Alfred State College (D3 NY) and Rider University (D1 NJ) Add Women's Lacrosse

Alfred State College Director of Athletics Jason Doviak announced today the addition of three new varsity sports. Alfred State will add women's wrestling along with both men's and women's Lacrosse. "We are thrilled to announce the additions of women's lacrosse, women's wrestling, and the reinstatement of men's lacrosse to our department," said Doviak. "The balanced number of sport offerings align well with our strategic efforts to provide even more females the opportunity to compete on our campus and support the growth within the AMCC Conference." 

Women's wrestling continues to be a growing presence in the NCAA and Alfred State's program will become the 38th of its kind. The Pioneers are excited to add dedicated female student-athletes to the family. The team is scheduled to start competition in the winter of 2023. 

The men's lacrosse program makes a return to the athletic department. After three years the program is now reinstated, meaning new beginnings in the NCAA for men's lacrosse. Scheduled to begin spring of 2025, preparations are already underway. Women's Lacrosse will be an addition to the department. The program will begin along with the men's program in spring of 2025.

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LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – Rider University Athletic Director Don Harnum, has announced that women's lacrosse will be added as Rider's 21st NCAA Division I athletic program with regular-season competition starting in Spring 2024. The Broncs will join current full Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference members Canisius, Fairfield, Iona, Manhattan, Marist, Mount St. Mary's, Niagara, Quinnipiac and Siena in offering women's lacrosse, becoming the league's 10th program. 

"We are excited to be adding women's lacrosse to our portfolio of sports offerings for women," said Harnum. "Women's lacrosse is a sport that continues to grow and thrive, both nationally and in the MAAC, and fits extremely well into our geographic recruiting footprint."

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Posted in: Division I,New Jersey,New York

SUNY Cobleskill (D3 NY) Adds Women's Lacrosse

 COBLESKILL, N.Y. -- SUNY Cobleskill's Women's Lacrosse team will take the field in Spring 2024 for the first time, representing the College's nineteenth NCAA Division III team. The women will compete in the North Atlantic Conference (NAC), featuring eight other schools with established teams. SUNY Cobleskill will begin a national search for a head coach with plans to appoint an individual as soon as possible to begin player recruitment and preparations for the 2024 spring season. The Women's Lacrosse team will utilize training and competition facilities on campus, shared by the Men's Lacrosse team and the Men's and Women's Soccer teams.

"The NAC is such a good home for us, and our teams have thrived in this conference since we joined. We've wanted to get involved in the NAC's competitive Women's Lacrosse, so we are beyond excited that this is now a reality," said Athletics Director Marie Curran-Headley. "Everything is in place for this program to get off to a running start; it's now just a matter of recruiting the right talent to ensure the short and long-term success of Women's Lacrosse at SUNY Cobleskill. The consistent, campus-wide support for our athletics is a great sign that this team will be well-positioned to make a name for itself in Division III lacrosse."

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Posted in: Division III,New York

Holy Family University (D2 PA) Adds Men's Lacrosse

PHILADELPHIA, PA, July 27, 2022— The Holy Family University Department of Athletics is pleased to announce the addition of acrobatics & tumbling and men's lacrosse as its 16th and 17th varsity programs, effective for the 2023-24 academic year. "I join our students in their excitement over the addition to our athletics programs of acrobatics & tumbling and men's lacrosse," said Anne Prisco, Ph.D., president of Holy Family University. 

"We are pleased to provide new opportunities for student-athletes to excel in their sports and the classroom. We know that student-athletes have a higher burden when it comes to balancing sports and schoolwork, so as we grow programs, we also grow resources to ensure we are able to support them in everything from academic support to mental health counseling. Our view is that our student-athletes are students first, so we strive to ensure a holistic and balanced experience. I look forward to cheering these new student-athletes on to victory next academic year." 

 Holy Family Athletics continues its growth as the University has now revealed the addition of four new varsity programs over the past four months, with recent announcements that women's bowling and Esports will begin competition in the 2022-23 academic year. "With the addition of four new sports by the 2023-24 academic year, Holy Family University Athletics is expanding our athletics programming to develop even more student-athletes that will learn discipline, preparation, strategic thinking, and teamwork in their respective sports with their peers," said Holy Family University Director of Athletics Tim Hamill. "We are looking forward to welcoming our first acrobatics & tumbling and men's lacrosse teams to our campus."

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Posted in: Division II,Pennsylvania

Mount Mercy University (NAIA IA) Adds Women's Lacrosse

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- Mount Mercy University has announced that women's lacrosse will become the 19th intercollegiate sport at the university and will open competition during the 2023-24 academic year. The search to hire a head coach to lead the program will begin immediately. 

"Women's lacrosse is one of the fastest growing collegiate sports in the country and was recently added as an officially sponsored sport in the Heart of America Athletic Conference," said Nate Klein, vice president for student success. "We are excited to launch this program and be a partner to help grow interest in lacrosse throughout the community."

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Posted in: Iowa,NAIA

Life University (NAIA GA) Adds Men's Lacrosse

 MARIETTA, Ga. ---- Life University Director of Athletics Jayme Pendergast announced the addition of women's flag football and men's lacrosse for the 2023-24 season Wednesday afternoon. With the growth of new sports within the NAIA, Life University has remained one of the most innovative schools in the country. Women's flag has been identified as an emerging championship sport, while men's lacrosse will soon begin a transition from an invitational to a championship sport. The women's flag football team will join immediately as a member of the Sun Conference.

Pendergast expressed her excitement stating, "We are really excited to add two more sports to the department. There is a lot of due diligence that goes into adding a new sport, so this plan has been in the works and I'm thrilled to be able to make it official. With the new turfed upper field and REP Center, these two sports will have the facilities and field space they need to be successful.  In addition, as sports, they both fit well within our current offerings. Flag Football is a relatively new sport, but I anticipate seeing it take off similar to women's wrestling. I've paid attention to its growth at the local high school level and collegiately across the southeast. With it moving to invitational sport status in the NAIA we are looking forward to being an early adopter of the sport and laying the foundation for long-term success. Similarly, men's lacrosse is huge in our backyard and right on the verge of championship status with the NAIA. With women's lacrosse getting off to such a successful start I anticipate the same on the men's side. Again, we have secured some great facilities and already have some talented lacrosse athletes using our fields from our partnership with Thunder Lacrosse. When we start new sport programs, we want to ensure that the opportunity can lead to championship experiences for our student-athletes and I'm optimistic we can accomplish that with both of these great opportunities."

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Posted in: Georgia,NAIA