Palm Beach Atlantic University athletic director Courtney Lovely Evans announced Laurie Podmilsak as the head coach of PBA women's lacrosse in May 2024 after Podmilsak served as the interim head coach of the women's lacrosse program for the 2024 season.
Podmilsak took over the program in December of 2023 and guided the Sailfish lacrosse program to three victories in 2024. The Sailfish earned home victories over Catawba, Holy Family, and North Greenville in the non-conference portion of their schedule. Every team the 'Fish played in their Sunshine State Conference schedule was nationally ranked but PBA played their best games of the year against No. 7 Rollins and No. 11 Embry-Riddle, pushing them to the brink before falling in the final minutes.
Under the leadership of Podmilsak at the helm of the program, PBA attacker Rachel Delate set the school's single-season goal-scoring record with 49. Sailfish goalie Courtney Rausch also set records by breaking the school's career saves record this season with 248. Podmilsak led the Sailfish to its most wins in program history in 2025. PBA picked up wins over Belmont Abbey, Georgian Court, and Anderson. Delate continued to star during the season, earning All-American honors after breaking the single-season records in points (100).
The Sailfish matched their best season in program history again in 2026, picking up wins over Young Harris, North Greenville, Montavallo, Lee, Emmanuel, and Quincy. Taryn Thompson earned SSC Defensive Player of the Week honors on March 16 after her performance in a games over Emmanuel and Lee.
- 2 All-SSC Second Team Honorees
- 1 IWLCA All-Region Honoree
- 1 USA Lacrosse All-American
- 1 CSC Academic All-American
- 8 CSC Academic All-District Honorees
- 2 SSC Weekly Award Winners
- 10 ILWCA Scholar-Athletes
Podmilsak has previous head coaching experience at Howard University where she started the lacrosse program from 1998-2000. Since her time in the collegiate game, Podmilsak has been director and coach of Future Elite Lacrosse Club in Fairfax, Virginia and Utah Express Lacrosse in Park City, Utah.
Before becoming a coach, Podmilsak played for four seasons at James Madison where her teams were ranked in the top-10 every season. She graduated from James Madison with a degree in psychology teacher education and a master's degree in special education from George Mason. Podmilsak was named to the Potomac Chapter of the USA Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2013.
| Year |
-Overall- |
-Conference- |
| W-L |
Pct. |
W-L |
Pct. |
| 2024 |
3-11 |
.214 |
0-7 |
.000 |
| 2025 |
6-10 |
.375 |
0-7 |
.000 |
| 2026 |
6-10 |
.375 |
0-7 |
.000 |
| 3 Seasons |
15-31 |
.326 |
0-21 |
.000 |
