Men’s Lacrosse Reaches Several “Firsts” in Team History

Fall 2015 Issue

Men’s lacrosse is a relatively young program in comparison to other sports in Susquehanna’s athletics program. Its first varsity season was in 2000. Compare that to the 116-year history of the football program.

Since 2000, the team has had five different head coaches, including current head coach Stewart Moan, the longest- tenured coach in program history. Prior to Moan’s arrival in 2008, the Crusaders had a combined record of 35-74. Since Moan has taken the lead, the team is 71-63, with two Landmark Conference titles, two NCAA Tournament appearances and three All-Americans over three consecutive years (2013, 2014 and 2015).

Marcus Cheatham ’13 was Susquehanna’s first lacrosse player to be named All-American in 2013. Then came Austen Lein ’14, who was also the team’s first conference player of the year, and this past spring, Kade MacGregor ’16 became the team’s first junior All-American. Even more history was made this year when Conor Boyland ’15 was named a United States Intercollegiate Men’s Lacrosse Association (USILA) Scholar All-American, another first for the program.

Moan credits the players’ success to a team culture that embraces competition. “This is a fun game, but we take our fun seriously,” he says. “The players have really embraced the competitive environment that I’ve promoted, and they understand competition pushes them to be better.”

That culture is possible, according to Boyland, because of the emphasis Moan places on communication.

“If you ask any player who has played for Coach Moan what the most important part of the program is, you are guaranteed to hear ‘communication,’” Boyland says. “The achievements of the program over the past three years are due to the cohesiveness of the team. In the classroom and on the field, every player was able to get better and help others because of communication.”

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