MSOE adds Mens Lacrosse to varsity athletics
| Published: 06/07/2009 |
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MSOE will add men's varsity lacrosse as the university's 22nd sport beginning in Spring 2010 according to Director of Athletics Dan Harris.
"Lacrosse has rapidly gained popularity in the Midwest as more opportunities have grown through local youth clubs and high schools," said Harris. "During the past three seasons, we have seen growth in our club program and are ready to grant the team varsity status."
Robin Buckley will be the team's head coach, a position he has held the past three years with MSOE's club program. Buckley brings over 19 years of coaching experience to the MSOE Raider program. A native of Illinois, Buckley started playing the sport of lacrosse in 1982 at Lawrenceville Prep in New Jersey. He continued playing lacrosse in college at Lake Forest College, where he was a four-year starter.
Buckley has been involved in the growth of lacrosse in the Milwaukee area since 1997, when he was one of the founding members of the Milwaukee Lacrosse Club, Milwaukee Area Youth Lacrosse Association (MAYLA) and the Wisconsin Lacrosse Federation-Wisconsin Chapter of U.S. Lacrosse.
MSOE is a charter member of the Midwest Lacrosse Conference (MLC). Other schools in the conference include Adrian College, Carthage College, Fontbonne University, Mount St. Josephs College and Trine College. Additional members are expected to join the conference in the future.
MSOE has a total of 22 varsity sports, with the majority of the sports competing in the Northern Athletics Conference and three sports competing in independent conferences. MSOE is an independent university with about 2,600 students. MSOE offers 17 bachelor's degrees and nine master's degrees in the engineering, engineering technology, architectural engineering and building construction, computer, business and health-related fields.