lax4ct.com: In Pursuit of Division 1 Men’s Lacrosse at our Flagship Institution

Big East Men’s Lacrosse Preseason Poll

www.bigeast.org

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Syracuse University has been unanimously selected as the 2010 preseason favorite to win the inaugural season of the BIG EAST men’s lacrosse league. The league’s seven head coaches cast the votes and were not permitted to vote for their own programs. Syracuse’s Stephen Keogh has been named the BIG EAST Preseason Attack Player of the Year, while Georgetown’s Barney Ehrmann is the BIG EAST Preseason Defensive Player of the Year.

Men’s lacrosse is the 24th sport sponsored by the BIG EAST and is the 11th men’s sport. The seven conference schools participating are Georgetown, Notre Dame, Providence, Rutgers, St. John’s, Syracuse and Villanova. The teams will play a six-game single round-robin regular-season schedule.

Keogh, a junior, was a USILA Honorable Mention All-American a year ago. Playing all 18 games, Keogh led the Orange and tied for seventh on the team’s single-season record list with 49 goals, while leading the nation with 12 man-up goals. Ehrmann appeared in all 14 games for the Hoyas in 2009 on the defensive line and led the team with 62 ground balls.

Syracuse is coming off its second straight NCAA Championship title and a 16-2 record – matching the school record for wins in a single season. Syracuse will be playing in a conference for the first time in program history. The Orange return eight preseason all-Americans and five players who started at least 10 games last season.

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Bethany College (WV) Adds Lacrosse, Hires Coach

Laxpower.com

BETHANY, W.Va. – Bethany College Director of Athletics and Recreation Tim Weaver announced Monday that Todd Wolffrum has been named as the new coach to start a men’s lacrosse program. Wolffrum is a a former player at NCAA Division II Pfeiffer (N.C.) University.

The announcement is the first step in Bethany adding lacrosse as its 21st varsity sport. Under Wolffrum’s direction, the program will compete at the club level during 2010-2011 before moving to varsity status for the 2011-2012 academic year.

The decision to add men’s lacrosse is part of a master plan which was crafted when current President Dr. Scott D. Miller came to Bethany in Dec., 2007. According to Dr. Miller and Weaver, finding someone with Wolffrum’s energy and background is exactly what the Bison lacrosse program needs to get off to a strong start.

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BIG EAST Unveils Its Men’s Lacrosse Television Schedule

BigEast.org

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The BIG EAST Conference, in conjunction with ESPN, has announced its 2010 national television schedule for the inaugural season of BIG EAST men’s lacrosse. The television package will feature 11 games and 15 appearances by Conference teams, all on ESPNU.

Men’s lacrosse is the 24th sport sponsored by the BIG EAST and is the 11th men’s sport. The seven conference schools participating in the newly formed league are Georgetown, Notre Dame, Providence, Rutgers, St. John’s, Syracuse and Villanova. The teams will play a six-game single round-robin regular-season schedule.

BIG EAST coverage beings on Feb. 27 when Georgetown hosts Maryland at 2:00 p.m. ET, and will conclude with Syracuse at Notre Dame on May 1 at 7:00 p.m. Also featured on the schedule is a game on ESPN 360.com, Syracuse at Virginia on March 7. That game will also be tape-delayed on ESPNU.

Included in this year’s schedule will be a new lacrosse doubleheader, the ESPNU Warrior Lacrosse Invitational, organized by ESPN Regional Television. The event will take place at Rentschler Field in Hartford, Conn., on April 24, and will showcase Georgetown against Massachusetts at 1:30 p.m. after the No. 17 Denver vs. Fairfield.

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ESPNU Warrior Classic At Rentschler Field Set to Launch in 2010

Laxpower.com

ESPN Regional Television, Inc., a subsidiary of ESPN, announced today the creation of the ESPNU Warrior Classic, a doubleheader that will be played Saturday, April 24, at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Conn.

The doubleheader will feature No. 17 Denver vs. Fairfield at 11:00 a.m. ET, followed by No. 18 Massachusetts vs. No. 13 Georgetown at 1:30 p.m. Both games will be televised live on ESPNU.

“We jumped at the opportunity to partner with ESPNU for the inaugural ESPNU Warrior Classic,” said Dave Morrow, President, Warrior. “ESPN’s commitment to lacrosse is making the sport accessible to more players and fans than ever, and this event is an extension of our shared passion for grassroots events and competition. It will be very exciting for lacrosse enthusiasts to have four elite programs, the worldwide leader in sports media and the premier lacrosse brand team up for the first ever Warrior Classic.”

“We are excited to launch a collegiate lacrosse event with ESPNU and Warrior Lacrosse,” said Clint Overby, senior director of events, ESPN Regional Television. “We look forward to growing the event as a fixture in the collegiate lacrosse landscape.”

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Tim Weir ‘84 Named Head Coach of Ireland National Team

Laxpower.com

URCHASE, N.Y. – Manhattanville men’s lacrosse defensive coordinator Tim Weir has been named the head coach for the Ireland National Team when the squad represents its country at the 2010 Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) Men’s World Championships, the Irish Lacrosse Foundation announced recently.

Weir will oversee the roster of 23 players who will represent Ireland at the 2010 FIL World Championships, which will take place in Manchester, England, beginning on July 10. The Irish will be one of 30 national teams competing in the event, hoping to improve on the 2006 World Championship in which Ireland won five of its seven games and finished in seventh place among 21 nations.

“It was exciting when I got the call; it’s a great feeling when you work so hard to achieve your goals,” Weir said. “It was a team effort for me to get this job. I have surrounded myself with great people and great players in my six years with the program.”

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Ex-UConn Head Coach Battles Cancer

InsideLacrosse.com

Jack McGetrick, now the head coach at Division 1 Bellermine, was also the Head Coach of UConn’s Club Lacrosse team in the early nineties.  His UConn teams were very successful, but equally important was the fact that he was greatly admired by the players he coached.  After UConn he was hired to coach Hartford’s varsity squad, where he had 11 successful years.  Inside Lacrosse recently chronicled his battle with prostate cancer.

Spend a few minutes going over the stories that folks around the game of lacrosse will tell you about Jack McGetrick, and you’ll get the impression that the Bellarmine head coach is a cross between Paul Bunyan, Brodie Merrill, Dr. Phil and Bill Brasky.

There’s the tales of his playing career at Cortland, where he came in as an elite attackman, became an All-American defenseman and was a captain of the soccer team in his spare time. Then you hear about how he used to race his players at the University of Hartford - where he earned the 1997 NCAA Coach of the Year award despite being a part-time college coach and full time high school teacher a half hour away - in a 3-miler every fall, and didn’t lose to the guys 20-years his junior until a former cross-country star joined his team. Or players talking about his open door and hanging out in his basement while he rode an elliptical bike and broke down film with them for hours while his kids did homework nearby.

He played college ball with Bill Tierney and Dave Urick under Jack Emmer for the Red Dragons, was drafted by the professional Box League Montreal Quebecois in 1976, ran a sub-3:00 time in the Boston Marathon AND won the 35-40 age group at the Cape Cod Ironman in the same year.

With that larger-than-life yet endearing personality, it was a shock last month when the lacrosse world found out at the IMLCA Convention that McGetrick had been diagnosed with prostate cancer.

“I’m determined to beat this,” says McGetrick, who has not yet missed a practice and doesn’t intend to - he’s too excited about the Knight’s first ECAC season to let his chemotherapy keep him off the sidelines.

“The [chemo] knocked me on my rear end at first, but I’m still able to function. They tell me its incurable, but I’m planning on getting it into remission and keeping it there.”

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Rosemont (PA) Announces the Addition of Men’s Lacrosse

Laxpower.com

ROSEMONT, Pa. - The Rosemont College Athletic Department has announced the addition of men’s lacrosse to its varsity sport offerings. The program will begin competition the spring of 2012.

Since transitioning to co-education in the fall of 2009, the department expanded immediately with the addition of men’s varsity programs in basketball, soccer and tennis.

Starting in the 2010-2011 school year, the institution will add men’s and women’s cross country and men’s golf. The men’s lacrosse program will be the final program to be added from Rosemont’s Strategic Plan approved in May of 2008.

Currently, the department is conducting a search for the head men’s lacrosse coaching position. This position will recruit for the remainder of 2010 and all of 2011 for the inaugural spring 2012 season

Official Site

ESPN Signifigantly Increases TV Coverage for 2010–Rentschler Field Event Named

Insidelacrosse.com

ESPNU will lead ESPN’s college lacrosse coverage with increased game coverage this season, including 40 men’s and women’s regular-season contests combined, in addition to one live ESPN2 and ESPN360.com game. The networks will televise 57 games overall, including 42 regular-season contests (up from 30) and 15 NCAA Tournament games across ESPNU, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN360.com. Coverage will begin on ESPNU on Friday, Feb. 19, at 5 p.m. ET, when No. 6 Johns Hopkins hosts Manhattan.

ESPNU highlights include the Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic, which will showcase No. 1 Duke vs. No. 7 Maryland at 11 a.m. and No. 8 Princeton vs. No. 6 Johns Hopkins on Saturday, March 6, at 1:30 p.m. at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. The schedule will also feature the second annual Konica Minolta Big City Classic on Saturday, April 10, with No. 4 North Carolina vs. No. 3 Virginia at 4 p.m. and No. 2 Syracuse vs. No. 8 Princeton at 6:30 p.m. from New Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.

Included in this year’s schedule will be a new lacrosse doubleheader, the ESPNU Warrior Lacrosse Invitational, organized by ESPN Regional Television. The event will take place at Rentschler Field in Hartford, Conn., on Saturday, April 24, and will showcase No. 18 Massachusetts vs. No. 13 Georgetown at 11 a.m., followed by No. 17 Denver vs. Fairfield at 1:30 p.m.

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Thiel College Add’s Lacrosse

www.laxpower.com

GREENVILLE, Pa. – Thiel College will add four new athletics programs to its offerings for the 2010-2011 school term. Thiel’s new sports will include men’s and women’s tennis and men’s and women’s lacrosse. All four programs will compete at the NCAA Division III level and bring the Tomcats’ total number of athletic teams to 24.

In addition to its new program offerings, the College also plans to step up its commitment to existing programs and facilities. Beginning in 2010, Thiel will add an additional fulltime football coaching position and will add a seasonal air-supported athletics structure which will cover the entire playing surface at Alumni Stadium during the winter months.

“It’s a great day to be a part of Thiel College,” said College President Troy VanAken. “The enhancement and expansion of our athletics and extracurricular programs will position Thiel to attract and retain engaged students and student-athletes with the strong academic profile we strive for as an institution.”

ESPN Rise Lists the Rise of Lacrosse as Their #15 Story of the Decade

www.espnrise.com

15. The Rise of Lacrosse
Top recruits used to come out of the Northeast for the most part. The East Coast remains a hotbed for lacrosse, but states like Texas, California, Colorado, Florida and Washington have also emerged as lacrosse hotbeds. Now they’re producing big-time players, too.

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