New Faces, Same Ambitions
In the wake of the 2009 offseason,
the Colorado Men’s lacrosse team found themselves without a coach with the
unexpected departure of head coach John Galvin.
Galvin, who in his 6 year tenure, had brought the team into the light of
the MCLA and national attention. He coached the team to four Top Five rankings
in the MCLA , a national Championship appearance in 2006, and most recently, an
appearance in the MCLA Final-Four. Now
coming into the 2010 season, the Buffs have turned to Pete Stevenson as their
new head coach, and hope of returning to an elite status in the MCLA Division.
Prior to his hiring, Stevenson
spent 2009 as the defensive coordinator of Orem High School in Orem, Utah, the
very same team he founded during his high school career back in 1994, helping
the Tigers to the state championship. Stevenson previously held the offensive coordinator
position at BYU prior to Orem High School for the 2007 and 2008 seasons. He also helped lead the Cougars to the MCLA
title in 2007.
The
accomplishments don’t begin there however, during his high school career, Pete
was a 3-time first team all state goalie back as a player for Orem High
School. After going college bound, he
won MVP honors for Division 2 playing at Utah Valley State College in
2001. Stevenson then transferred to BYU
the following season, switching to attack, where he played until graduating in
2005.
In
addition to a new head coach, the Buffs will have an entirely different assistant
coaching staff as well, all originating from the east coast. One of which is Taylor Short, who has been
involved in the lacrosse world since grade school. He attended Ridgefield High School in
Connecticut as a defenseman under the tenure of Coach RJ Rossi. He then continued his career at Salisbury
University in Maryland, where after being side lined with an ankle injury,
continued to spread his love of the game by teaching local youth programs. Short then graduated and relocated to
Colorado to pursue a career in finance, and at the same time contribute to the
lacrosse growth around the state. Taylor currently plays post
collegiate lacrosse and organized the Top Shelf Lacrosse team who were the 2009
Rumble on Randall's tournament champions.
Michael
Ryder is also a Salisbury Alumni, and played under Ken Case at Schreiber High
School in Port Washington, New York.
After serving 2 years under Jim Berkman at Salisbury, Ryder became a
Player/Defensive coach for the University’s NCLL Semifinalist Club team, and
later coached the Girl’s Varsity Lacrosse team at Wicomico High School in
Salisbury, Maryland while simultaneously holding a student teaching position. Currently however, he is a starter for the
Colorado Sabertooth indoor lacrosse team, who recently placed 2nd at
the 2009 Freedom Cup to Team USA.
Michael is also currently a director for Breakdown Lacrosse LLC, and
works at a local Boulder restaurant while perusing a career in education.
The
third assistant coach hired in the new era of Buffaloes Lacrosse is Keith
Lohmuller. Keith went to Chaminade High
School on Long Island, and then attended West Point for 2 years as a
defenseman. He later transferred to
Adelphi University where he earned All-American status in 1996 as a
defensive-midfielder, and again in 1997 at close D. Lohmuller was also team
captain and lead Adelphi to a Division II Championship in 1998. All three assistants look forward to helping
the program grow alongside Stevenson.
Although
the faces that lead have changed, the goal remains the same for the Buffs,
remain among top in the MCLA and return to where they were just one year
ago. Colorado’s 2009 season ended to a
17-7 defeat at the hands of Michigan, who later went on to defeat Chapman for
the MCLA title. Pete Stevenson and his
coaching staff have made it their goal to go above and beyond that marker, and
at the same time look forward to the opportunity to coach the black and gold.