Entering the 2025 season, the Marist women’s lacrosse team had large question marks surrounding the offense. Who would emerge to take the reins without the powerhouse trio of Kelly Trotta, Kerri Gutenberger and Olivia Arntsen?
Head coach Keith Detelj did not have to wait long to find his answer. In his unit, sophomore attackers Kate Gaven and Annie Shine shouldered much of the offense throughout the season.
Gaven notched 16 goals and 10 assists, good for fourth and third on the team, respectively. However, her season was cut short for the last five games due to a shin injury.
Her family has always been tied to sports. Gaven’s older sister, Emily, played five years of Division I women’s lacrosse at Georgetown and Vanderbilt, acting as Kate’s muse.
“She’s always been my inspiration—through everything,” said Gaven. “I always dreamed of college lacrosse because of her.”
Gaven has been around lacrosse her whole life. Growing up in Garden City, NY, the sport always surrounded her, which is deeply ingrained in the culture of Long Island.
Gaven found a lot of support along her journey to college lacrosse. She credits her high school club lacrosse coach, Danielle Etrasco (now an assistant coach at Richmond), with refining her game. Most importantly, she can always count on cheers from her family.
“My parents took me to every single [high school] club game,” said Gaven. “They’re really into it now, because I’m into it. They’re at all of our games, and they love it.”
Gaven and the Garden City Trojans had a lot of success during her tenure in high school, winning two county championships in Long Island and making the state finals twice, capping off her high school career with 50 points as a senior.
Gaven’s efforts throughout her high school career earned her the attention of Division I women’s lacrosse programs. She fell in love with the Marist campus, but the existing Garden City pipeline was a large factor in determining her commitment. Two of Gaven’s Garden City teammates already played at Marist: senior midfielder Juliana Santel and junior midfielder Caitlin McNaboe.
“On the offensive end, me and Caitlin have great chemistry, and I love playing with her because I’ve known her since high school—we’ve always been playing together,” said Gaven.
However, Gaven’s college career didn’t start as ideally as one would hope, appearing in just three games her freshman year, tallying one goal.
“Freshman year, I knew my role on the team wasn’t going to be a big player or anything. My mindset was to get better every day so that I could grow into a bigger role in sophomore year,” said Gaven. “I spent a lot of time learning from our older players—how they were as leaders, people and players.”
She carried her acquired knowledge into the off-season, where she put her head down and worked relentlessly on carving out an expanded role for her second year.
“I think when she came back, she really showed how much she prepared herself for that,” said Detelj. “She was a player where we definitely saw talent, but she needed work, and she definitely put that in over the summer.”
“After the first week, we kept having conversations. She was asking a lot of questions about how she could get better or what she was doing in training,” added Detelj. “I think her curiosity is giving her a great set of skills to bring into the season…We just keep having conversations—it’s working.”
Specifically, Gaven worked to flesh out her role as a “dodger”— her task on the offense is to use her agility and stick skills to evade defenders and create good scoring looks, whether for herself or a teammate.
In her newfound role, she’s become an irreplaceable player on the offense.
“She’s very comfortable under pressure with the ball, so we count on that a lot. She’s a very strong player with her speed and strength, so teams have to adjust,” said Detelj. “They either have to slide to her, which opens up other players, or they’re going to be hit with a goal because she can shoot.”
Gaven truly made her presence felt when the Red Foxes hosted Vermont on Feb. 22, another game in their tough out-of-conference schedule. Gaven recorded her first hat-trick of her collegiate career, and the Foxes stunned Vermont 13-7 to pick up their first win of the season.
“When we played Vermont, our whole team felt connected, and it showed,” said Gaven. “It felt like we finally showed what we worked so hard on every day in practice.”
The out-of-conference stretch for the Red Foxes was brutal; they picked up the sole win versus Vermont out of eight games. However, Gaven cherished the opportunity to square off against good competition.
“I loved the non-conference games. I love being challenged, it’s a whole different type of game. Games like Army and USC, they did nothing but prepare us for the MAAC,” said Gaven. “I feel like we grew a lot in those games. We were looking at it as an opportunity to get better, whether win or lose.”
With her ascendance on the field, Gaven has worked to make strides as a contributor to the team’s culture—something Detelj has emphasized as the backbone of his team.
“We always talk about being bought in. The culture we have is playing as a unit, playing together, not individually,” said Gaven. “The culture we have is that we’re a family, and we build off of each other’s successes very well.”
Being sidelined for the last five games of the season, Gaven still made sure to be as much of a leader as she could. Typically leading by example, it was new for her to step into a more vocal role. While watching from the sidelines, she remains engaged on every possession, cheering wildly despite not sharing the field with her teammates.
“Whatever role you have with the team, you need to make as much value out of it as you possibly can, and she’s finding it wherever she can,” said Detelj. “I think it’s a testament to how much she enjoys being around her teammates and how much she wants the program to succeed.”
Though her breakout sophomore campaign was cut short, Gaven’s impact on Marist women’s lacrosse has been undeniable. In her 14 games, she emerged as a reliable offensive spark, tone-setter and leader. As she rehabs for her junior year, one thing is undeniable for coach Detelj: he’s found a cornerstone in No. 31.
Edited by Ben Leeds and Marley Pope
Graphic by Quinn DiFiore; Photos from Marist Athletics
For more coverage of Marist athletics, follow @cfmarist on Instagram, X, TikTok, and Bluesky. Sign up to receive daily alerts here.