Ithaca College Men's Lacrosse

Long has compiled an overall record of 279-145. He was voted the Empire 8 Coach of the Year in 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2014. He was inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2009 and the Ithaca College Hall of Fame in 2010. In 1988, Long took over a team that had gone 9-16 over the previous two seasons; four years later the Bombers were in the NCAA playoffs. The 1991 team finished 9-3, winning the programs first ICAC championship in seven seasons and earning league coach of the year honors for Long. The next year the Bombers won the conference (EAA) title, advanced to the NCAA Tournament, and once again Long was named coach of the year. He was also named the Division III Coach of the Year by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) in 1992. Long had the Bombers back in the playoff hunt in 1997, thanks in part to a seven-game winning streak. In 1998 Ithaca took the next step and reached the NCAA playoffs for the first time in six years. In 1999, the Bombers posted a 7-6 record and followed that with an 11-3 record in 2000. In 2001 the Bombers were back in the playoffs, posting a 1-1 record in the postseason. In 2002, Ithaca made the NCAA semifinals for the third time in school history. In 2003, Ithaca finished 11-3 and four Bombers were named USILA All-Americans. In 2004 the Bombers won the Empire 8 regular-season title, finishing with a 13-3 record and a year later repeated as the league's regular-season champions while posting the program's first unbeaten conference record. The 2006 team tallied a 12-5 record, the first of four consecutive 12-win seasons. The following season, the Bombers won a fourth straight Empire 8 regular-season title and extended Ithacas conference record to 23 consecutive Empire 8 wins. The Bombers earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the quarterfinals. The 2008 team brought the program to new heights of success. The Bombers set a school record with 17 wins and defeated RIT 12-9 to win the program's first Empire 8 title since 2002. Ithaca defeated Williams 17-10 and Western New England 13-12 to advance to the NCAA semifinals. A school-record five Bombers earned All-America honors, and for the first time two Bombers, attack Matt Nelligan and long-stick midfielder Brandon Rose, were first-team selections. Ithaca returned to the Empire 8 playoffs each of the next six seasons (2009-14). The 2010 team, who advanced to the Empire 8 championship game, was led by goalkeeper David Gal who received USILA honorable mention All-America accolades. The Bombers returned to the Empire 8 title game in 2012, falling to ninth-ranked Stevens Institute of Technology, 10-7. Ithaca upset 11th-ranked Stevens in the 2013 Empire 8 semifinals before dropping a two-goal loss at Nazareth in the title game. In 2014, the Bombers returned to the NCAA Tournament after a five-year drought. The Bombers secured the Empire 8s AQ with a 10-6 victory over St. John Fisher in the championship game. Ithaca defeated Montclair State, 13-4, in the first round before bowing out to RIT in the Round of 16, 20-8. Before coming to Ithaca, Long worked as an assistant coach at the University of Virginia for Jim Adams. During Longs three seasons at Virginia, the team won two Atlantic Coast Conference titles and was a participant in the NCAA playoffs in each of those seasons. In 1986 the Cavaliers played in the national championship game, losing to North Carolina, 10-9, in overtime. Longs first head coaching job was at the U.S. Naval Academy. He worked one year with the B team and another season with the preparatory school unit. Following his Navy tenure, Long was an assistant at Norfolk Academy for one year before moving to Alfred University, where he worked as a graduate assistant and earned a masters degree in education. He also spent one season at Washington and Lee University before joining the Virginia staff. As a player, Long was a three-time All-American at Navy. He remains Navys career points and assists leader and played on four NCAA playoff teams. Long graduated in 1977 with a bachelors degree in political science. He played on the U.S. national lacrosse teams in 1978 and 1986. In 1990, Long coached the Syracuse Molson all-star team that lost by one goal to the U.S. national team. In the spring of 1998 Long served as an assistant on Princeton coach Bill Tierneys staff for the U.S. team that competed in the International Lacrosse Federation World Championship. In the fall, Long is an assistant coach for the Ithaca womens soccer team, working with the teams goalkeepers. Ithaca has advanced to the NCAA playoffs 24 times and consecutively for the last 11 seasons, while winning the national title in 1990 and 1991. The team was back in the national semifinals in 1998 and again in 2011. He and his wife, Cathy, reside in Ithaca and have three children Kelly, Katie and Molly.

Tommy Pearce completed his third season as the men's lacrosse head coach in 2025-26 after joining the Bombers in July 2023 as Ithaca College's sixth head men's lacrosse coach in the program's illustrious history.  The Bombers reached new heights in 2026 as IC won the Liberty League regular season title and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Championship. Ithaca finished the year with an 11-7 record, which was highlighted by wins over nationally ranked foes RIT, St. Lawrence and Skidmore. In his first season at Ithaca, the squad posted an 8-8 record, which included a season-opening 12-10 victory over eventual NCAA qualifier St. John Fisher University. During the 2025 season, Pearce helped guide Ithaca to a 10–9 overall record, including an impressive 8-1 mark at Higgins Stadium. The Bombers returned to the postseason for the first time since 2021, defeating Skidmore in the opening round of the Liberty League Tournament before falling to nationally third-ranked RIT in the semifinals. The team earned four All-Liberty League selections and had two players named Honorable Mention All-Americans by USA Lacrosse. Pearce came to the South Hill after spending the past five seasons (four playable seasons) as the head coach at Allegheny College in Meadville, Pa. Pearce was the first coach at Allegheny as the Gators officially began competition in 2020 and went from one win in that inaugural season to eight victories during the spring of 2023, with a trip to the Presidents' Athletic Conference Tournament. Prior to starting the program at Allegheny, Pearce was tasked with revitalizing the men's lacrosse team at Frostburg State from 2009-18. Frostburg returned to the field in 2011 and within two years, won more than 10 games, including a program record 16 in 2015. Pearce was named Capital Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 2013 and 2015, and the Bobcats would be nationally ranked in 2015 and 2016. Pearce began his collegiate coaching career at his alma mater, Gettysburg College, where he served as an assistant coach from 2005-09. He has also served as an NCAA Site Representative numerous times and was an NCAA Committee Member, holding various positions (USILA voting member, Division III South Region ranking committee and the USILA All-American committee). As a student-athlete at Gettysburg, Pearce was a two-time All-American and team captain for the Bullets as a junior and senior. Gettysburg reached the national championship game in 2001, as Pearce would later go on to play in the North-South All-Star Game. He would be inducted into the Gettysburg Athletic Hall of Fame in 2020 and was selected to the Centennial Conference Silver Anniversary Team in 2018. He received his bachelor's degree in English from Gettysburg in 2001 and earned his master's in exercise science and physical education with an athletic administration concentration from McDaniel College in 2009. 7/29/2026

Torin Varn completed his fifth season as a full-time assistant with the Ithaca College men’s lacrosse program in 2025-26. He previously served as a volunteer assistant for the Bombers in 2020 and spent the 2021 season coaching at Cornell University on the East Hill. The Bombers went 11-7 in 2026 and earned the No. 1 seed in the Liberty League Tournament. IC also earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III Championship, which marked the first trip to the postseason tournament for IC since 2018. During the 2025 season, Varn helped guide Ithaca to a 10–9 overall record, including an impressive 8-1 mark at Higgins Stadium. The Bombers returned to the postseason for the first time since 2021, defeating Skidmore in the opening round of the Liberty League Tournament before falling to nationally third-ranked RIT in the semifinals. The team earned four All-Liberty League selections and had two players named Honorable Mention All-Americans by USA Lacrosse. Prior to his stints at IC and Cornell, Varn coached at Hofstra University, where he completed a four-year run as an assistant coach for the Division I women’s program from 2016-2019. While with the Pride, Varn served as the team’s offensive coordinator, while he also primarily worked as a goalie coach for the program. Additionally, he played crucial roles within the program in terms of scheduling, budget management, fundraising, film exchange, and travel planning. Varn’s impact with the Pride was considerable. During his time at Hofstra, the program posted a Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Year, one CAA Rookie of the Year, nine All-CAA selections, and seven All-CAA Rookie selections. He played a key role in the development of two players who established themselves among the elite players at the Division I level with Alyssa Parrella ranking in the Top-5 in points and goals scored, while rookie keeper Jess Smith earned All-CAA honors and ranked Top-5 nationally in save percentage.   Other coaching stops during his time as an assistant were with Mount St. Mary’s and Stevenson, the latter of which he served as a graduate assistant for the 2015 season.   At Mount St. Mary’s, Varn guided four players to All-NEC honors, including one to the first team, during his one season with the program in 2016. He also helped improve the offensive output by more than two goals per game that season as he was appointed the offensive coordinator. As a GA at Stevenson, the Mustangs reached the NCAA Division III Quarterfinals after clinching an automatic bid with a MAC Commonwealth championship. Varn also served as the head coach of the junior varsity team to help develop younger players within the program.   His connections with Hofstra date back to his undergraduate career, where he starred as an attacker from 2011-2014. He appeared in 57 games for the Pride during that span, racking up career totals of 82 points on 73 goals and nine assists. He was named a co-captain his senior season, going on to earn Second Team All-CAA honors in leading the program to the CAA Playoffs. He was invited to the USILA North/South Senior All-Star Game as well that year.   Varn is certainly no stranger to the area, as he hails from Ithaca, New York. He enjoyed a distinguished career at Ithaca High School, where he was a four-time First Team All-Section honoree, as well as an All-American selection during his time with the Little Red. 7/29/2026