse and was also a competitive equestrian show jumper at the national level.
COACHES
Joannie Chioffi
Carly Downs
Carly graduated from Bucknell University in the spring of 2015, where she was a member of the Division I lacrosse program for four years. More recently, she assisted with the Greenwich Youth Lacrosse 7A team and then with the Storm 2021 summer team. Before attending Bucknell, Carly played both field hockey and lacrosse at Greenwich Academy, and developed a passion for coaching through her involvement in a number of youth sport programs.
Sally Duval
Sally coaches varsity field hockey and varsity lacrosse at Greenwich Academy. She graduated from Harvard University in 2000, winning a NCAA championship in ice hockey 1999 and captaining the 1999-2000 team. An avid runner, Sally just completed her third ultra marathon in June, 2016.
Georgia Gallagher
Georgia grew up in Rye, NY playing Rye Youth Lacrosse and later GYL. She played for Snipers Elite Lacrosse and also attended Comet camps in middle school and attended Greenwich Academy from 6th grade-12th grade. During her time playing Varsity field hockey and lacrosse at GA, she was awarded Under Armour top 150 her Sophomore year, played on various pre-collegiate All-Star teams, was awarded Academic All-American for Field Hockey, and was GA Lacrosse Varsity A's Most Improved Player in 2021. Georgia has experience in all positions, and is mostly a defender and midfielder now during her Freshman year at Bowdoin College. She has been coaching for Comet since her 9th grade year, and has experience coaching both lacrosse and field hockey with all ages.
Ashton Guifoile
From Fairfield, CT, Ashton Guifoile is a 2017 Fairfield Ludlowe High School Graduate where she played Lacrosse prior to attending Long Island University. Ashton is now finishing up her education at Fairfield University studying English and Education. After years of coaching multiple teams, Ashton just finished her second year as the Junior Varsity coach at Staples High School.
Elizabeth Orr
Originally from Louisville, Kentucky, Elizabeth moved to Greenwich to teach Kindergarten at Brunswick. She graduated from Sewanee: The University of the South in 2020, where she played lacrosse. Last year, she began coaching at GA and is the head coach for the JV lacrosse team and an assistant soccer coach.
Lindsay Potter
Lindsay grew up in Greenwich, CT and was captain of the Greenwich High School lacrosse team her senior year. She was a 4 year starter at Roanoke College in Virginia, two-time NCAA All-American, and All-South Region selection for the Maroons. Lindsay was also named 1999 Roanoke College Women's Athlete of the Year, ODAC Player of the Year, and was a two-time all ODAC Selection. She ranks among the all-time leaders at Roanoke in career points, goals and assists, and was captain of her team senior year. During her tenure at Roanoke, The Maroons captured three ODAC Titles and two NCAA Tournament appearances. After college, Lindsay coached at Greenwich High School, Greenwich Youth Lacrosse, and most recently Comet Lacrosse. In 2009, Lindsay was inducted into the Roanoke College Hall of Fame. Lindsay lives in Greenwich, CT with her husband Seth and two kids, Lily (11)and Owen(9).
Cate Spaulding
ADMIN
Jen Ludington
Jen joined us at Comet in January 2017. Prior to that, she received her 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training and was a studio coordinator at Sama Yoga in New Canaan, CT. Jen helps manage everything behind the scenes including tournament planning, registration, bookkeeping/accounting, uniform ordering, team management and website design and maintenance. In addition, Jen also serves as the Program Administrator at The OGRCC in Old Greenwich, CT, a community non-profit providing programs and events to the Greenwich community. Jen graduated from Denison University in 1987 and she has 3 grown children, all of whom played lacrosse at Greenwich High School.