Staff

Coach Fitz graduated from Valley Central High School in 2013 where she was a four year Varsity basketball player and two year Varsity lacrosse player. At VC, she was a Section IX Girls Basketball champion and an All-Section selection for basketball and lacrosse. She also was an All-State selection for basketball. She attended Dominican College from 2013-2017 where she played Division II lacrosse for four years at midfield. She was a First and Second team All-Conference in 2016 and 2017 and on the
All-Tournament team in 2017. She is currently Top 10 in Career Points, Assists, and Ground Balls for Dominican College. At Dominican, she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Athletic Training in 2017 and is a Board Certified Athletic Trainer. In 2022, she earned a Master’s Degree in Physical Education from Manhattanville College and is a NYS Certified Physical Education Teacher. Currently, she coaches the Valley Central JV Girls’s basketball team and their Modified Girl’s lacrosse and soccer teams and is a Physical Education Teacher at Valley Central High School.  Coach Fitz is the assistant coach of the Metro Magic 2030 team.

Coach DeSimone was a defender for the Suffern Varsity lacrosse team from 2006-2010. She served as captain her final two seasons as she earned All-County, All-Section and All-American accolades. She also played on the NYS team in the Women’s Division National Tournament and the Hudson Valley team in the Empire State Games in her sophomore and junior year, and most recently was named a member of the Section 1 “All-Decade team” in 2020. After high school Coach DeSimone went on to be a four year starter at defense, and a 2x Captain at Union College where she studied English . After Union, Coach DeSimone the University of Pennsylvania in pursuit of a Masters Degree in the Science of Education.  While there, she served as the girls lacrosse Varsity coach at The Taft School, as well as the head coach of girls JV basketball, and girls modified volleyball. Following her completion of her Master’s, Coach DeSimone moved on to be the JV girl’s lacrosse coach for the 2016-2017 season leading them to a 12-2 final record. As Coach DeSimone continued her teaching journey into NYC, she moved to Queen’s where she continued coaching girls volleyball, girls basketball, and the occasional boys baseball game. At present Coach DeSimone works in Community Engagement for Boston University.

Coach Amanda graduated from North Rockland High School in 2018.  She was a two year captain and received all-league and all-section honors.  She helped the team to win three sectional titles and reach the state final-four three times.  After high school, coach Amanda played as a defender on the women’s lacrosse team at SUNY Cortland.  She was a two year captain and as a freshman she was a finalist for the C-Club Freshman Athlete of the Year Award.  She earned All-SUNYAC honors, All-Empire Region honors, SUNYAC All-Tournament Team, USA Lacrosse All-America Third Team, and SUNY and SUNYAC Spring Scholar Athlete of the Year.  She was also awarded the C-Club Unsung Hero Award in 2022.  Coach Amanda earned a Bachelors degree in Physical Education with a minor is Sport Management as well as a Masters degree in Teaching Students With Disabilities.  Coach Amanda is the head coach of the Metro 2032 team.

Coach Lizzy Fox graduated from North Rockland high school in 2018. In high school she received All Section, All County, and All League honors and played on the National Tournament team. As a senior she was a US-Lacrosse All American. Lizzy played for Metro for 6 years. Coach Fox graduated from James Madison University. Playing midfield at JMU, she has earned CAA All rookie team as a freshman and Second team All-CAA as a junior. Coach Fox majors in Health Sciences with a minor in business.  Coach Fox is the assistant coach of the Metro Magic 2032 team.

Coach Eckert has been a teacher for 18 years in the South Orangetown Central School District and is currently head coach of Tappan Zee High School Girls Varsity. Previously, Coach Eckert was the assistant coach for the TZ Boys Varsity team from 2016-2018 with teams that won both league and county titles. Finally, Coach Eckert is involved with the day to day operations of Tappan Zee Youth Lacrosse. Coach Eckert graduated from St. Thomas Aquinas College and has a masters degree from New York Institute of Technology. Coach Eckert is the head coach of the 2033 team.

Coach Sullivan has been coaching for 28 years, including 21 years as an assistant with the Suffern High School’s girls program and the past 7 years as head coach of the Pearl River High School boys program. At Pearl River, he has led the program to their first-ever Section Semifinal appearances in 4 of the past 5 years and the programs only appearance in a Section 1 Final. Over his career, he has coached several All-Americans at Suffern and developed Pearl River boys first 6 All-Section and 3 All-State players. Twice named Rockland County Coach of the Year, he is known for building competitive teams while mentoring athletes to reach their full potential.

Beyond lacrosse, Coach Sullivan is a veteran educator with 30 years in the classroom, 28 of them in the Suffern Central School District, teaching Biology and Physical Science. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Biology from SUNY Albany and a Masters Degree in Secondary Education from Mercy University, bringing a lifelong passion for both academics and athletics to his students and players. Coach Sullivan and his wife, Dolores reside in Pearl River, N.Y. with their four children Mickey, Shea, Dennis, and Charlotte.

Coach Sullivan is the assistant coach of the Metro Magic 2033 team.

A former Metro player, Coach Mottola brings three years of coaching at the youth level to Metro.  She graduated from Fair Lawn High School in 2018. She was a four-year varsity starter as a goalie and earned multiple First Team All-League honors, as well as being named “The Best Girls Lacrosse Goalie in the American Conference”.  She became the first lacrosse goalie in Fair Lawn High School history to surpass the 500 career save mark and finished her 4 years with a total 529 saves. Coach Mottola is a rising sophomore at Quinnipiac University, and will be graduating in 2024 with a Masters of Occupational Therapy degree with the hope of pursuing a post-graduate doctoral degree.  She is finding the best of both worlds at Quinnipiac and playing club lacrosse for the university! Coach Mottola is the goalie coach for Metro’s youth teams and the co-head coach of the Metro 2034/35 teams.

Coach Molly is the co-head coach of the Metro 2034/35 teams.

Coach James Amandola comes to Metro with a highly decorated playing career as well as years of coaching and teaching.  James began his lacrosse career at Patchogue Medford High School.  He was recruited to play in college and continued his career at Manhattan College.  He was a four-year starter in goal for Manhattan.  As a senior captain, James led the team in an undefeated MAAC season, their first MAAC Lacrosse Championship as well as first ever automatic qualification to an NCAA tournament.  James was selected to the MAAC tournament 1st team and awarded tournament MVP.  He was named MAAC Conference Defensive Player of the Year, as well as numerous MAAC Conference Defender of the Week awards throughout his career.

James compiled some impressive statistics throughout his career at Manhattan College. He is the all time leader in minutes played, saves, and saves per game in Manhattan College History.  He is the only three time Outstanding Performer in Manhattan Lacrosse history.  3,533 minutes played in a career is 6th best in NCAA Division I history.  1,043 saves for a career is 2nd best in NCAA Division I history.  His career average of 17.38 saves per game is 4th best in NCAA Division I history. His 2002 save percentage of 685% is the 9th best for a single season in NCAA Division I history. Additionally, he holds the Delaware Stadium record for most saves in an NCAA tournament game.

After college James continued his education, earning a Master’s Degree at Fordham University.  James has been a social studies teacher for 21 years and currently teaches at Tappan Zee high school.  He was an assistant varsity lacrosse coach for 10 years and an assistant varsity football coach for 6 years.  He was also varsity lacrosse coach for 6 years at Tappan Zee and an assistant lacrosse coach at Manhattan College for 2 years.  James has committed himself to a positive coaching philosophy as a member of the Positive Coaching Alliance and attends yearly lacrosse conventions to further his knowledge of the sport.  James was awarded by the Nyack Penguin Plunge committee for contributing as a lacrosse program to assist children with life threatening diseases. James has been awarded the Rockland County Assistant Coach of the Year in both Football and Lacrosse, Two time Rockland County Head Coach of the Year by Lohud and Section 1 Class B Coach of the Year.  He is the co-founder of the Tappan Zee Youth Lacrosse league in the community for both girls and boys.  James is happily married and has two children, Scarlett 13 and John 12.  

James joins the Metro Coaching Staff as the head goalie coach.