via Keiser website/press releases

Men’s Lacrosse Favored to Repeat as AAC Champion

After claiming the conference crown in 2023, the Keiser men’s lacrosse team has been favored to repeat as conference champion this season. The Seahawks garnered 78 voting points, with six first place votes. Last season, the Seahawks set program highs in goals, groundballs, faceoff wins, points, caused turnovers, assists, saves, and wins. Keiser finished the season 7-1 in conference play. The Seahawks defeated the University of the Cumberlands (Ky.) 13-4 in last spring’s AAC Championship Game, and KU closed its 2023 season by defeating six consecutive top-10 opponents. 

Team (First-Place Votes) – Total Voting Points
1. Keiser (6) – 78
2. Webber (1) – 71
3. Cumberlands (1) – 63
4. Reinhardt – 60
5. Tennessee Wesleyan – 46
6. SCAD Savannah – 37
7. Life – 31
8. Montreat – 27
9. Point – 15
10. St. Andrews – 12

The 2024 AAC Tournament is set for April 20 and April 26-27.

For the most up-to-date information about the program, follow Keiser Men’s Lacrosse on Twitter and Instagram.

General athletic news can be found at KUSeahawks on Facebook, kuseahawks on Instagram, and kuseahawks on Twitter.  

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Keiser Men’s Lacrosse Unveils 2024 Schedule

The Keiser men’s lacrosse team released its 2024 schedule Thursday. The defending champs have 13 regular season games, including seven at the Keiser Multi-Purpose Field in West Palm Beach, Florida.

In 2023, Keiser lacrosse had its best season to date, winning the AAC championship tournament, and the NAIA Invitational National Championship. The Seahawks set numerous school records, went 17-1 overall, and had four athletes honored as NAIA All-Americans.

Several key contributors return for KU, including All-Americans AJ Badik and Jackson Marshall. Keiser will also welcome back veteran defenders Kylle Epstein, Reese Niemeier, and Mayson Flederbach. 

“These men have worked hard in the classroom and on the field all fall, and we’re looking forward to getting back on the field together,” said head coach Patrick Johnston. “Our schedule consists of the entire Top 5 teams from last year as well as some of the top teams from each conference in the NAIA. We’re excited for the journey ahead.”

• Last spring, the Seahawks went unbeaten in home (5-0) and neutral site (9-0) games.
• After playing two scrimmages, Keiser will open the 2024 regular season at St. Andrews University. 
• The Seahawks will play five consecutive home games in the month of March. 
• On February 25, the Seahawks will play Indiana Tech in a neutral site rematch of last spring’s championship game. 
• KU will face the University of the Cumberlands (Ky.) in a game that will serve as a rematch of last year’s AAC championship game.
• This season’s AAC tournament will take place in Marietta, Georgia. 
• This year, the NAIA National Tournament will be held in Savannah, Georgia beginning May 8.

Keiser Seahawks 2024 Men’s Lacrosse Schedule

Home Games in ALL CAPS and bold
%Scrimmages
Neutral games in italics
*AAC Game

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Men’s Lacrosse Adds Hans Hurdle to Coaching Staff

Keiser men’s lacrosse announced the addition of new volunteer assistant coach Hans Hurdle this morning. 

For the last twenty years, Coach Hurdle was the Managing Director of PNC Bank’s Risk Management teams in Pittsburgh, Chicago and San Francisco. Prior to his thirty year banking career, he served as an intelligence analyst at Fort Meade/NSA for a theater specific team tasked with foreign target exploitation. After completing almost three years of Department of Defense linguist and cryptographic training, he provided translation and technical analysis of foreign materials for classified inter-agency projects. Mr. Hurdle’s clearances included Top Secret and SCI among others.

Coach Hurdle is graduate of Loyola Blakefield and was a member of a conference championship team as a defenseman in 1980. He was the defensive anchor for Swarthmore College for four seasons where he was a two time third-team All-American. Coach Hurdle played aggressive defense and was an integral part of the team’s riding and clearing successes: He also proved to be a threat offensively with eight goals and eight assists to his credit. Coach Hurdle was All-Conference for three consecutive years, the Conference’s Most Valuable Player and North/South game participant his senior season. 

After his collegiate career, he succeeded John Haus as the Varsity Lacrosse Program Defensive Coordinator at Loyola Blakefield and had a coaching record of 80-4 over four years with a goals against average of 3.7 per game. The teams he coached were conference finalists for four consecutive years and champions in three of the four seasons. Coach Hurdle was the defensive coordinator for seven D1 All-American defensive players during his coaching career. While working in the capital markets sector, he served as the Commissioner of Towson Towne Boys Lacrosse from 2002-2008, which fed top high school lacrosse programs in the Baltimore metropolitan area.

Most recently, Coach Hurdle was the defensive coach for the Essex CCBC Knights during the 2022-23 season. Essex CCBC advanced to the JUCO Final Four with a 7.21 Goals Against Average and placed four players on the 2023 JUCO All-American Team.  Hurdle is the father of four former and current collegiate lacrosse players: Alexander (Notre Dame), Austin (Dickinson), Andrew (UMBC) and Aidan (Navy).”I am very excited to be here at Keiser,” said Hurdle. “This school has an excellent record of academic and athletic success, and I look forward to adding to it.”