Kayleigh Bender has been a revelation for the Hofstra University women’s lacrosse team. She scored 31 goals last season en route to the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) Rookie of the Year award. In five games this season, she has 11 goals and already has two games with four goals under her belt, but her impact as a positive presence off the field may be just as important for the Pride. 

“Everyone loves [Bender],” said Hofstra head coach Shannon Smith, “She’s got a great personality, she’s energetic, she’s always smiling, she loves to laugh, loves to crack jokes and she’s a really good teammate and really genuinely cares about every person on the team.”

Keeping things light and breezy in a Division I environment has its challenges, but for Bender, it’s simple – she wants the game to be fun.

“It was always fun as a kid but sometimes you get caught up as things get fast and the season blows by,” Bender said. “[Smith] always says ’be where your feet are.’ I just try to enjoy playing with my best friends every day.”

Hofstra’s women’s lacrosse team is a tight knit group, and Bender had no issues breaking into the fold in the summer of 2024 when she first stepped foot on campus.

“I would say [we connected] instantly,” Bender said. “On and off the field [the team] are my best friends and my sisters.”

There was no hazing here; there was no need to earn her way into the good graces of the team’s veterans. Bender was welcomed with open arms.

“I had never felt so seen and appreciated,” Bender said. “I felt like I was fully part of something. Being part of a team is great, but there’s nothing like truly loving the people that you’re around.” 

That instant connection led to instant results on the field.

“I feel like I really got a good groove with the girls on offense and it led to success on the field,” Bender said. “There was full trust in my teammates around me, they encouraged me, they never looked down upon me because I was a freshman, I was treated as an equal. I think with my teammates and my coaches believing in me and pushing me every day at practice I was prepared.”

Megan Flannery was a crucial mentor for Bender. Flannery played four seasons at midfield for the Pride and provided the veteran leadership that any young player needs.

“[Flannery] was a workhorse like no other, her work ethic pushed me to give my all every day,” Bender said. “On the field, she was so encouraging … if I had a bad play, she would say, ’Shake it off, we need you, this team needs you.’ She was very supportive of me.”

Learning from mistakes is a crucial part of any young player’s development. The encouragement from Flannery and others helped her to learn from her mistakes in real time but not dwell on them.

“It made me feel like it was going to be okay and made me feel like I’m still capable of providing for the team even if I made a mistake when I’m still learning. [Flannery] was straightforward in the best way, that’s what you need on the field,” Bender said. “I needed to learn a lot when I came in. It was a whole new world of lacrosse I was going to play … so being able to learn from mistakes was very helpful.”

Bender has a special friendship with Nikki Mennella, Hofstra’s superstar attacker. The duo has done spectacular things together on the field, in large part due to their tight bond off the field.

“I trained with [Mennella] over the summer before coming to Hofstra for my freshman year and obviously you know the name; you know how good she is. So, it was great to be taken under her wing. She was like my big sister on the team,” Bender said.

As the pair has grown closer, their partnership on the field has grown deadlier.

 “We’re great friends, [we] hang out outside [of] lacrosse, and I feel like that translates to on the field. We have good chemistry. I know her tendencies, and she knows mine,” Bender said.

Smith has seen the dynamic duo of Bender and Mennella grow as well.

“[Bender and Mennella] complement each other very well,” Simth said. “[Bender’s] a righty, [Mennella’s] a lefty. I think they have great chemistry when they’re looking for each other on feeds. They bring a lot of fire to the offense, which pumps everyone up.”

While it’s not particularly common for a freshman to score 30 goals in a season, Hofstra’s coaching staff knew that Bender could be an impact player on offense last year.

“We recruited [Bender] to be an impact player and to make an impact in our program,” Smith said. “She put a lot of work into that and listened to what we needed and wanted as coaches and put the work in outside of practice. As she continued to grow, we really could see the enormous impact she was going to have.”

Expectations were high for Bender in Hofstra’s season-opening game against Long Island University last winter, but she shattered them, scoring four goals and introducing herself to the world of college lacrosse with authority. Bender was moved around the field throughout that game. She started out playing at X position, before moving up top into more open space.

“Bender did a really really great job of staying composed and playing in the different areas that we put her in,” Smith said after that game.

It would have been easy to take the foot off the gas after a game like that, but Bender buried 27 goals after opening day and saw herself grow immensely.

“When I was being scouted against, people figured out my tendencies, so I had to grow because I had to learn more moves and more layers to the offense. I had to learn how to respond to the defense better and what they gave me,” Bender said.

As conference play approaches rapidly, Bender’s eyes are on the CAA championship.

“We talk about [the CAA Championship] every day,” Bender said. “It’s something you go to bed thinking about the night before a conference game. It makes me excited just thinking about getting the chance to play in that game.”

Despite all her success on the field and all her dreams of CAA glory, Bender treasures the friendships she has forged with her teammates above everything.

“Having my best friends I know I can rely on has totally changed my life,” Bender said. “If at 3 a.m. I’m still having a bad day or something, they’ll be there to call. It’s like having a bunch of sisters who you’re with 24/7.”