Century girls lacrosse coach Rose Pentz has decided to step down as the Knights' coach after this season, so she can watch her daughter Kaitlin play college lacrosse next spring.

The only coach the Knights' program has had in its eight years as a varsity program, Pentz has a 125-13 career record and has guided Century to four state championships. She was The Baltimore Sun's Carroll County Coach of the Year every year between 2003 and 2007.

She said she didn't think she could juggle the full demands of coaching with traveling to watch Kaitlin, the Knights' goalie, who is headed for Robert Morris.

"I want to be able to devote the time now to family," Pentz said Tuesday. "If I can't give 110 percent to it, it would be better for the program if someone else came in and took over. I don't think it would be fair to the program to stay when I couldn't do that. I want to be able to have the freedom to go and watch her play and to support her during the spring season."

Pentz said that, for the last three years, she has been able to go to all of her son Ryan's football games at Wagner, but that was easier to do in the fall when she was not coaching. With Kaitlin going to Robert Morris, which is near Pittsburgh, Pentz will be traveling a lot.

"Despite the fact that some college games are on weekends, coaching lacrosse is year around and during the season, there's so much weekend work. There's so much more behind the scenes not just what's out on the field and I can't give the time to it if I'm traveling," Pentz said.

This season, the Knights are 14-2 and ranked No. 14. They are the only defending state champion left in the girls lacrosse brackets after South River edged Severna Park in the Class 4A-3A East region semifinal and Hereford upset Fallston in the Class 3A-2A North semifinal on Monday. The Knights travel to Middletown on Wednesday at 5 p.m. for the regional championship.

Pentz will remain a support counselor and crisis intervention specialist at Century, where her husband Randy Pentz is the athletic director.

Assistant coach Becky Trumbo, a physical education teacher at Century and a former Liberty and Towson University lacrosse standout, is interested in the head-coaching position, Pentz said, but her successor will not be appointed until fall.