As Lynn University continues on its path to its inaugural Division II Lacrosse year the program has taken shape. Head Coach Brian Kingsbury sat down with FLN to talk about the progress made as the February 2014 season countdown has begun. Ground was broken on the stadium being built for lacrosse on August 9th, with a targeted completion date of March 1st, 2014, in time for the season.     Lynn’s inaugural season will be played in the newly formed Sunshine State Conference, with conference rivals Rollins, Tampa, Florida Southern, Florida Tech and Saint Leo. The conference schedule looks like this (currently on the Lynn web site and non-conference games will be determined shortly; it looks like Mercy College on NY will be one of the OOC games): 3/15 Lacrosse vs. Rollins Winter Park, Fla. 7:00 pm 3/22 Lacrosse vs. Saint Leo Saint Leo, Fla. 7:00 pm 3/29 Lacrosse vs. Florida Southern Boca Raton, Fla. 7:00 pm 4/5 Lacrosse vs. Florida Tech Melbourne, Fla. 7:00 pm 4/12 Lacrosse vs. Tampa Boca Raton, Fla. 7:00 pm     Local lacrosse fans will particularly want to circle that April 12th home date against Tampa, as the Spartans are a rising power at the D-2 level. Lynn’s progress their first year will be seen in how they handle that step-up in competition. Coach Kingsbury has fleshed out his staff with the hiring of assistant coach Michael Wilus and the part-time assistants Lloyd Hamilton and Brendon Gleason. Before coming to Lynn, Coach Kingsbury helmed Saint Michael’s College in 2012, leading the Purple Knights to one of their most successful seasons. Saint Michael’s set a school record for wins with an 11-5 record, earned a third-seed in the North East 10 Conference Tournament and reached a ranking of No. 9 in the nation. The NE-10 is one of the top lacrosse conferences in the country as league schools have won three men’s lacrosse national championships and finished as a runner-up six times since 1994.     Kingsbury joined Saint Michael’s after a successful season as head coach of Castleton (Vt.) State College. He guided the NCAA Division III program to one of its finest seasons ever, as the Spartans won the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) Championship and qualified for the NCAA Tournament. Kingsbury was named the NAC’s Coach of the Year in 2011, as he coached the league’s Player and Rookie of the Year, and helped Castleton earn the conference’s Sportsmanship Award. Before taking the helm at Castleton, Kingsbury was an assistant coach for the Spartans’ men’s lacrosse program in 2009 and 2010. He aided with all aspects of the program during his time as an assistant coach, and helped Castleton earn its first NCAA Tournament berth in 2010. He joined Castleton after one season as an assistant coach at NCAA Division I University of Massachusetts, where he was primarily responsible for video editing, scouting and faceoff strategy. Kingsbury was a three-year scholarship student-athlete at the University of Maryland following a transfer from Hofstra University, and graduated from Maryland 2001 with a Bachelor of Science degree in sports management. While at Maryland, the Terrapins made two appearances in the NCAA Division I Quarterfinals, and two appearances in the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship. He was named the men’s lacrosse program’s Unsung Hero as a senior in 2001, and also earned ACC honor roll accolades. Lynn’s first recruiting class has landed on campus and looks forward to making their mark on the scene. That class is as follows (thanks to LaxPower.com’s database): Genovesi, Vinny Coventry CT East Catholic CT Defense/LSM Martichuski, Berek Arapahoe CO Arapahoe/Herkimer CC CO Attack Snellman, Mark Norwalk CT Salisbury School CT Attack McDonald, Shaun Cicero NY Cicero North NY Defense Ferrino, Taylor Orchard Park NY Orchard Park NY Goalie Jerhoff, Austin Edmonton AB Central Memorial AB Attack Mitchell, Davey Colonie NY South Colonie NY Midfield Smith, Gage Ocala FL Trinity Catholic FL Midfield D’Angelo, Chris Bloomfield Hills MI Brother Rice MI Midfield/FO Egan, Dante Fort Myers FL Cypress Lake FL Midfield/FO Sepkowski, Alex Baltimore MD Mount Saint Joseph MD Midfield/FO Ostermann, Chase Sarasota FL Cardinal Mooney FL LSM Hartley, Kevin Lindenhurst NY Lindenhurst NY Defense Lipani, Jacob West Babylon NY West Babylon NY Defense Cooper, John Greensboro NC Northwest Guilford NC Goalie Kiel, Brian West Babylon NY West Babylon NY Attack Woody, Kieondre Geneva NY Geneva/Onondaga CC NY Defense/LSM It is an exciting time in South Florida as we finally get to experience NCAA lacrosse locally, as the expansion of the sport continues. Good luck to the Lynn University Fighting Knights as they start their program! Thanks to Coach Kingsbury for sitting down with us!