Buzzards Bay, Mass. -- The Massachusetts Maritime Academy will add the sport of women's lacrosse to its varsity athletic program over the next three years, as the Buccaneers will field a club squad for three seasons beginning this fall and will elevate to varsity status in the spring of 2012. The addition of women's lacrosse at the Academy was announced earlier today by Admiral Richard G. Gurnon, President of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, and Bob Corradi, Massachusetts Maritime's Director of Athletics.
Corradi also announced that Rory Deegan, who currently serves as the Assistant Men's Lacrosse Coach at the Academy, has been named as Massachusetts Maritime's first Head Women's Lacrosse Coach and will assume all responsibilities for the program immediately.
"This is an exciting day for the future of women's athletics at Massachusetts Maritime," Corradi said of the addition of women's lacrosse at the Academy. "It provides another tremendous growth and competitive opportunity in one of the fastest growing sports in the country, and it further reflects the great commitment that Massachusetts Maritime and Admiral Gurnon have made to athletics at the Academy."
The women's lacrosse program will begin non-traditional activities at the club level in the fall of 2009, and will continue to be classified as a club program until July 1, 2011, when it will then be elevated to varsity status. Deegan will direct all recruiting and practice operations for the program over the next three years before the Buccaneers play their first varsity match in March 2012.
A native of Wading River, N.Y., Deegan was a standout attack at Division I Manhattan College, where he earned a degree in Psychology. He served as Assistant Men's Lacrosse Coach at Alvernia University in Reading, Pa. before coming to Massachusetts Maritime, where he helped lead the Buccaneers to their highest win total in seven seasons with a 9-7 mark this past spring that included a berth in the ECAC Division III New England Semi-Finals. Deegan serves in a full-time position at the Academy as Assistant Director of Student Services.
Corradi indicated that Massachusetts Maritime will be seeking conference affiliation for women's lacrosse in the coming year so that it is in place for the first varsity campaign in 2012. Fellow MASCAC members Bridgewater State, Fitchburg State, Framingham State, Westfield State and Worcester State are all members of the New England Women's Lacrosse Alliance.