University of Rhode Island (D1) and Milwaukee School of Engineering (D3) Add Women's Lacrosse

KINGSTON, R.I. — December 2, 2021 — With the 50th anniversary of Title IX approaching, the Rhode Island Athletics Department has announced it will add women’s lacrosse as a varsity program. 

 Expected to begin competition in the Atlantic 10 during the 2024-25 season, women’s lacrosse will become the 19th varsity team and 11th women’s team at Rhode Island. It is the first varsity program to be added since women’s rowing in 1996, the year that sport became NCAA-affiliated.

The decision to add women’s lacrosse came after an internal feasibility study showed favorable economic impact along with Title IX Compliance stability for the University.

“The opportunity to provide more opportunities for our student-athletes is exciting and significant for the overall growth of the University,” Rhode Island Director of Athletics Thorr Bjorn said. “The Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 was a vital piece of law that has had a profound impact on our society. We are proud to honor the 50th anniversary of Title IX by growing women’s athletics at Rhode Island.”

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MILWAUKEE – Thanks to a generous gift from Dr. Kathleen Ruehlow '72, MSOE Regent, MSOE is able to begin phase one of a multi-year plan to expand co-curricular offerings that include an expansion of arts programming and women's sports. In phase one, new offices for coaches and new women's locker rooms are being built in the Kern Center and Viets Field. This allows the Raiders athletics program to add five new women's teams to its roster: lacrosse, hockey, swim, golf, bowling, and to expand women's track and field offerings.

"We are very excited to be adding opportunities for female student athletes at MSOE. In addition to supporting the enrollment initiative, we are helping to grow the sports of women's lacrosse and women's hockey," said MSOE athletic director Brian Miller. "The University has also had a plethora of inquiries about a swim team. With many of our fellow engineering schools supporting swim very successfully, it was an easy decision to add to our offerings. The same goes for women's bowling as the sport is one of the quickest growing disciplines in D-III."

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Posted in: Division I,Division III,Rhode Island,Wisconsin

University of South Florida (D1) Adds Women's Lacrosse

TAMPA – University of South Florida Athletics will add women's lacrosse to its list of highly-successful women's sports programs Vice President of Athletics Michael Kelly announced today, bringing the total number of Bulls' women's athletics teams to 11 and USF's total varsity sports program count to 20. The addition of women's lacrosse will mark the first new women's program added at USF since women's soccer in 1995. Women's lacrosse is the first addition in a planned expansion of USF's female varsity athletics sports offerings. Women's varsity athletics began at USF in 1972 with the start of the women's basketball program.

USF women's athletics programs have won 59 conference championship trophies. USF's conference titles in women's athletics have come from eight different sports, including tennis (13), volleyball (12), softball (8), soccer (7), golf (6), track and field (6), cross country (5) and basketball (2). 

"The addition of women's lacrosse as a new sport at the University of South Florida is an example of how we are committed to excellence and inclusiveness in all aspects of the university – including our athletic programs," University of South Florida Interim President Rhea Law said. "This will provide more opportunities for women student-athletes to be part of the university community and thrive."

Posted in: Division I,Florida

College of Saint Benedict (D3 MN) Adds Women's Lacrosse

ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – As it strives to create more opportunities for women and continue to grow as one of the top departments in the MIAC and within the NCAA, the College of Saint Benedict athletic department is taking another step forward as it announces the addition of varsity lacrosse. Starting in the 2022-23 school year, Saint Benedict will house one of four NCAA Division III varsity lacrosse programs in Minnesota. The addition of lacrosse brings the department up to 12 varsity sport programs. 

"Our goal at the College of Saint Benedict is to provide the premier Division III student-athlete experience for women in the country," Saint Benedict transitional president Laurie Hamen said. "Lacrosse is an exciting addition, especially at a time of growth in the sport in the Midwest."

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Posted in: Division III,Minnesota

University of Bridgeport (D2 CT) Adds Men's Lacrosse, St. Thomas University (NAIA FL) Adds Women's Lacrosse

Bridgeport, Conn.-The University of Bridgeport (UB) today announced it plans to add ten new sports, which would bring the total number of varsity sports on campus to 17 along with the addition club sports offerings. In the Fall '22 semester, UB seeks to begin adding sports including NCAA Division II men's lacrosse, women's and men's indoor and outdoor track and field, and an eSports club team. 

Over the next few years, the University will also add new club sports
including men's and women's rugby and women's bowling. Bridgeport also anticipates fielding a Sprint Football team as early as the Fall '23 semester. UB is starting the process of hiring coaches for these new teams so that they may begin recruiting student-athletes. In accordance with NCAA rules, athletic scholarships will be available for men's and women's track and field athletes as well as men's lacrosse athletes beginning with the Fall '22 semester.

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MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (October 5, 2021) – St. Thomas University (STU) Director of Athletics, Bill Rychel, announces the addition of Women's Lacrosse to the athletic roster. The Bobcats Women's Lacrosse inaugural team will be set to compete in the 2022-23 school year.

"I am excited to provide another opportunity for women to compete at St Thomas," said Rychel. "Lacrosse has continued to grow throughout the country and will be a great addition to our athletic department. I look forward to working with Coach [Candace] Walker to identify our first head coach and launch the program in 2022." "It's exciting to see lacrosse grow throughout the country at all levels, and the NAIA has experienced rapid growth in the last seven years," stated Brandon Davis, representative of Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA). 

"The state of Florida has shown over and over that it can produce quality programs that can compete on the national stage in a short period of time. We can't wait to see what the program at St Thomas can bring to the table and add to the strong stable of NAIA programs!"

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Posted in: Connecticut,Division II,Florida,NAIA

UW-Stout (D3 WI) Adds Women's Lacrosse

MENOMONIE (September 22, 2021) – The fastest growing collegiate sport will be coming to UW-Stout when the Blue Devils introduce women's lacrosse to the sports module. UW-Stout will immediately begin a national search for a coach to develop the program with the intent to begin competition in the spring of 2023. Lacrosse becomes the 19th NCAA varsity sport in the UW-Stout sports module and the 11th NCAA varsity sport for women. The lacrosse team will play their home games at Nelson Field. Esports, a non-NCAA sport, became a varsity program during the 2020-21 school year.

The fast-paced sport of lacrosse is growing collegiately not only nationwide - 26 NCAA schools added lacrosse in 2020 - but among schools in the area. UW-River Falls was the first conference school to play lacrosse, beginning in the 2018-19 school year. The Falcons earned an NCAA playoff bid this past spring. UW-La Crosse began their women's program in 2020 and UW-Eau Claire played their first games in 2021. In addition to the three WIAC schools, seven colleges and universities in Wisconsin offer Division III women's programs. Nearby Augsburg University, Hamline University and the University of Northwestern in St. Paul offer Division III women's lacrosse programs. With the start of the 2020-21 season, there were 293 NCAA Division III women's lacrosse programs.

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Posted in: Division III,Wisconsin

Augustana University (D2 SD) Adds Women's Lacrosse

 SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Continuing with Augustana University's strategic plan — Viking Bold: The Journey to 2030 — of providing students opportunities and to help fuel enrollment growth, Augustana Athletics is proud to announce the addition of women's lacrosse beginning in the 2023-24 academic year. Augustana will house the first collegiate lacrosse program in South Dakota, regardless of division or affiliation. The Vikings will compete at the NCAA
Division II level.

"We are excited to add this fast-growing, dynamic sport at Augustana," Augustana Director of Athletics Josh Morton said. "This is a natural fit for our campus, community and region and, once again, we are able to find ways to grow and differentiate ourselves." There has been strong growth of the sport in the NCAA, including nine new programs at the NCAA Division II level since January 2020. In total, there are currently 114 programs competing at the Division II level across 10 conferences. Across all three divisions, there are 524 women's teams.

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Posted in: Division II,South Dakota

University of Health Sciences & Pharmacy (NAIA MO) Adds Lacrosse

In addition to its efforts to improve the student experience, the University will also build a foundation of aggressive recruiting and student support for extracurricular and intercollegiate athletics participation through its existing sports teams, and create new teams and programs as part of the Eutectics Forward plan. "Over the years, UHSP's student-athletes have continued to lift the academic caliber of our
institution, and we've seen very high retention rates among our first-year student-athletes," Allen noted. "With these factors in mind, we will be partnering new and existing athletic teams with our new academic programs in an effort to bolster enrollment and provide student-athletes with new ways to grow and learn with us." 

New athletic teams that will begin recruiting students for fall 2022 include: 
Baseball
Men's and Women's Bowling
Competitive Cheer
Competitive Dance
Men's and Women's Golf
Men's and Women's Lacrosse
Men's Rugby
Men's and Women's Wrestling

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Posted in: Missouri,NAIA

Anderson University (D2 SC) and Dominican University (D2 CA) Add Women's Lacrosse

ANDERSON, S.C. – Anderson University Vice President for Athletics, Dr. Bert Epting, Jr., has named former Alabama Huntsville women's lacrosse coach Gail Wallach as the Trojans' head women's lacrosse coach, as announced Thursday morning. 

The Black and Gold's inaugural season will be during the 2022-2023 academ
ic year and will raise AU's varsity sports offerings to 21 sports, including the coed cheer squad. 

 "We are so excited to welcome Gail and her family to the Trojan Family," said Epting. "She has tremendous experience in building a program, recruiting at a high level, and leading young women, all while integrating Christ into all she does. She truly exemplifies a Christ-centered approach to sport and we are blessed to be able to name her as the first women's lacrosse head coach at Anderson University. Go Trojans!"

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SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Dominican athletics is pleased to announce the hiring of Joseph Manna to lead the first ever women's lacrosse team in Penguin history. "I'm excited for the opportunity to start the program here at Dominican," Manna said. "Dominican is the perfect place to start a women's lacrosse program with its location and job connections in the Bay Area and its high academics supported by the Dominican Experience." 

Manna will spend the next year recruiting in preparation for the Penguins inaugural season in 2022-23. He will spend the next month attending lacrosse events all over the western US beginning in Salt Lake City, Utah, at the Legends Western Freakshow and Legends Western Invitaitonal. Manna will then attend the Adrenaline Western Shootout July 9-11 (Colorado Springs, Colorado), the Rose City Showdown July 16-18 (Portland, Oregon), the IWCLA West Coast Cup July 24-25 (San Jose) and the USBOXLA Nationals August 6-8 (San Diego). Most recently he spent time as an assistant at the University of Detroit Mercy with men's lacrosse and gaining his first experience in women's lacrosse. Manna oversaw the No. 11 face-off unit in the country for the men's side, while being the lead assistant for recruiting and goalies for the women. He also spent time assisting the offense for the Titan women and helped set a new conference record for points scored in a single game with 24 against Youngstown State in 2020.

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Posted in: California,Division II,South Carolina

Clemson University (D1 SC) Adds Women's Lacrosse

CLEMSON, S.C. – Clemson University will add women’s lacrosse and women’s gymnastics as varsity programs in the next two years, Director of Athletics Dan Radakovich announced on Thursday, live on Packer and Durham on ACC Network. Lacrosse is projected to begin competition in 2022-23, with gymnastics beginning competition in the 2023-24 academic year.

“We are thrilled to be able to add these two high-profile women’s sports and expand opportunities for female student-athletes,” said Radakovich. “Over the past six weeks, we’ve heard from many representatives of various potential sports, and spent a great deal of time examining several possibilities and ultimately evaluating which sports would be best for Clemson Athletics. The combination of women’s lacrosse and gymnastics gives us the ability to compete for ACC and NCAA Division I Championships, and we know our community will embrace these new programs. We are grateful to the University for their partnership which will enable us to bring these new opportunities to Clemson.”

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Posted in: Division I,South Carolina

Daemen College (D2 NY) Adds Women's Lacrosse

AMHERST, N.Y. - Daemen College will add women's lacrosse as the 18th varsity sport offered at the College, and the 17th competing at the NCAA Division II level. Plans call for the program to begin competition during the Spring 2023 semester. In addition, New York State native Dominique Hamman was introduced as the program's first head coach at a press conference held today at Lumsden Gymnasium.

 The Daemen women's lacrosse team will compete in the East Coast Conference, a league that the College has been affiliated with dating back to 2013. Since adding women's lacrosse to the conference's sponsored sports in 2006, the ECC has produced 22 NCAA tournament teams and four national champions.

"We are thrilled to continue the growth of Western New York's Premier Division II Team with the addition of a women's lacrosse program," said Traci Murphy, director of athletics. "It's a shining example of how Daemen continues to operate from a position of strength despite the many challenges that institutions of higher education have faced over the past 15 months."

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Quick Hits:

-SoCon to No Longer Sponsor W. Lacrosse

-Big South Conference Adds 3 W. Lacrosse Teams

-Elmira College (NY) to Transition Varsity Lacrosse Teams to Club

-Transylvania University to Join CCIW as Associate Member

Posted in: Conferences,Cut Sports,Division II,New York

Xavier University (D1 OH) Adds Women's Lacrosse

CINCINNATI - Xavier University Vice President and Director of Athletics Greg Christopher announced today that Xavier will add women's lacrosse as its 19th NCAA Division I varsity sport. The program will play its inaugural season in the 2022-23 academic year. "We are excited about the addition of the nation's fastest-growing sport, women's lacrosse, as our 10th women's sport at Xavier," said Christopher.

"Women's lacrosse has exploded in popularity at the high school and collegiate level in Ohio and throughout the Midwest and East Coast footprint of the BIG EAST Conference." Xavier will join Butler, Connecticut, Georgetown, Marquette, Villanova and affiliate member Denver as women's lacrosse-playing members of the BIG EAST Conference. Women's lacrosse, which plays its championship season in the spring, will compete in BIG EAST Conference play beginning in the Spring of 2024.

There are currently 524 NCAA women's lacrosse programs, including 117 in NCAA Division I, and the list is growing. The Ohio High School Athletic Association sponsored women's lacrosse beginning in 2017 and now there are more than 130 programs statewide.

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Posted in: Division I,Ohio

Thomas More University (NAIA KY) Adds Men's Lacrosse

Thomas More University President Joseph L. Chillo, LP.D., and Director of Athletics Terry Connor have announced the addition of men's lacrosse to the sports offering in the University's athletic department. Men's lacrosse will be the 29th athletic program at Thomas More, which continues the University's commitment to invest in the student experience. 

 A national search will begin immediately for a full-time head coach for the team.

The University will begin recruiting for the 2021-2022 academic year, which will be club season as the program begins to build a roster. Men's lacrosse will begin playing a varsity schedule during the 2022-2023 academic year. In addition to beginning men's lacrosse and hiring a full-time head coach, Thomas More will also begin a national search for the women's lacrosse program's first full-time head coach. As the women's lacrosse program has grown over the last few years, the University is investing in that program and the women's lacrosse student-athletes to provide them the best experience on and off the field that a full-time head coach can provide. 

 "Lacrosse is a growing sport and we want to be able to commit to our students by providing opportunities where they're needed," said Connor. "The new full-time head coach for women's lacrosse will take the program to another level, truly raising the bar for that team and the student-athletes already involved. The new men's team adds numerous opportunities for current and prospective Saints."

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Posted in: Kentucky,NAIA

Malone University (D2 OH) Adds Lacrosse

CANTON, Ohio – Malone University officials today announced that the institution is adding women's and men's intercollegiate lacrosse programs. With the additional programs, Malone offers students 17 intercollegiate programs competing at the NCAA Div. II level and as members of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC). The conference launched women's competition in 2016 followed by men's lacrosse in 2017. 

 "Lacrosse continues to grow in interest in Ohio, the Midwest, and along the East Coast, places where we attract students," said Tanya Hockman, interim director of athletics. "Adding lacrosse is a natural extension of our strategic plan for athletics and made possible by the installation of the competition field of Pioneer Park." 

 Both Malone teams will call Pioneer Park their home field. The multipurpose, synthetic athletic field is under construction and will be completed by August of this year. Malone officials will launch a coaching search this spring and the Pioneers will begin intercollegiate play in the 2022-2023 academic year.

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Posted in: Division III,Ohio

Atlantic Sun Conference to Sponsor Men's Lacrosse

ATLANTA Ga. - The ASUN Conference proudly announces the formation of ASUN Men's Lacrosse. This is the second time in nine years that the ASUN has built a new Men's Lacrosse conference. The partnership with the Southern Conference continues as the ASUN again builds opportunities for student-athletes. The ASUN first built a Men's Lacrosse conference in Fall 2012 when it announced ASUN Men's Lacrosse with a founding membership of Furman, High Point, Jacksonville, Mercer, Richmond, and VMI.

 That group began play in the 2013-14 season with the Richmond Spiders earning an automatic bid into the NCAA Championship. Today, the ASUN announces a new group of six that includes Air Force, Bellarmine, Cleveland State, Detroit Mercy, Robert Morris, and Utah. "The primary goal of our lacrosse partnership with the Southern Conference is to maximize opportunity," ASUN Commissioner Ted Gumbart said. "Our first responsibility is the highest level of service to our full member institutions; when partnerships offer increased opportunity for all, that meets our primary ASUN BEAM of Students First."

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Quick Hits:

-Peach Belt Conference to Add Men's Lacrosse

-New York Tech Pauses Athletics for Two Years

-Alfred State College Drops Lacrosse

-PLL and MLL Merge

-Houghton College Drops Lacrosse

Posted in: Colorado,Conferences,Division I,Division III,Kentucky,MLL,New York,Ohio,Pennsylvania,PLL,Professional,Utah

Fairleigh Dickinson University (D1 NJ) Adds Women's Lacrosse

HACKENSACK, N.J. – One week removed from announcing the addition of men's volleyball, Fairleigh

Dickinson University President Christopher A. Capuano and Director of Athletics Bradford D. Hurlbut are excited to announce that the department will also be adding women's lacrosse to the Knights' stable of programs. With this addition, FDU increases its sport total to 21 teams and becomes the first NCAA Division I institution in the 2020-21 academic calendar to introduce two new programs.

The Burgundy and Blue will compete in the Northeast Conference as the league's ninth women's lacrosse member. "FDU is proud and excited to welcome women's lacrosse, the 21st Division I athletic program on our Metropolitan Campus," said President Capuano.


"The introduction of this great sport, on the heels of the addition of men's volleyball, illustrates the strength and continued growth of our athletics program. An added benefit of these two new programs is their popularity within New Jersey and the possibility of keeping more New Jersey students close to home to study and compete."

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