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Mike Mahoney
The 2016 Division III recipient of the F. Morris Touchstone Award for Coach of the Year, Mike Mahoney took over the head coaching duties for men's lacrosse in the fall of 1997. In 2022, Mahoney became the all-time winningest coach in St. Lawrence men's lacrosse history, surpassing former head coach and Hall of Famer Don Leet. Under Mahoney, the Saints experienced immediate success and have continued to excel, winning ECAC Upstate Championships in 2001 and 2002 as well as Liberty League titles in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009.
The St. Lawrence men’s lacrosse program made the most of its 2021 season, as the Saints finished 8-3 overall, including an undefeated 6-0 record at Hall-Leet Stadium and advanced to the Liberty League Championship game for the first time since 2017. Coach Mahoney recorded his 250th career win against Ithaca on April 24, 2022 and closed the season tying previous head coach and Hall of Famer Don Leet with 253 career wins and now holds an overall record of 279-119.
In the past 25 seasons under Mahoney, 18 of those teams have earned post-season bids including the 2016 team that advanced to the NCAA Tournament semifinal and the 2017 team that advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament. Mahoney coached his team to the NCAA Tournament's Second Round four straight seasons ('06-'09) after winning the Liberty League Tournament.
Mahoney has been named the Liberty League Coach of the Year six times in 1999, 2004, 2009, 2012, 2015 and 2016. In addition, he was selected as the Bernie McKinnon Coach of the Year at St. Lawrence in 2015 and was voted the ECAC Metro/Upstate NY Coach of the Year in 2016.
In 2019, the Saints posted a 13-4 record and advanced to the semifinals of the Liberty League Tournament. Senior Zachary Ettinghausen was named USILA/Nike Scholar All-American and was selected to play in the USILA North-South game, while Tyler Burns, Mike Donnelly and Alex Terry all earned All-American Honorable Meniton honors. Seven Saints were named to All-Liberty League Teams, while eight Saints also earned All-Academic honors.
In 2018, the Saints posted a 12-5 record and made a postseason run to the semifinals in the Liberty League Tournament. Senior Jordan Dow earned USILA/Nike Scholar All-American honors, while classmate Sam Boehle and junior Conor Caffrey earned All-American Third-Team and Honorable Mention honors, respectively. Seven Saints were named to All-Liberty League Teams, while seven Saints also earned All-Academic honors.
In 2017, the Saints advanced to the Liberty League championship game for the first time since 2009, earned an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament and posted a convincing 19-6 win over Monclair State in the second round. Senior captains Conor Healey and Alec Dietsch earned pre-season All-American honors, announced by Inside Lacrosse magazine. Healey also broke a 30-year-old record previously held by Sam Hovey '87 to become the all-time leading point scorer in program history with 291 career points. 10 Saints also earned All-Liberty League honors, while Healey, Dietsch, Andrew Jarrett, Caleb Kane and Jon Fairbanks earned USILA/Nike All-America honors.
In 2016, the Saints broke several school records winning 18 games including three in the NCAA Tournament with victories over New England College, Springfield and Amherst to advance to the semifinal round as one of the top four teams in the country. The Saints won the first eight games of the year and also put together a seven-game win streak to close out the regular season. Four players (Healey, Jack Roberts, Charlie Duprey and Ryan Fisher) earned All-America honors while 11 Saints earned All-Liberty League honors including Healey who was named the Offensive Player of the Year.
In the NCAA Tournament, St. Lawrence won convincingly over New England College 25-2 and beat Springfield 12-9 before posting a 16-12 win over Amherst. The Saints fell to Tufts in the national semifinals.
St. Lawrence defeated Endicott College 13-10 in the opening round of the 2006 tournament before falling to Geneseo in the Regionals. The victory over Endicott was the team's first ever NCAA Tournament win. No. 5 St. Lawrence then hosted Cortland State in the second round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament, which was the first NCAA Men's Lacrosse game to be played at North Country Field. St. Lawrence also hosted a second round NCAA Tournament game in 2008 against Western New England College. Mahoney then guided the Saints to a 2009 NCAA First Round victory over Nazareth, which was the program's first ever NCAA Tournament win at North Country Field.
In 2003 the Saints went 12-4 and finished the season ranked #16 in the final USILA Poll and were as high as #8 during the season. In 2002, the Saints were 12-3 overall and 5-1 in UCAA play and defeated top-seed Oneonta 13-8 in the final game of the season to repeat as ECAC Upstate Tournament champions.
A native to the North Country, Mahoney was an All-American lacrosse player at St. Lawrence Central High School. He continued his athletic success at the collegiate level as a two-sport standout at St. Lawrence, serving as captain of both the football and lacrosse teams his senior year.
Mahoney graduated from St. Lawrence in 1993, with a B.A. in Government. He then moved on to the University of Albany, where he served as a gridiron graduate assistant while earning his master's in Liberal Studies.
In 1995, Mahoney returned to his alma mater and began his tenure as an assistant coach for both football and lacrosse. Mahoney was selected as a coach of the 2000 North-South game that was held at the University of Delaware. He remains active in the lacrosse camp circuit, serving as an instructor at various camps throughout the Northeast and director of the Saints Lacrosse camp held at St. Lawrence University. The former chair of the ECAC Upstate Tournament committee, Mahoney also serves on the USILA Poll committee and has served as a regional advisor to the NCAA tournament selection committee.
Mahoney resides in Canton with his wife Pam and their sons Mark '22, John '24 and Daniel '27.
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