STANFORD, Calif. — On the cusp of the 2026 slate, Stanford’s Susan Ewing York Director of Women’s Field Hockey Roz Ellis announced the hiring of two assistant coaches to the staff for the upcoming season. Carissa Tambroni joins the Cardinal as the new Kristina M. Johnson Assistant Field Hockey Coach while Myrte Van Herwijnen joins the staff as an assistant coach.
“It’s important to continue to open doors for young women in coaching. Carissa and Myrte have both displayed their passion, hockey IQ and desire to push Stanford to a national championship,” said Ellis. “I am happy to have them on board and can't wait to expose our team to their expertise.”
Tambroni heads to The Farm after a one-year stint as an assistant coach at Cornell where she helped head coach Andy Smith lead the Big Red to an 11-4 record that included a 6-0 start to the 2025 campaign. She has also served as a head coach at the club level, leading Blue Stripe Field Hockey Club’s U19 team following her graduation from James Madison University in 2024. Tambroni comes from a coaching family as both her parents coached collegiately with her mother coaching at Cornell from 1997-2003, racking up the third most wins in program history (47) while her father coached the Big Red men’s lacrosse program for 12 years that included three Final Four appearances. Her father still coaches at Penn State where he is the head men’s lacrosse coach.
Tambroni’s playing career spanned five seasons at JMU where she appeared in 57 games while making 39 starts including 37-consecutive starts in her final two seasons. The midfielder/backer had a breakout season her final year, placing tied-second on the Dukes with 24 points via a 9-6-24 line while ranking second in minutes played with 1,203 as JMU went 14-6 on the season. A 2024 All-MAC Second Team honoree, Tambroni ended her career with nine goals and 10 assists while racking up 2,423 minutes.
Van Herwijnen begins her first season on The Farm after a stellar playing career at the University of Massachusetts where she was a three-time Atlantic-10 Goalkeeper of the Year, three-time A-10 First Team All-Conference and earned an A-10 All-Championship Team nod in 2022 as a freshman. Van Herwijnen appeared in 80 games for UMass, amassing a 56-23 record while recording 23 shutouts.
Helping lead UMass to the Final Four in 2024, Van Herwijnen earned Second Team NFHCA All-America honors in 2024 while twice being named NFHCA Northeast All-Region First Team. A native of Huizen, The Netherlands, she boasted a strong academic record with a 4.0 GPA, racking up numerous NFHCA Academic Awards while recently being named a College Sports Communicators (CSC) First Team Academic All-American this summer.
Stanford opens the 2026 campaign in just over a month as the Cardinal hosts UMass-Lowell at Varsity Turf on Friday, August 28. First strike against the River Hawks is slated for 4 p.m. PT.