Mercyhurst University Men's Lacrosse

Ryan has been the head coach of the Mercyhurst mens lacrosse team since 2001 after spending two years as an assistant coach for the Lakers. Ryan led the Lakers to the program's first national championship in 2011 and guided the program to consecutive undefeated regular seasons in 2012 and 2013. He holds a 173-44 career record, ranking him among the best of active coaches in winning percentage. His teams have never experienced a losing season. His teams have produced Mercyhursts first All-American selections, first Academic All-American selections and first ECAC All-Star selections.  Although the Lakers missed the NCAA Playoffs last season, they finished with an 8-6 record overall and a 5-2 mark in the conference. They lost 7-6 to Lake Erie College in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) semifinals. Senior Trevor Vargo was named an ECAC Second Team All-Star, a USILA Honorable Mention All-American, a USILA Scholar All-American, and to the Capital One Academic All-District at Large First Team. In 2014, the Lakers qualified for the NCAA Tournament for a fourth straight season. They won 12 games and took their second consecutive ECAC regular season title. With a loss to Seton Hill March 8, the Lakers saw a 36-game regular season winning streak snapped. Mercyhurst rallied with wins in its last six ECAC matches, including an 8-5 win over Lake Erie April 26, clinching the regular season crown. Mercyhurst collected wins over three NCAA Tournament foes, rallying for a 10-8 win at Dowling March 29, beating Tampa, 14-7, April 5, and then taking LIU Post, 9-7, April 12 at Tullio Field. Andrew Wagner led the stellar senior class, earning his third straight William C. Schmeisser Award as the USILA's Top Defender. He was also a USILA Scholar All-America and the ECAC Defensive Player of the Year. Brady Heseltine was USILA Scholar All-America and an All-ECAC First Team choice. Michael Grace was named USILA All-American Honorable Mention and ECAC Goalkeeper of the Year.  The 2013 campaign was the most dramatic in program history, as the Lakers posted a second straight unbeaten regular season and advanced to their third NCAA Championship in six seasons. Mercyhurst won six one-goal decisions, setting a school record. It won the inaugural Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) regular season and tournament titles. On April 27 at Seton Hill, the Lakers won, 12-9, clinching the ECAC regular season championship and giving Ryan his 150th career victory. After winning the conference tournament, the Lakers beat Lake Erie College, 10-9 in overtime, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The next weekend, Mercyhurst and Limestone played one of the best NCAA Tournament matches of all time. The Lakers rallied from a 17-15 deficit in the final minute, tying the contest with 4.1 seconds left on a James Chayka goal. Deven Alves scored with 2:56 to play in overtime, sending the Lakers to the national title match. Andrew Wagner led the individual honors, winning his second straight William C. Schmeisser Award as the Most Outstanding Defensive Player of the Year in Division II. He was also named USILA First Team All-American and ECAC Defensive Player of the Year. Scheetz earned USILA Second Team All-American honors, along with All-ECAC First Team recognition. Reid was an Honorable Mention All-American and an All-ECAC First Team pick. Scheetz and Reid were each selected USILA Scholar All-Americans following the season-two of just six Division II student-athletes on the list.  Mitch McAvoy  was the ECAC Specialist of the Year, while  Ryan Sullivan  was All-ECAC First Team. Chayka, Maloney, and Grace were All-ECAC Second Team choices.  Trevor Vargo  won the NCAA Elite 89 Award for having the highest grade point average among student-athletes at the championship site.   Scheetz finished with a career-high 73 points, including 46 assists. He graduates as one of the top players in school history and holds the program's career points record with 234-79 more than any other Laker. In 2012, the Lakers recorded the first undefeated regular season in school history in any sport. They went 13-0, becoming the first East Coast Conference (ECC) team to post an unbeaten overall regular season record. Mercyhurst claimed its first outright ECC title in its final season as a member of the league on its way to another NCAA Tournament appearance. Senior Gregory Bensman was named the USILA Outstanding Player of the Year and Long Pole Defender of the Year to go along with First Team All-American, ECC Player of the Year, ECC Defensive Player of the Year, and First Team All-ECC honors. He anchored the nation's second-stingiest defense, holding every opponent under its 2012 season scoring average. Brian Scheetz was chosen USILA Attackman of the Year after leading the team with 33 assists and 46 points. Sophomore Andrew Wagner was USILA Outstanding Defensive Player of the Year. Ryan was selected ECC Coach of the Year for the first time in his career. On May 5 against Molloy, Scheetz assisted on a Kyle Kallay goal to give him the Mercyhurst career points record. With his 156 th point, Sheetz passed Troy Ledbetter on the all-time list. In 2011, Ryan guided Mercyhurst to 12 regular season victories, good enough to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. In the semifinals, the Lakers beat C.W. Post, 14-4. The win avenged a loss to Post from the regular season. In the finals, Mercyhurst defeated Adelphi 9-8 in Baltimore, Maryland, to capture the national title. Four Lakers garnered All-America honors, including Bensman, who was named to the national first team. Ian Wild was named most outstanding player for the final match. Wild was later named PSAC Pete Nevins Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year. In 2010, the Lakers recorded one of their best seasons to date, finishing the year 13-1. Ryans squad reeled off 12 straight wins before suffering their first loss of the season, an 11-9 setback to eventual national champion C.W. Post in early May. For their efforts, seven players earned All-East Coast Conference honors, and three were tabbed All-Americans. The Lakers posted an 11-3 record in 2009, finishing the season at No. 3 in the final national poll. Mercyhurst went 6-0 at Tullio Field, increasing its home winning streak to 17 games with a 6-5 victory over No. 3 New York Tech May 2. Two Lakers earned All-America honors in Jason LaShomb and Matt Spahr. They also joined Mike Thon as the teams first-ever participants in the USILA North / South Game. The team averaged 11.87 goals, a three-goal improvement over 2008, and lowered its GAA to 6.22. Mercyhurst opened the season 9-1, staging a seven-game winning streak. In 2008, Ryan guided a young and inexperienced team to yet another Top 10 ranking. While the Lakers missed out on an NCAA playoff bid for the first time in three seasons, Mercyhurst did finish 9-4 and tied for second place in the toughest conference in Division II, the East Coast Conference (ECC). Mercyhurst went undefeated at home, including an 8-1 win over then-No. 4 C.W. Post. Junior goalkeeper Jason LaShomb was named USILA Division II Goalie of the Year. The 2007 season saw Mercyhurst rise to new heights. The program was ranked No. 1 in the country for the first time ever on April 9 and held onto the spot for five consecutive weeks through the end of the regular season. Mercyhurst hosted an NCAA Final Four game for the first time, defeating New York Institute of Technology 13-10. The win sent the Lakers to the National Championship game for the first time after three losses in the semifinals. Despite a last-second loss to Le Moyne in front of 22,000 people at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Md., Ryan was named USILA Coach of the Year. Mercyhurst finished the season with a record of 13-2 overall and dominated the ECC, going 6-0 and winning by an average margin of 6.5 goals per game. After the season, Joe Thon was named USILA Defensive Player of the Year and became the first Laker drafted into professional lacrosse, being selected by the Rochester Rattlers of Major League Lacrosse in the fourth round. Eight players were named All-ECC and five were named All-Americans. Thon was also named the ECC Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The 2006 season saw the Lakers once again prove themselves to be one of the top programs in Division II. The Lakers finished the regular season with a 12-2 record and a 4-1 mark in their first year as a member of the New York Collegiate Athletic Conference (NYCAC). Mercyhurst tied for first in the NYCAC and ended the regular season with a No. 3 ranking in the USILA poll. The Lakers had six All-NYCAC picks, including a pair of first-team selections, finished the regular season with a 5-2 mark against top 10 teams and their 12 wins set a school record. The season came to an end with a loss at No. 2 Dowling in the NCAA Division II semifinals, which was the teams third NCAA tournament appearance in the last four years. In 2004 Ryan was chosen to coach the North Division I All-Star team in the Senior All-Star Game. He currently is the Division II USILA representative to the NCAA and is a member of the Central Regional Advisory Committee. Prior to Mercyhurst, Ryan spent a year as a graduate assistant at Alfred University, where he worked with the womens program. He had come to Alfred after a one-year stint at Monroe Community College in 1997. Ryan played two years at Monroe Community College, where he was a two-time Academic All-America, team captain and was selected to play in the Junior College North-South game. After two years at MCC, Ryan moved to Randolph-Macon College where he was a two-time Second Team All-Old Dominion Athletic Conference defenseman and team captain in his senior year. Before assuming the head coaching duties after the 2000 season, Ryan served as Mercyhursts assistant coach, working primarily with the defense and serving as the recruiting coordinator. A native of Rochester, New York, Ryan is a 1998 graduate of Randolph-Macon College, where he earned a bachelors degree in history. He and his wife, Karin, reside in Erie with their three children, Caleb, Brianne, and Gavin, and their two labrador retrievers, Oakley and Murphy.  

Trey Keeley was officially named the next head coach for Mercyhurst Men's Lacrosse on August 30th, 2023. Coach Keeley finished his first season as the head coach of the Lakers with a record of 13-5 with an 8-0 record in the GMAC, helping them win the regular season title once again. The team had 10 games on the year with 15 or more goals scored and six with 20 or more, doing so in back-to-back games on two separate occasions with a season-high of 26 in back-to-back games on 4/13/24 against Thome More and 4/17/24 against Tiffin. The team was able to claim their second-straight GMAC title over Seton Hill on May 4th in their 12-9 victory before reaching the NCAA Division II Tournament once again. For his efforts, Keeley was named the GMAC Coach of the Year while having the Offensive Athlete of the Year in Ethan Landymore while having six players be named an All-American. Keeley comes to Erie from Cleveland State University where he was an Assistant Coach while also assuming Offensive Coordinator responsibilities.  Under Keeley's direction the Vikings made serious improvements in two seasons, Cleveland State saw their goals per game climb 2.55 goals higher in his first year while assists went up 1.65 per game. The Vikings also capitalized on man up situations more often, seeing a 13.9% increase in efficiency and jumping into the top 15 in the country during the 2023 season.  Keeley began his coaching career at Frostburg State where he was the offensive coordinator and face off coach for a program that was named the most improved team in D3 lacrosse. After 2 seasons at Frostburg State, Keely went to Ohio Wesleyan as the Associate Head Coach and offensive coordinator from 2014-17. During his time with the Battling Bishops, the team accumulated a winning percentage of .861 (31-5) which included an 18-1 campaign in 2015, helping the team to the NCAA quarterfinals.  Following his stint at Ohio Wesleyan he moved on to DIII Baldwin Wallace in Berea, Oh. where he was named the head coach in 2017. Keeley helped the Yellow Jackets find plenty of success in his four seasons at the helm, going 42-14 with two OAC championship appearances to his name. Keeley's squad had their best season in 2021 when they were conference champions, and he was named conference coach of the year while boasting 11 all conference players. The 2019 season also proved to be one of his best offensive seasons in Baldwin Wallace history as the team scored 309 goals as a team while being the best in the country in shooting percentage and top five in goals per game. 

Nathan Reichel enters his third season on the sidelines with the Lakers, taking on the role of Defensive Coordinator for the 2024 season. In his previous role, Reichel led the Lakers' offense to an impressive 14.69 goals per game, contributing to the team's second consecutive GMAC championship. Under his guidance, the Lakers' offense boasted three USILA All-Region players, two USILA All-Americans, two USA Lacrosse All-Americans, and multiple All-Conference honorees. In his first season with Mercyhurst in 2023, Reichel made an immediate impact as the Lakers reached the National Championships for the first time since 2013. The team posted a 16-3 overall record and a 6-1 mark in GMAC play. They began postseason play with a commanding 22-8 victory over Lake Erie in the GMAC Semifinals, followed by a win over Seton Hill in the conference championship to claim their first GMAC title since 2021. The Lakers continued their postseason success by defeating St. Anselm and Le Moyne in the NCAA Tournament, ultimately making an appearance in the National Championship. During that remarkable season, 11 players were named to All-GMAC teams, with accolades including Offensive Player, Defensive Player, and Specialist of the Year. Additionally, the team earned eight USILA All-Region honors and nine USILA All-American honors, highlighted by Shawn Doran being named National Player of the Year. A native of Erie, PA, Nathan Reichel is a graduate of Seton Hill University. Before joining Mercyhurst, he gained valuable coaching experience as an Assistant Coach at Ohio Wesleyan University. Reichel's dedication and strategic acumen have been instrumental in the Lakers' success, and he is poised to bring the same level of excellence to his role as Defensive Coordinator. The Mercyhurst community looks forward to the continued growth and achievements of the lacrosse program under his leadership.

O'Hagan begins his first season at Mercyhurst after a decorated playing career at Canisius College in Buffalo, NY. In his senior year, O'Hagan was named a First Team All-MAAC defenseman as the Golden Griffins won the MAAC Championship. Over his four years, O'Hagan collected 82 ground balls, caused 52 turnovers and added an assist. His 52 caused turnovers rank him 2nd all time at Canisius. After finishing up his undergraduate degree in the fall of 2012, O'Hagan spent the semester as an undergraduate assistant for Canisius. O'Hagan spent 2013 at Iona Prep helping guide the JV to a program-record 18-2 season and the CHSAA "AA" JV Metro championship. In 2014, as a varsity assistant, Iona Prep went 15-6, winning the CHSAA "AA" Metro Championship. O'Hagan coached youth in Rye and his hometown of Rockville Centre.