Caylee Waters

Personal: Waters is currently serving as a volunteer assistant coach at Army West Point after spending time at North Carolina and Stanford as a goalkeeper coach. She helped the Tar Heels achieve a perfect 22-0 record and secure the NCAA title during the 2022 campaign. Waters has also coached goalkeepers in private lessons and clinics while coaching Rye Youth Lacrosse earlier this year. Her hobbies include playing pickleball and golf, completing New York Times crossword puzzles, and spending time with friends and family. She also enjoys skiing, Crossfit, and cooking steak on the grill. Waters has a 10-month-old Australian shepherd named Barkley and is one of four children in her family. Her mother, Cappy, was a diver at Clemson, her father, Artie, was a diver at Virginia Tech, and her uncle, Tommy Craig, was a diver at North Carolina. She aspires to learn how to surf and speak Spanish, listing North Carolina women’s lacrosse coaches Jenny Levy and Phil Barnes as people who have made a difference in her life. Waters has worn No. 43 since her playing days at North Carolina.

2023 Season: Waters garnered 13th place in the final league standings after posting 1,068 leaderboard points during her third Athletes Unlimited season. She started in all 13 games and was sixth in the league with 328 stat points. Additionally, she ranked fourth in the league with 82 saves. Waters authored an 8.21 goals against average while stopping 48.8 percent of the shots she faced over 419 minutes. She was selected as the Game MVP twice and had a pair of double-digit save performances. Notably, Waters made a season-high 13 saves against Team Bosco in a victory on August 5 and stopped both shootout attempts. She finished with a season-high 183 leaderboard points and MVP 1 honors in a shootout triumph. Additionally, Waters notched 11 saves against Team Moreno in the Week Two opener, and closed Week Two with nine saves against Team Read, along with two ground balls and a caused turnover. She also posted three consecutive games with 100 or more leaderboard points.

2022 Season: Waters had an impressive performance as a second-year goalkeeper. She finished fifth on the leaderboard with 1,385 points and ranked second in the league with 620 stat points. Waters tied for fifth with 120 MVP points and recorded 100 or more leaderboard points in 6 out of 12 games. She made 102 saves throughout the season, including a season-high 13 stops in the season finale against Team Glynn. Waters’ career-high of 216 leaderboard points came in the Week Three opener against Team Moreno, where she made 10 saves and allowed only five goals. She also had 11 saves in a Week Three game against Team Apuzzo, earning her 189 leaderboard points. Waters finished the season strong with at least nine saves in eight consecutive games.

2021 Season: Waters finished second on the Athletes Unlimited Lacrosse leaderboard with 1,753 points. She had 10 games with 100 or more points, tying for the league lead. Waters also tied with attacker Sam Apuzzo for the league lead in MVP points with 255. She was awarded game MVP honors eight times, which was the league high, including three MVP 1 selections. Waters ranked fourth in the league with 478 stat points and was second among Athletes Unlimited goalkeepers with 92 saves and 106 goals allowed. She had two double-digit save performances in the final week of the season. Waters also contributed with 24 ground balls in 15 games, including a season-high four ground balls against Team Treanor and Team Glynn. Her season-high of 12 saves came in the Week Five opener against Team Glynn, and she had 11 saves in a close 11-10 loss to Team Ohlmiller. Waters also had nine saves in a victory over Team Treanor on July 31.

International Experience: Waters was a member of the United States Women's National Team program since 2015. She represented Team USA at the 2022 World Lacrosse Women's World Championship, appearing in seven games as a reserve. Waters had a .531 save percentage with 17 saves, including a six-save performance against Australia in pool play and three saves in the semifinal victory over Australia.

Other Professional Experience: Waters played two years with the Philadelphia Fire of the Women's Professional Lacrosse League. She was drafted with the No. 1 overall pick and registered 14 saves while allowing 10 goals during the 2019 campaign.

At North Carolina: Waters was a four-year letter winner and appeared in 78 games from 2014-2017. She was a member of the Tar Heels' 2016 NCAA Championship team. Waters posted a .484 save percentage with 462 career saves and an 8.68 career goals against average. She received several accolades, including being a First-Team IWLCA and Lacrosse Magazine All-America selection in 2015. Waters was named the 2015 National Goalkeeper of the Year by the IWLCA, Inside Lacrosse, and Lacrosse Magazine. She also earned First-Team Inside Lacrosse All-America honors during her junior season. Waters was a four-time All-Atlantic Coast Conference honoree, with two First-Team commendations. She shared the Kellie Thompson Shirley Award in 2017 with current Athletes Unlimited Pro Lacrosse player Sammy Jo Tracy. Waters holds the North Carolina single-season record with 177 saves in 2017 and ranks second in program history with 49 career victories.