BREAKING: Lindsey Munday screws the Mount, (Can't blame her); Hire Catanese

It appears that the Mount women's lacrosse team will have its third coach in less than a year. Lindsey Munday, the former Northwestern first assistant who was certainly the biggest resume hire in school history (I don't care how young or inexperienced she is, she was a part of FIVE national championships), is going to USC, according to the LA Times.


I'll say this, Los Angeles sounds a lot sweeter than Emmitsburg, but how can you leave a program before you ever coach a season there? What will she tell the players she's spent the last four months with? Now there is the potential of a lost recruiting class and a scramble to find what will likely lead to a lame duck coach.


Even worse, every coach in the athletic department who was pissed that Munday was receiving a ton of money (compared to them when they started) will now be wondering if it was worth it. I met one of the recruits signed by Sonia LaMonica before she ditched the Mount for Towson (where she was an assistant before, plus she didn't leave until the offseason) and they were ecstatic to have the chance to play for Munday.


I'm not sure what Trojan Land could offer a woman's lacrosse coach, but I'm sure it's much more attractive than what the Mount signed on to pay.


"It is an incredibly special opportunity to begin a new program and I cannot wait to recruit student-athletes who are passionate about lacrosse and about joining this amazing time in USC women's lacrosse history," Munday said in a statement that was quoted on the LA Times' blog, The Fabulous Forum.


There is no indication on the Mount's site that Munday has left, and she is still listed as the head coach. Expect any record of her to be gone within days, if not hours, as the Mount did with Milan Brown and company.


If I were in Munday's shoes, would I do the same thing? Without hearing the financials, it's not – OK I'll stop posturing. You're damn right I would leave the Mount for USC. This is a business, not daycare.


The only peculiar part of the move is that it comes during winter break, meaning by the time she packs her belongings and moves out of town, she'll never have to face the players she barely got to know. Can we please schedule USC in 2013 – the first year it will have a varsity team? (That's right; she won't even coach a meaningful game for more than two years.)


My biased but logical recommendation is to hire my good friend Katelyn Catanese, who was one of the best players in Northeast Conference history, and coached St. John's at Prospect Hall last spring. She led the girls to an undefeated season and an IAAM "C" Conference championship. Better yet, she's finishing graduate school at the Mount and could probably use a full-time job.


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UPDATE: How could I forget this? (H/T to you know who.) Kind of puts a damper on the national championship hopes of our university president. This is what Powell said in August when Munday was hired:


"We're excited to welcome Coach Lindsey Munday to the Mount," said President Dr. Thomas Powell.  "She brings a national presence along with great talent and experience and exemplifies the formation of character we try and instill in our athletes. I am confident this dynamic coach will take us to the next level and bring home a national championship."


As the next coaching search begins, hope springs eternal yet again!

Campaign for Jane: Part I of II

To deny Jane Karger (class of 2008) the opportunity to coach the women’s lacrosse team would be hypocritical.

Is it not obvious that the strategy the Mount’s athletic administration is emphasizing more than ever for finding coaches is to buy low and sell high? Being bought low is not necessarily an insult to commodities like Robert Burke – especially since he wasn’t bought low at all by Mount standards – whose background speaks for itself; Siena, Georgetown, American. And for Anna Nagro, it is not so much an insult, as it is a measure of caution, to say that she was bought cheap. (Very cheap, I’m sure.)

Many a penny stock has elevated to wealthy levels known best by giants like Amazon.com, or in our case, Jim Phelan and MilanBrown.com. Phelan and Brown both call Emmitsburg the backseat-of-the-car portion of their careers, where they first found love at the top of the coaching ranks. For Phelan, the Mount was the only partner he ever needed. And Brown may have been able to say the same if the Mount was more competitive financially, which it understandably cannot be.

I’ve known Karger since my freshman and her sophomore year, but not so much that I would be biased in my opinion of her qualifications. I do not have her phone number, I haven’t spoken more than a hello to her in months, if not years, and hell, I don’t even know if we’re friends on Facebook.

Social connections aside, one dogged fact remains as a result of the path the school has so clearly cut through the mountainside: Jane Karger is the top choice to become the next head coach of the Mount St. Mary’s women’s lacrosse program.

As a goalie for the team in her playing days, she not only earned a number of victories and the second undefeated Northeast Conference regular season in school history* (2007), but also the respect of her teammates.

The soft-spoken, but well-mannered young woman from Pittsburgh has been an assistant coach at the program for the past two seasons. That makes six seasons in total that Karger has contributed to the team. As I imagine that most, if not all, of her graduate studies have been completed in her two years as an assistant, she probably has little reason to remain in the cozy confines of isolated Emmitsburg for another year at the benefit of a lowly stipend. The only way to keep her, and perhaps some semblance of the program’s winning tradition, which, quite frankly, is hanging by a thread, is to make her the head coach.

When I was a freshman in 2005 – 2006, the women’s lacrosse team was coming off back-to-back NEC tournament titles and was favored to run through the conference a third consecutive season. The only teams that mattered were the Mount and Monmouth. Now, Quinnipiac, Long Island, Sacred Heart and Robert Morris have closed the gap. The Mountaineers grabbed the fourth and final seed in last season’s conference tournament by a single game, and it was not a disappointment when compared to preseason expectations.

By most measures, a repeat performance of last season’s first round exit in the conference tournament would be an accomplishment. What with the departure of graduated offensive juggernaut Ashley Johnson and defensive labyrinth and team MVP Jackie Kearney coupled with the departure of their highly-touted head coach of one season, Sonia LaMonica, expectations should be low in the spring of 2011.

So low in fact, that you or me could be named head coach, win two games in the conference, and if it were not for the public record of our name being listed as such, the critics would be none the wiser to the reason for the team’s shortcomings.

Jane Karger might as well be Jane Doe in terms of the choices the program will attract for the price the school is willing to pay. In fact, forming a search committee to fill this position is not even necessary.

Part II of Campaign for Jane will appear tomorrow, Aug. 10.


*The original post noted that 2007 was the only undefeated NEC regular season (8-0) in school history. In fact the team also went undefeated (7-0) in 2004, when it ended up winning the NEC tournament and made its first NCAA tournament appearance. My apologies for the error.

Towson wastes little time, officially announces LaMonica as new coach

Sonia LaMonica has officially been named the head coach for the Towson women's lacrosse team. Mount U broke the news of her departure here.

Sonia LaMonica has been named the
10th women's lacrosse coach at Towson.

Here is the press release straight from Tiger U:

SONIA LAMONICA NAMED AS TOWSON HEAD WOMEN’S LACROSSE COACH

TOWSON, Md. – Sonia LaMonica has been named as the Head Women’s Lacrosse Coach at Towson University.  A native of Darlington, South Australia, LaMonica succeeds Missy Doherty.

“Sonia is a perfect fit for Towson University,” Interim Director of Athletics Ted Zaleski said. “She has the experience to be a firm leader and is young enough to relate to the young women she will coach.

“She also provides Towson with continuity for our women’s lacrosse program,” Zaleski added. “She helped recruit many of the players on this year’s squad. She will hit the field running.”

As Mount St Mary’s head coach, LaMonica led her team to an 8-9 record last year and a berth in the Northeast Conference (NEC) semi-finals.

“Returning to the Tiger Family is a dream come true for me and my family,” LaMonica said. “I would like to thank Interim Director of Athletics Ted Zaleski and Senior Associate Athletic Director Nance Reed for this wonderful opportunity.

“I would also like to thank Mount St. Mary’s Athletic Director Lynne Robinson and University President Dr. Thomas H. Powell for the time I had to work with them and their student-athletes and for their support through this process,” LaMonica added.

Prior to becoming the Mountaineers’ head coach, LaMonica spent two seasons as Towson’s assistant coach and helped the Tigers win a pair of Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) championships. She coached Hillary Fratzke, who was named as the 2008 CAA Player of the Year and earned first team All-America honors, and Julie Ondrako, who was named as the 2009 CAA Defensive Player of the Year. In addition, five players earned first team All-CAA notice while two players earned second team accolades. In addition to Fratzke, the Tigers had three players earn IWLCA all-region honors during her tenure at Towson.

Before joining the Tigers’ staff, LaMonica was an assistant coach at the University of Denver, helping the Pioneers to a 15-5 record. She coached the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Player and Rookie of the Year along with three all-conference selections and the program’s first-ever IWLCA All-West/Midwest honoree.

In addition to her success as a coach, LaMonica was a member of the Australian National Team. She helped Australia win the gold medal at the 2005 World Cup Championship and a silver medal at the 2009 World Cup Championship. Named to the 2005 IFWLA All-World Team, she was also a member of the U-19 Australian National Team that won the silver medal at the 1999 World Championships and was the recipient of the U21 South Australian Sportswoman of the Year award.

A 2003 graduate of the University of Maryland, LaMonica was a three-year starter for the Terrapins. She earned first team All-America honors and was a candidate for the Tewaaraton Trophy during her senior season as a team captain she helped lead Maryland to the Atlantic Coast Conference championship. She was a member of three ACC championship teams and helped the Terrapins win the 2000 and 2001 national titles.

She scored 111 goals in her college career, including 49 goals as a senior, along with 55 assists.

“I am charged with excitement and energy for this next chapter in my coaching career and look so very forward to reuniting with the student-athletes and staff at this outstanding institution and continuing the growth this program has experienced over the last few years.”

The former Sonia Judd, LaMonica is married to former University of Maryland men’s lacrosse standout Michael LaMonica. The couple resides in Parkton, Md. with their newborn son, Luca James.

Coach LaMonica will assume her duties as the Tigers’ new women’s lacrosse coach on August 16.

Transactions:          Sonia LaMonica named head women’s lacrosse coach at Towson University.

Sonia LaMonica’s Coaching Record

Mount St. Mary’s University (2010) – Head Coach

2010         8-9                 Reached Northeast Conference semi-finals

Towson University (2008-09) – Assistant Coach

2009         13-6               CAA champions; NCAA Tournament

2008         13-6               CAA champions; NCAA Tournament

University of Denver (2006) – Assistant Coach

2006         15-5               Pioneers set record for most wins in school history

Chronology of Towson University Women’s Lacrosse Coaches

Coach                               Years                                    Record          No. of Seasons

Maggie Faulkner             1977-1981, 1983-1985      71-62-4          8 seasons

Linda DiColo                   1982                                      10-7                1 season

Lisa Pierce                       1986                                      3-12                1 season

Sandy Hoody                   1987-1990                            27-32             4 seasons

Alison Williams               1991-1992                            19-12             2 seasons

Charlotte Hennan           1993-1994                            9-18                2 seasons

Ashley Duncan               1995-1998                            31-33             4 seasons

Linda Ohrin                      1999-2003                            30-38             5 seasons

Missy Doherty                  2004-2010                            79-46             7 seasons

Sonia LaMonica              2011-                                     0-0                  1st season

BREAKING: LaMonica leaves Mount after one season

Sonia LaMonica, who was announced on Nov. 17, 2009 to become the sixth women's lacrosse head coach in school history, has resigned, according to a source. She reportedly informed the players of her decision earlier today.


In her only season in Emmitsburg, LaMonica, who had a baby this summer, led the team to an 8-10 record including 6-3 in Northeast Conference regular season play. The fourth-seeded Mountaineers fell in the first round of the conference tournament to top-seeded Sacred Heart, who won all 11 of its NEC matches en route to the NCAA Tournament.


Sophomore Jordan Corteza says that although the transition will be difficult, the team can draw on its experience from last season to get through this year.


"Having dealt with it last year gives us a clue as to how things are going to go but we are still in the dark with the future," Corteza said. "The upperclassmen have done a lot of 'coaching' us and helped out with not only lacrosse but our fears that we had coming back to school. We are a very close team and like last year we will just have to depend on each other to help out with lacrosse, school, social and anything else we may need."


In her first season at the Mount, Corteza was selected to the conference's All-Rookie team. The attacker was second on the team with 20 goals and 23 assists, earning her NEC Rookie of the Week honors on two separate occasions under the first-year head coach.


LaMonica will presumably pursue the vacant position at Towson University, where Missy Doherty left after seven years to become the head coach at Penn State University. LaMonica served as a head coach under Doherty for two years at Towson, and still resides in nearby Parkton.


This marks the second time in as many seasons that the athletic department will be seeking a new coach for one of its most successful programs in the NCAA Division I era. Denise Wescott left the Mount to be named the head coach at top rival Monmouth University on Sept. 12, 2009 after four years at the Mount. Women's lacrosse will join the men's golf program (2007 - 2010) in having a different coach in three consecutive seasons.


"I know that I can depend on every single one of my teammates to help me with anything I need and that is nice to know that I have them there. So no matter what happens we will all be together and able to help each other out," Corteza stated.


This also marks the third head coaching search the athletic department will undergo since late spring when Milan Brown resigned as men's basketball head coach, followed by the firing of former softball coach Larry Alvis.

LaMonica has baby boy / New look for part of MountAthletics.com

Congratulations to Mount St. Mary's women's lacrosse head coach Sonia LaMonica and her husband Luca on the birth of their baby boy, Luca James LaMonica.

LaMonica will be entering her second season as the women's head coach this year.


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MountAthletics.com has made a few some visual changes to its site on the roster and bio pages. If you hover over someone's name in the roster list a thumbnail pops up. And if you go to the actual bios the format is a little different. I like the new look here. Yup, I used my own bio as the example.

Men's lacrosse is the favorite son in Emmitsburg (or should be)

Men’s basketball is no longer the top priority in the Mount St. Mary’s athletic department. At least it should not be.

The men’s lacrosse team, and to some degree, the women’s lacrosse team, need to be the big boys (and girls) on campus.

That does not mean the basketball teams should be neglected, nor should they receive any less attention or funding than they do now (in fact an increase in both would be fine), but they cannot be the top priority.

Not with Tom Gravante’s men’s laxers coming off of what is probably the best season in school history. School record 12 wins, second-ever NCAA tournament appearance, defeated two nationally ranked teams – both on the road, and best of all, almost all of the team’s big guns are coming back next year.

If there were ever a chance for a sport at the Mount to be nationally ranked in the NCAA Division I era, this is it. The men’s lacrosse team was this close to being ranked this year after beating No. 19 Robert Morris, and if it had followed up a win at No. 10 Lafayette with a win against No. 11 Georgetown, it would have been a top 15 team.

Alas the men fell to Georgetown 11-6 – it was the Mount’s fourth game in 11 days, three of which were on the road, and just three days before a game in Detroit for which they would have to fly – and the pollsters stopped voting for the Mountaineers, who were three spots from the top 20 the week before playing Lafayette and Georgetown.

After going nearly unblemished in MAAC play (and eventually avenging the only loss to Siena in the MAAC championship) the men showed that their early season victories were no fluke.

We already have a wonderful stadium, brand new locker rooms and coaches we want to keep around in both the men’s and women’s programs. Now we need some capital.

Gravante stated last week that he believes the team has won five MAAC titles since he’s been here even though only two of them qualified the team for the NCAA tournament. As for the women, Sonia LaMonica kept the women’s team afloat this year with a shorthanded roster in her first season as head coach.

LaMonica is better known, however, for her work ethic and uncompromisingly high standards she sets for her players, who love her.

And for the first time this season, both teams had two paid assistants who received a stipend. Next year, however, one of those assistants will become full-time for both teams. Let’s make it worthwhile. I’m not talking a $10,000 salary for each team’s full-time assistant and a $5,000 stipend for the other one.

Pony up the cash, Tommy P (our president). Twenty-thousand dollars should be the absolute minimum we’re willing to pay a full-time assistant to coach any of the sports here, let alone some of our most successful. Both teams have capable assistants in place, so why scare them away with an insulting salary when they will need to work for full-time pay at some point? Let’s give them an offer they would have some trouble refusing, and if they do, we’ll be paying enough to bring in a capable successor.

(Or did we not learn our lesson with Denise Wescott? I mean, we got lucky with LaMonica, but really, how many bullets can we dodge? Just because we're a Catholic school doesn't mean God is going to throw us a lifeline every time stupid athletic decisions are made. Oh yeah, see ya later, coach Brown and staff. You get the point. Right? You know who I'm talking to and it's not Lynne Robinson.)

Maryland is the hotbed for lacrosse – how lucky we are to reside in the state that is home to the best prep lacrosse in the country (sorry, New York). It would be foolish to run a program that many of the Maryland high school players would consider second-tier.

With all that being said, I can guarantee you that Tom Gravante never wins another MAAC championship for as long as he coaches at the Mount.

That’s because the Mount is joining the NEC next year, making every sport at the Mount a member of the NEC. While that may not seem like a big deal, the NEC will operate with teams that have been uncapped for quite some time while the MAAC just recently became uncapped. What I mean by that is that until recently, MAAC members were only allowed to give out a capped number of scholarships regardless of how much money each school had to offer recruits. Each year that number increased by two scholarships until it recently allowed its members to grant the NCAA maximum of 12.6 scholarships to each school. Unfortunately, the Mount never got the memo and still caps itself. (Take that in as many ways in which you can interpret it.)

There will be no such lag in the NEC and many of the teams the Mount will be joining – such as well-heeled Bryant in Sacred heart – in that conference have been operating under a full budget for years.

The Mount, however, only has four scholarships to give, according to Gravante. That’s the same as Wagner, which has a 2-74 in its last five seasons including going 0-45 from 2006 – 2008.

Gravante is doing a lot with a little and has been for years. He could accept a Wagner performance to match his Wagner budget, but he doesn’t.

Of course the Mount has had down years, but that is to be expected with this shoestring budget. If we want to compete on a consistent basis, we’re going to need more cash. Like 8.6 scholarships and $25,000-plus for a full-time assistant – times two (to cover both programs.)

Like someone rich always said; scared money don’t make money. It’s time for the Mount to stop being scared. Although there’s probably a better chance this administration will take the statue of Mary off the mountain before it starts investing some serious money into athletics.

If it does not act soon, this window of opportunity will close. Focusing just on the men’s team, the future could not be brighter. (The women and their not-bad-looking head coach are more than welcome to tag along for the ride, and any other activities for which they wish to tag along.)

First of all, junior goalie T.C. DiBartolo needs a nickname. I’m thinking Barnum, Bailey or both. The man is a circus act inside the crease and best of all, the team MVP is back next year.

So are offensive stalwarts Brett and Bryant Schmidt (the BB guns?), Cody can’t-decode-me Lehrer – fourth in the nation in goals per game this season, even without a goal in his final two games – Andrew “Agent Zeros” Scalley (he scored the MAAC championship winner with zeros on the clock, a buzzer beater. You can’t think of anything better so stop making fun of these nicknames), Ben “Bear” Trapp (because he wins so many faceoffs, it’s like he gets the ball in a bear trap and won’t let it go) and a slew of other important players are all coming back.

Thanks for everything, Matt Nealis, Russell Moncure, Drew Dunn, Jim O’Shea and all the other seniors. You will be missed. But hopefully not too much.

At least not if the Mount does what any sensible school would do and invests in the one program that has glimmering hope to become a national power.

All eyes are not on us – but they could be. What are we going to do about it? What are you, Mount administration, going to do about it? (It's not a rhetorical question.)