A new era of St. John's lacrosse began on Sept. 1, 2006 as Jason Miller was named the third head coach in St. John's lacrosse history. Now entering his fourth year coaching the Red Storm, Miller will lead his team against some of the nation's best talent as a member of the newly formed BIG EAST lacrosse conference. In his first year at St. John's, Miller made significant steps in rebuilding the Red Storm lacrosse tradition. On March 31, 2007, Miller led the Red Storm to a 6-4 win over Rutgers, earning the first conference victory for the program since its reinstatement in 2005. Miller's 5-8 overall record and 2-5 league record as a first-year head coach was a Red Storm lacrosse program-best thus far. Under his tutelage, the Red Storm was ranked as high as sixth in the country in man-down defense with at least seven athletes ranked among the NCAA top 100. With Miller at the helm, St. John's garnered its first ever all-conference honoree in then-junior Tom Michaelsen, an all-ECAC second-team selection. In his second season at St. John's, Miller's squad once again posted a 2-5 league record, defeating Fairfield and Penn State. Senior Tim LaMare was selected to the ECAC's second team roster as a defenseman and eight players earned a place on the ECAC All-Academic Team, the most of any school in the conference. Once again, the Red Storm man-down defense was ranked as high as fourth nationally, and the Red Storm's face-off win-percentage was rated the sixth-best in the NCAA. The Red Storm experienced many milestones as Michaelsen was the first player in 18 years selected to play in the annual North-South Senior All-Star Game. He was also drafted by teams in both the National Lacrosse League and Major League Lacrosse, the only St. John's player to be drafted to either professional league. Last year marked Miller's third season at the helm of the Red Storm. Although St. John's finished with a 5-9 overall record, the team opened the season with four straight wins, including a 10-9 upset of the fifth-ranked Georgetown Hoyas. The win marked the first victory over Georgetown in the series history. Senior captain Dom DeNapoli was named All-ECAC First Team and the 2009 NCAA Division I Ground Balls Statistical Champion, as he finished the year with 119 ground balls. DeNapoli became the second St. John's player in as many seasons to be selected to play in the annual USILA North-South Senior All-Star Game. Last year's Red Storm squad had six players named to the All-ECAC Academic Team, including junior goalkeeper Gavin Buckley who sported the conference's second highest GPA. Miller came to St. John's after spending three seasons as the top assistant coach of the University of Massachusetts lacrosse program. While on the sidelines for the Minutemen, he worked with the defense and face-off units, helping lead the team to its first ever NCAA national title game in 2006. During the NCAA semifinal contest, the UMass defense held Maryland, one of the nation's strongest offensive teams, to just five goals. The Minutemen's road to the national championship game was arguably the toughest in the history of the tournament, as Massachusetts defeated No. 2 Hofstra, No. 3 Cornell and No. 4 Maryland before facing No. 1 Virginia in the final, as an unseeded contender. Under the tutelage of Miller, two Minutemen earned All-America honors, including Jack Reid, who was a finalist for the Schmeisser Award as the nation's top defenseman. Reid was a first round pick in the Major League Lacrosse Draft in June 2006. He was also the first first team All-America defenseman in UMass history. In 2005, Miller and the Minutemen ended Syracuse's 22-year streak of consecutive national semifinal appearances with a 16-15 victory over the Orange in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Prior to his time at Massachusetts, Miller coached at the United States Military Academy from 2000-03, where he helped lead the Black Knights to a 24-20 record in three seasons. During that stretch, Army won two Patriot League titles and earned a NCAA Tournament berth in 2003 for the first time since 1997. Miller learned under one of the best mentors in the collegiate game's history as he assisted National Lacrosse Hall of Famer, Jack Emmer, the NCAA's all-time win leader with 326 career victories. Before Army, Miller spent one season as an assistant coach at the Rochester Institute of Technology, where the Tigers advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2000 NCAA Division III tournament. From 1997-99, Miller served as a graduate assistant at Springfield College in Massachusetts while earning his masters degree in education with a concentration in athletic administration. In 1998, Springfield captured the ECAC Division III championship. Miller spent the first two years of his coaching career at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa., from 1995-97. A native of Rochester, N.Y., Miller played defense on the Springfield College lacrosse team and graduated in 1993 with a degree in sports management. Miller and his entire family have made a commitment to education. His father, Richard, recently retired as the President of Hartwick College in Oneonta, N.Y., and his mother, Barbara, is a former English teacher. Miller's wife, Mary, has been a school teacher on Long Island and in Massachusetts. The couple lives in Rockville Centre, N.Y. and has two children, son Liam (4) and daughter Maggie (3).
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
