Stony Brook Seawolves men's lacrosse

The Stony Brook Seawolves men's lacrosse team represents Stony Brook University in NCAA Division I men's college lacrosse

College lacrosse

College lacrosse refers to lacrosse played by student athletes at colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. In both countries, men's field lacrosse and women's lacrosse are played in both the varsity and club levels...

. Stony Brook currently competes in the America East Conference

America East Conference

The America East Conference is a NCAA Division I college athletic conference whose members are located mainly in the northeastern United States. The conference was known as the ECAC North from 1979 to 1988 and the North Atlantic Conference from the fall semester of 1988 to the end of the spring...

and plays its home games on Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium

Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium

The Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium is the main stadium for the State University of New York at Stony Brook in Stony Brook, New York, USA. Construction began in 2000 at a cost of approximately $22 million. With a capacity of 8,132 people, it is the largest outdoor facility in Suffolk County. The stadium...

. The team had their most successful year on the 2009-2010 season reaching for the second time the NCAA Tournament, being able to be ranked as eight seed, and also winning their first game ever to advance to the quarterfinal losing to Virginia by a close 10-9 game. In 2011, the Seawolves reached the America East championship game undefeated in Conference play and lost to Hartford in a last second goal to 11-10 score. In June 2011, coach Rick Sowell announced his departure to Navy http://insidelacrosse.com/news/2011/06/09/breaking-rick-sowell-confirms-hell-be-navys-next-coach

Club Status (1978-1983)

Stony Brook University fielded a men's club lacrosse team, founded by student Frank Ross, starting in 1978. Ross played lacrosse throughout high school and on arriving at Stony Brook found a netless goal in the woods north of G Quad and no team. In the spring of 1978, posters were placed around the University and a general meeting was held that spring with a very large turnout. The team assembled for its first practice on the field west of H Quad near the intramural fields. Approximately 35 players showed up.

The club's first coaches were volunteers that offered to coach at the first meeting. The head coach was Bert Campbell and assistant coach Vince Droser. Without funding, the team was limited to local scrimmages and practice was in pinnies. In general, there was a lack of support for the club particularly by the phys ed department. However, Stony Brook's track and field coach Paul Dudzick had a vision and helped guide Ross in growing the team.

After the first season, Ross approached the student government, Polity, and drew up a charter for the club and petitioned the government for funding. With the backing of Benedict College senator Steve Finklestein, Polity awarded an initial funding of $500. With this, helmets, gloves and other equipment were purchased. With limited funds, the club hired their first coach, Dave Schmitz, who played lacrosse in college. Dave was embraced by the team but his different style of coaching was not well-received by the phys ed department.

Each spring, Ross was able to increase the funding by Polity by $500 for a final total of $2000 his senior year. In his junior year, an add was placed in the local three village paper advertising for a paid lacrosse coach. Two candidates responded and the position was awarded to Coach John Ziegler who was the athletic director The Stony Brook School just on the other side of the tracks from the University. Coach Ziegler was able to leverage games against an increasing caliber of schools. During its first four years, Stony Brook was able to compete against Hofstra's B team, SUNY Albany, Dowling, St. John's and various clubs including Montclair in New Jersey. One of the oddest games the club played was against Columbia University on a small lawn across from the lion statues and no windows were broken.

There were many obstacles during the teams inception that made competing difficult. Obtaining permission to play on a field was always a challenge as well as getting permission to get the fields lined. Travel to and from games were by university vans for which various requistions had to be completed. Scheduling games was a challenge as many universities did not want to scrimmage against a club team. However, the number of games played increased each year particularly under Coach Ziegler's supervision.

Ross graduated in 1981 leaving the team under the direction of Coach Ziegler. In 1993, Ross was inducted into Stony Brook's VIP Hall of Fame.

Club Level Head coaches

The Stony Brook Lacrosse Club had a total of four coaches since its first season back in 1979. John Ziegler took over the team at Ross' graduation and then was succeeded by Coach John Espey. Espey, as mentioned below, was at the helm during the transition from club status to NCAA.

Stony Brook's First Goal

Stony Brook's first lacrosse goal is credited to attackman Ray Padich.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Coach
! Years
! Background
|-
|Bert Campbell/Vince Droser
|1978
|TA, Political Science
|-
|Dave Schmitz
|1979
|TA, History Dept.
|-
|John Ziegler
|1980–1983
|AD, The Stony Brook School
|-

Pre-Division I era (1983-1988)

Stony Brook University first fielded a men's lacrosse team in the 1983 season. It entered Division I in 1988 and has an overall 214-178 (.546) record

John Espey era (1988-2004)

Stony Brook Lacrosse under head coach John Espey continuously increased facilities, recruiting efforts, and scheduling to build the program. Starting in 1998, the program had achieved full funding status, allowing it to allocate the NCAA maximum 12.6 scholarships for current athletes. The tuition aid and the building of new facilities attracted more athletes and the program continued to grow.

The schedule was once again made more difficult, now regularly featuring top ten and top twenty ranked teams almost every week of the season by 1999. Further, the Athletic Department joined Stony Brook Lacrosse into the ECAC for conference affiliation.

By 2002, after an offseason of re-shuffling in the America East in which three teams left the conference, the Stony Brook Seawolves left the ECAC Lacrosse League

ECAC Lacrosse League

The ECAC Lacrosse League is an NCAADivision I college athletic conference and part of the Eastern College Athletic Conference. This part of the conference only sponsors men's lacrosse. The league was founded in 2000...

and were one of the newcomers in the America East

America East Conference

for the 2002 season. In their first season as part of the America East, Stony Brook was voted among conference coaches to finish 1st in the pre-season poll http://www.goseawolves.org/sports/m-lacros/spec-rel/022602aaa.html. Stony Brook entered the season with a squad of 13 seniors. After a season-opener loss against Massachusetts, the Seawolves were able to pull wins against Manhattan, Quinnipiac, Lafayette, Binghamton, Vermont, Villanova, and Delaware to finish the regular season 8-6 overall heading into the America East Championship tournament http://www.goseawolves.org/sports/m-lacros/archive/ston-m-lacros-sched-2001.html. In the America East tournament were able to have close but decisive wins against Hartford (7-6) and Albany (8-6) to send them to their first NCAA tournament in the school’s program history http://www.goseawolves.org/sports/m-lacros/recaps/050402aaa.html. In the first round, Stony Brook was posed to face off against Cornell at Providence. Cornell ran away with a 12-3 victory against the Seawolves to end the season for Stony Brook http://www.goseawolves.org/sports/m-lacros/recaps/051102aaa.html.

Lars Tiffany period (2005-2006)

After John Espey relinquished his position as head coach, Lars Tiffany resumed the coaching duties after serving as an assistant at Penn State University. During his tenure, Tiffany lead the team to the America East Tournament twice, falling in the finals in 2005 and in the semifinals in 2006, both against Albany. Tiffany left after two season to pursue the head coaching position at his alma mater, Brown University.

Success and Rick Sowell era (2007–2011)

After the offseason departure of head coach Lars Tiffany to Brown, Rick Sowell was assigned the task of leading the men’s lacrosse program for the 2007 season. The 2007 season started with a home opener 15-7 loss to the Virginia Cavaliers. Throughout the 2007 season, the Seawolves showed signs of improvement and were able to win five games straight against Harvard (13-8), Denver (11-8), Marist (11-7), Lehigh (10-9), and Vermont (9-4). The Seawolves went up the ranking through this span to as high as #18 in the nation. However, losses to their conference opponents in Albany (14-5), Hartford (6-4), and UMBC (13-5) led the Seawolves to fall out of the top 20 and earn the #4 seed in the America East Tournament. The Seawolves played the semifinal game against top-seeded Albany, resulting in a 17–5 loss to close the season. The Seawolves ended the season with an 8–5 record overall, and 2-3 against their America East opponents. A highlight of the season was a 13-12 overtime win against their Long Island rivals, the Hofstra Pride.

Stony Brook started the 2010 season play outside the top 20 teams of the nation putting effort to build up on the successes of the previous year. The 2009 season returned Stony Brook to post-season contention with a 9-6 (.600) record and runner-ups of the America East Championship. The team started the 2010 season with a 21-14 win over Siena and a second game 13-8 loss to #2 Virginia

Virginia Cavaliers men's lacrosse

The Virginia Cavaliers men's lacrosse team represents the University of Virginia in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I men's lacrosse...

. As the season continued the Seawolves showed more signs of improvements and ended the regular season with a five-game winning streak, cruising over Bryant, UMBC, Hartford, Binghamton, Albany, and Vermont to finish the regular season 10–3 overall, and 5-0 in conference play. Strong wins at Albany (15-0) and Vermont (16-10) demonstrated the strength of the Seawolves team ending the season as the top-eight-ranked team of the nation, and returning the team to national prominence. Stony Brook cruised through the America East Championship, beating #4 Vermont (10-6), and #3 Albany (11-7) to advance to its first NCAA tournament

2010 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship

-First round:The biggest surprise of the first round was Army's double-overtime upset of No. 2 seed Syracuse at the Carrier Dome. Some analysts ranked it among the greatest upsets in the history of the tournament...

appearance, second overall, since the 2002 season. They entered the tournament with an eight-game winning streak to face off Denver, leading to a 9-7 win in front of 4,262 fans at LaValle. In the quarterfinal, the Seawolves played against top-seeded Virginia, losing a tight 10-9 game ending the chances for a Final Four appearance in a sold-out LaValle Stadium

Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium

in front of historic crowd of 10,024 fans. The Seawolves ended the season 13-4, their best season in the program’s 27-year history. The Seawolves are 37-22 since Coach Sowell came to Stony Brook; as a result Sowell was rewarded with a contract extension through the 2015 season.

Returning 94 percent of its scoring offense from the 2010 season with a team that was ranked fourth in 2010 with 13.2 goals per game, and returning the three all-American seniors Kevin Crowley, Tom Compitello, and Jordan McBride, Stony Brook was ranked #5 (USILA Coaches Poll)/#8(Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll) in the preseason polls while Lacrosse Magazine ranked the team fourth in the nation for the upcoming 2011 season http://www.goseawolves.org/sports/m-lacros/spec-rel/020111aaa.html. On February 8, 2011 it was announced that Stony Brook men's lacrosse was unanimously chosen to be the American East Tournament in the pre-season coaches poll http://www.americaeast.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=14000&ATCLID=205092214. Stony Brook will open the season against #1/#2 Virginia for a rematch of 2010 men's quarterfinals and a follow up with #8/#7 Cornell.

2011 season

The 2011 season began with a home opener against #1 Virginia with the Seawolves ranked #5 coming into the season. The game turned into an epic battle between the teams in which the Seawolves led early 3-1 but Virginia went ahead and tied the game at 3. For the rest of the game the Seawolves trailed Virginia by two or three goals. The game went on to the last minutes in which the Seawolves were trailing 10-8 and scored to consecutive goals to tie the game with less than ten seconds of regulation. In overtime, the Seawolves had many chances for a goal but weren't able to capitalize on the offense. A turnover, and then an defensive gap led Virginia to score the final goal of the game for a 11-10 win in front of a crowd of 4,312 at LaValle stadium http://www.goseawolves.org/sports/m-lacros/recaps/022611aaa.html. It was the second loss to Virginia in the past nine months, both games finishing with a one-goal differential. The #7 Seawolves returned to action at Marist coming back for a 13-7 win. On March 12, the #6 Seawolves captured the second straight win against Delaware in a 14-9 victory at LaValle in front of 1,436 fans. The Seawolves continued their streak beating St.Johns in a 9-4 win at Queens http://www.goseawolves.org/sports/m-lacros/recaps/031511aaa.html. #12 Seawolves went out to face Towson, MD ending with a tough 9-8 upset against unranked Towson University. The Seawolves returned home to face #10 Cornell but Cornell's offense was too much for them and resulted in a 17-9 loss. This was the Seawolves second straight loss. Regrouping, the Seawolves switched gears and went ahead to finish their regular season with a six game winning streak including wins over Bryant (13-6), UMBC (16-5), Hartford (10-8), Binghamton (13-6), Albany (23-11), and Vermont (12-9). They were undefeated in AE play to earn the 1st seed in the tournament for the second straight year.http://www.goseawolves.org/sports/m-lacros/recaps/043011aaa.html Jordan McBride and Rick Sowell were awarded the America East conference Player of the Year and Coach of the Year Respectively while Tom Compitello, senior Kevin Crowley , Timmy Trenkle , junior Kyle Moeller, junior Jared LeVerne, and Mcbride were awarded with first-team All-conference selections http://www.goseawolves.org/sports/m-lacros/spec-rel/050311aaa.html. After a 12-8 win against Binghamton at LaValle Stadium Stony Brook headed to the third straight America East Championship scheduled to be played on May 7 against Hartford. Stony Brook went on to lose against Hartford with a last second goal by Ryan Compitello (brother of Stony Brook Lacrosse Senior Tom Compitello) with a score of 11-10. It was Stony Brook's first conference lost since the 2009 America East Championship Finals against UMBC. Stony Brook ended the season ranked #17 and did not qualify for an NCAA tournament at large bid. Coach Rick Sowell announced his departure to coach at Navy at the end of the athletic season.

Jim Nagle era (present)

Rick Sowell resigned his position at Stony Brook at the end of the 2011 season to coach at Navy. In June 2011, Jim Nagle was announced as the new head coach of the Stony Brook Lacrosse team.http://www.goseawolves.org/sports/m-lacros/spec-rel/062111aac.html

Facilities

The Stony Brook Seawolves presently play their home games in the 8,300-seat Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium

Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium

located on the west campus of Stony Brook University constructed for the 2002 season. The stadium hosted the largest lacrosse game crowd in school history in the 2010 NCAA Division I men's Lacrosse Quarterfinals in which there was a reported attendance of over 10,000 http://www.goseawolves.org/sports/m-lacros/recaps/052310aaa.html.

Head coaches

The men's lacrosse program has had a total of five coaches since its first season back in 1983. Espey being responsible for the transition of the program to Division I.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Coach
! Years
! Conference
! Overall
! Conference Tournament Titles
! NCAA Tournament Appearances
|-
| Bruce Casagrande
| 1986-87
| N/A
| 13-13 (.500)
| -
| -
|-
| John Espey
| 1988–2004
| 11-17 (.392)²
| 116-123 (.485)
| 1
| 1
|-
| Lars Tiffany
| 2005-06
| 8-3 (.727)
| 18-13 (.581)
| -
| -
|-
| Rick Sowell
| 2007–2011
| 19-6 (.760)
| 47-26 (.643)
| 1
| 1
|-
| Jim Nagle
| 2012-onward
| -
| -
| -
| -
|}

Current Coaching staff

Jim Nagle
Jim Nagle
Jim Nagle is an American professional ice hockey player who is currently playing in Germany with the EV Lindau in the Bayernliga....

- Head Coach, 1st year
Craig Gibson - Assistant Coach, 1st
Andrew Watkins- Assistant Coach, 1st year

Season-by-Season results

The following are the final year end standings of the men's lacrosse program since 1983. In 2000 the Seawolves moved up to Division I and in 2002 the program joined the America East Conference

America East Conference

. semifinals is also the first round.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
| Year
|Overall Record
|.WPCT
|Conference Record
|.CWPCT
|Postseason appearances
|-
!colspan=9| Division III: Independent (1983–1985, John Ziegler)
|- align="center"
| 1983 || 9-3 || .750 || - || - || -
|- align="center"
| 1984 || 11-3 || .785 || - || - || -
|- align="center"
| 1985 || 10-4 || .714 || - || - || ECAC Tournament
(Semifinal Win over Drew 21-15)
(Championship Win over Fairleigh Dickinson-Madison 19-11)
|-
!colspan=9| Division II: Independent (1986–1988, Bruce Casagrande)
|- align="center"
| 1986 || 6-6 ||.500 || - || - || -
|- align="center"
| 1987 || 7-7 || .500 || - || - || ECAC Tournament
(Semifinal loss to Drew 5-7)
|- align="center"
|-
!colspan=9| Division I: Independent (1988–1999, John Espey)
|- align="center"
| 1988 || 6-8 || .428 || - || - || ECAC Tournament
(Semifinal loss to Montclair St. 5-7)
|- align="center"
| 1989 || 10-4 || .714 || - || - || -
|- align="center"
| 1990 || 12-2 || .857 || - || - || -
|- align="center"
| 1991 || 8-5 || .615 || - || - || -
|- align="center"
| 1992 || 7-7 || .500 || - || - || -
|- align="center"
| 1993 || 3-11 || .214 || - || - || -
|- align="center"
| 1994 || 3-10 || .230 || - || - || -
|- align="center"
| 1995 || 7-7 || .500 || - || - || -
|- align="center"
| 1996 || 3-8 || .272 || - || - || -
|- align="center"
| 1997 || 9-4 || .692 || - || - || -
|- align="center"
| 1998 || 7-5 || .583 || - || - || -
|- align="center"
| 1999 || 5-8 || .384 || - || - || -
|- align="center"
|-
!colspan=9| ECAC Lacrosse (2000–2001, John Espey)
|- align="center"
| 2000 || 5-11 || .312 || 0-6 || .000 || -
|- align="center"
| 2001 || 7-7 || .500 || 1-5 || .200 || -
|- align="center"
|-
!colspan=9| America East (2002–2004, John Espey)
|- align="center"
| 2002 || 10-7 || .588 || 3-2 ||.600 ||America East Conference Tournament
(Semifinal Win over Hartford 7–6)
(Championship Win over Albany

Albany Great Danes Men's Lacrosse

The Albany Great Danes men's lacrosse team represents the University at Albany in NCAA Division I men's college lacrosse. Albany currently competes in the America East Conference and plays its home games on John Fallon Field. The team reached the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship tournament in...

8–6)
NCAA
2002 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship
In the 2002 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse National Championship game, Syracuse defeated Princeton by a score of 13-12. The game was a rematch of the 2001 championship game, which was won by Princeton. This time, Syracuse was victorious, led by Michael Powell's four goals and three assists.-...

First Round (Loss to Cornell

Cornell Big Red men's lacrosse

The Cornell Big Red Men's Lacrosse team represents Cornell University in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I men's lacrosse. Cornell competes as a member of the Ivy League, of which they have won 23 conference championships. The Big Red have appeared in the NCAA tournament 22...

12–3)
|- align="center"
| 2003 || 5-10 ||.333 || 3-2 || .600 || America East Conference Tournament
(Semifinal loss over Albany

Albany Great Danes Men's Lacrosse

11–5)
|- align="center"
| 2004 || 9-6 || .600 || 4-2 || .666|| America East Conference Tournament
(Semifinal loss over Binghamton

Binghamton Bearcats

The Binghamton Bearcats are an NCAA Division I athletics program at Binghamton University. They are one of four Division I programs in the SUNY system and a member of the America East Conference.-History:...

7–6 OT)
|- align="center"
|-
!colspan=9| America East (2005–2006, Lars Tiffany)
|- align="center"
| 2005 || 9-6 || .600 || 4-2 || .666 || America East Conference Tournament
(Semifinal Win over UMBC

UMBC Retrievers men's lacrosse

The UMBC Retrievers men's lacrosse team represents the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I men's college lacrosse competition. The Retrievers play their home games at UMBC Stadium, located in Baltimore, Maryland with a capacity of 4,500...

11–5)
(Championship loss to Albany

Albany Great Danes Men's Lacrosse

16–7)
|- align="center"
| 2006 || 8-7 || .533 || 4-1 || .800 || America East Conference Tournament
(Semifinal loss to Albany

Albany Great Danes Men's Lacrosse

14-3)
|- align="center"
|-
!colspan=9| America East (2007–2011, Rick Sowell)
|- align="center"
| 2007 || 8-5 || .615 || 2-3|| .400 || America East Conference Tournament
(Semifinal loss to Albany

Albany Great Danes Men's Lacrosse

17-5)
|- align="center"
| 2008 || 7-7 || .500 || 3-2 || .600 || America East Conference Tournament
(Semifinal loss to Albany

Albany Great Danes Men's Lacrosse

12-9)
|- align="center"
| 2009 || 9-6 || .600 || 4-1 || .800 || America East Conference Tournament
(Semifinal Win over Albany

Albany Great Danes Men's Lacrosse

18–12)
(Championship loss to UMBC

UMBC Retrievers men's lacrosse

11–7)
|- align="center"
| 2010 || 13-4 || .764 || 5-0 || 1.000 ||America East Conference Tournament
(Semifinal Win over Vermont 10–6)
(Championship Win over Albany

Albany Great Danes Men's Lacrosse

11–7)
NCAA
2010 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship
-First round:The biggest surprise of the first round was Army's double-overtime upset of No. 2 seed Syracuse at the Carrier Dome. Some analysts ranked it among the greatest upsets in the history of the tournament...

First Round (Win over Denver

Denver Pioneers men's lacrosse

The Denver Pioneers men's lacrosse team represents the University of Denver in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I college lacrosse. The University of Denver Men’s Lacrosse Program was first introduced in 1966 as a club sport. The program alternated between varsity and club...

9–7)
NCAA Quarterfinals (loss to Virginia

Virginia Cavaliers men's lacrosse

The Virginia Cavaliers men's lacrosse team represents the University of Virginia in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I men's lacrosse...

10–9)
|- align="center"
| 2011 || 10-4|| .714 || 5-0 || 1.000 || America East Conference Tournament
(Semifinal Win over Binghamton

Binghamton Bearcats

12–8)
(Championship loss to Hartford 11–10)
|- align="center"
|-
!colspan=9| America East (2012-onward, Jim Nagle)
|- align="center"
| 2012 || 0-0|| - || 0-0 || - ||
|- align="center"
| Total ||224-182 || .551
(.593 since AE) || 38-26 || .593
(.711 in AE)||
|}

Postseason Results

Stony Brook vs Cornell, 2002 NCAA Tournament 1st Round: 12 - 3 L
Stony Brook vs Denver, 2010 NCAA Tournament 1st Round: 9 - 7 W
Stony Brook vs Virginia, 2010 NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals: 10 - 9 L

Current Alumni in Professional leagues

Kevin Crowley 11', Top MLL Draftee currently playing for the Hamilton Nationals
Jordan McBride 11', 14th overall MLL Draftee currently playing for the Rochester Rattlers
Rochester Rattlers
The Rochester Rattlers are a Major League Lacrosse professional men's field lacrosse team based in Rochester, New York. They are a charter member of the MLL. From their inaugural season in 2001 to 2005, they were in the National Division. From 2006 to 2008, they were a member of the Eastern...
Adamn Rand 11', 31st overall MLL Draftee currently playing for the Hamilton Nationals
Steven Waldeck 10', currently playing for the Hamilton Nationals

All-Americans

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!|Name||Year
|- align="center"
!colspan=2| Division III
|- align="center"
|John Warrack*||1984
|- align="center"
|Chris Scaduto*||1984
|- align="center"
!colspan=2| STX/USILA
|- align="center"
|Kevin Pall||2002
|- align="center"
|Brendan Callahan||2004
|- align="center"
|Jordan McBride||2008
|- align="center"
|Jordan McBride||2009
|- align="center"
|Jordan McBride||2010
|- align="center"
|Kevin Crowley||2010
|- align="center"
|Tom Compitello||2010
|- align="center"
|Steve Waldeck||2010
|- align="center"
|Jordan McBride||2011
|- align="center"
|Kevin Crowley||2011
|- align="center"
|Adam Rand||2011
|}

External links

Stony Brook Lacrosse

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