Caroline Wakefield
Biography
Personal: Wakefield was named an assistant women's lacrosse coach at Arizona State on July 28, 2022. She majored in communications with a minor in coaching at North Carolina. Wakefield's father, Mike, played football at James Madison, and her aunt was a two-time All-America soccer player at William & Mary. She wears No. 23 in honor of Michael Jordan and enjoys hobbies such as hiking, fishing, trying new food spots, lake surfing, and biking. Wakefield also finds enjoyment in cleaning and watching sports. If she was not playing lacrosse, she would choose to be a national park director. She credits North Carolina women's lacrosse coaches Jenny Levy and Phil Barnes as people who have made a difference in her life.
2023 Season: Wakefield, a member of the Athletes Unlimited Pro Lacrosse All-Defensive Team, finished in 19th place after accruing 992 leaderboard points. She led the league with 33 ground balls and earned a starting assignment in all 12 games. Wakefield earned MVP 3 honors after establishing a new Athletes Unlimited Lacrosse single-game standard with nine ground balls, in addition to a season-high three caused turnovers against Team Apuzzo on August 6. She also notched six games with three ground balls and registered five games with 100 or more leaderboard points, including a season-best 140 points against Team Apuzzo in the Week Three finale.
2022 Season: Wakefield led the league with 23 caused turnovers and accumulated 994 leaderboard points. She started all 12 games and tied for sixth with 20 ground balls. Wakefield had four games with three or more caused turnovers and set a league single-game record with six caused turnovers against Team Glynn on August 13. She also earned 190 leaderboard points in the Week Two finale with three caused turnovers and two ground balls.
2021 Season: Wakefield collected 1,124 leaderboard points with seven games of 100 or more points. She tied for second in the league with 34 ground balls and recorded at least one ground ball in 14 out of 15 games. Wakefield scored her only goal of the season against Team Treanor on July 31 and registered an assist against Team Wood on August 16. Her season-high of five ground balls came against Team Wood on August 7, and she posted a season-high of four caused turnovers on August 15 against Team Cummings, along with two ground balls. Wakefield started the season with at least one caused turnover in five consecutive games.
At North Carolina: Wakefield was a six-year letter winner. She started in 48 out of 81 career contests for the Tar Heels and scored nine goals with five assists. Wakefield also collected 98 ground balls and caused 64 turnovers throughout her career. In 2021, she was named a Third-Team All-America selection by Inside Lacrosse and ranked second on the team with 33 ground balls. Wakefield also led the team with 27 caused turnovers in her final year with the Tar Heels.