has won it three times - no other school has more than one recipient of the honor. Additional-ly, Garrett Curran ‘08 is one of only four athletes in ODAC history across all sports to be named ODAC Player, Scholar, and Rookie of the Year. The hard efforts in the classroom have also been recognized nationally as six players have earned Academic All-American honors, with five of the six coming since 2004. Not only has LC excelled nationally, it has consis-tently been among the best in the highly competitive ODAC. Lynchburg’s three ODAC Championships since 2003 ranks LC atop the ODAC. Lynchburg is also the only team in the conference to finish with nine wins and five or less losses in every season since 2003. LC also has the most seasons of 11 wins or more, achiev-ing the feat in six of the past seven seasons. The four trips to the NCAA Tour-nament since 2003 also gives the Hornets a tie for the most NCAA Tournament trips in the conference.

Steve Koudelka

Head Coach Steve Koudelka has estab-lished the Lynchburg College men’s lacrosse program as a national powerhouse in his 13 seasons on the sidelines. Dur-ing his tenure, Koudelka has

recorded an overall record of 139-68, including 11-straight winning seasons. Lynchburg has advanced into the NCAA Tournament four times in the last seven years. The 2008 squad boasted a program record 16 wins and also established a school record by winning 14 straight games en route to the ODAC Championship. The 2007 season saw the Hornets win 13 games for the third-straight season. In 2006, the Hornets finished 13-4 overall and were ranked #2 in the nation at midseason, the highest ranking in program history. LC won its second ODAC title in 2005 with an 11-10 win over Roanoke. Lynchburg defeated Denison College in the second-round of the NCAA Division III Tournament, the team’s first victory in NCAA Tournament in history, and was a goal away from reaching the Final Four. The 2004 team finished 9-5 overall and in 2003, the Hornets won their first ODAC title and advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament for the second time in pro-gram history. The 2003 team finished with a 12-5 record and ended the campaign with a #6 national ranking. Koudelka’s 1999 squad posted an 11-5 mark en route to the program’s first-ever NCAA tournament appearance. Prior to assuming the head post at Lynchburg, Koudelka spent three years as graduate assistant coach at Gettysburg (PA) College, where he was a two-time All-America goalkeeper. He was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in the fall of 2006. The Long Valley, NJ, native earned his bachelor’s de-gree from Gettysburg in 1993 and his master’s degree from Western Maryland College in 1996. He was one of just 12 goalkeepers invited to try out for the 1998 U.S. World Team. Koudelka played professionally for two seasons with the New Jersey Pride for Major League La-crosse. Koudelka and his wife, Amy, have three children, Holly, Billy and Mary.

Tradition of Excellence

The Lynchburg College men’s lacrosse team can be defined in many ways, but one that most often comes to mind is a tradition of excellence. The team has advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament four times in the past seven seasons and has also won three Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Championships. Recently, the team has been a mainstay in the USILA Coaches’ Poll, has been ranked in the top 20 every week since the 2005 season, and finished

ranked in six of the last seven seasons. The 2006 team was pegged in the top seven of Division III the entire season and was positioned second for three consecutive weeks.

No secret to the suc-cess of the team is a col-lection of great individual lacrosse players. Under the tutelage of head coach Steve Koudelka, the Lynchburg College lacrosse program has produced 63 All-ODAC players and 29 All-Americans. Every year since 2003 there have been anywhere from four to eight All-ODAC players and from 2003-2008 there were three or more All-Americans each year. Additionally, coach

Koudelka has recruited four of the eight total ODAC Rookies of the Year and 14 North-South Game participants. The success of the Lynchburg lacrosse team is not limited just to the playing field, however. Since the ODAC began award-ing the Scholar Athlete of the Year award in 2005, an LC player

2009 Rookie of the Year Dylan Hoff

Three-Time All-American, MLL Draft Selection Ryan

Cranston

Two-Time All-American Tyler Tolson

Three-Time All-American, MLL Draft Selection Chad Clark

2008 All-American Stephen Weis

Shellenberger Field recently underwent a $3.5 million renovation. The renovations saw the installation of a FieldTurf field surface to allow play in all weath-er conditions, an eight-lane track, grand stand seat-ing with chair back seats for a facility capacity of 3,000 spec-tators, lights, a sound system, and a press pavilion.

Storied History Men’s lacrosse was first intro-duced to Lynchburg College as a club team during the 1976-77 season. After three years, in the 1979-80 school year, it gained official recognition as the 19th intercollegiate varsity sport at LC. LC’s first head coach was Michael Hyer. The first-year squad fielded just 34 players - only seven had high school experience, 12 never held a stick before coming to LC, and eight were entirely new to lacrosse. Despite the lack of experi-ence amongst the players, the first season proved to be successful by all accounts, finishing with a 7-6 record and a 4-0 record against Division I competition, an impres-sive feat for any team, much less a first-year team. The team also earned it’s first ever victory over future ODAC foe Hampden-Sydney. The 1983 season proved to be a mile-stone year - LC boasted an 8-6 record and defeated three ODAC teams for the first time in Guilford, Hampden-Sydney, and Randolph-Macon. The 1984 campaign saw LC defeat powerhouse Duke

University 10-9. Phil Smith became the school’s first-ever men’s lacrosse All-American in 1986. The early 90’s was a breakthrough era for the lacrosse program. From 1990-1995, the team boasted eight or more wins every season and posted a .500 record or better every season. The streak included the team’s first ever victory over Washington & Lee, DII’s Limestone and Lemoyne, Haverford, and Ithaca. The hire of current head coach Steve Koudelka in 1997 has proven to be one of monumental success. Koudelka took LC through a two-year rebuilding process that saw him lay the

foundation for excellence that is still witnessed today by all play-ers, coaches, and fans. The 1999 season proved to be the birth of a period of na-tional respect and recognition. The team went 11-5 and went to the NCAA Tournament for the first-time in the team’s history and it would turn out to be the first of many more trips. The 2001 season was filled with thrilling last minute victories. The team boasted a 12-10 win over Widener, an 11-10 decision over Marymount University, and a team first 14-13 win over ODAC arch rival Roanoke College that led to a streak of four straight wins over the Maroons. The 2003 season was one of the most historic seasons in school history. That year, the team won it’s first ever ODAC Champi-onship, defeating Washington & Lee 6-5 in sudden death overtime to capture the trophy and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. That year’s team is also known for tak-ing down Salisbury 13-12 and for beating Roanoke twice. Lynchburg earned the ODAC Championship again in 2005 and 2008 and reached the NCAA Tournament in 2005, 2006, and 2008. The 2005 season also gave the Hornets their first ever NCAA Tournament victory, defeating Denison 9-6 in the second round. The team posted an amazing 16-3 overall record and a 6-0 record in ODAC play in 2008 to set new school records for season wins and ODAC wins.

All-American 34 All-Americans 6 Academic All-Americans

North-South Game26 Selections

All-ODAC Senior Defender Shane RoscherLooks to Lead the Hornets to a Fourth

ODAC Championship in Eight Years.

Lynchburg College

Men’s Lacrosse

ODAC Player, Rookie, and Scholar Athlete of the

Year Garret Curran

All-American Johnny Black

All-ODAC Honoree Norby King

All-American Chris Perzinski

North-South Game Participant Mike Mundorf

Steve KoudelkaH

ead Men’s Lacrosse Coach

1501 Lakeside Drive

Lynchburg, VA 24501-3199koudelka@

lynchburg.edu434-544-8494

261 Wins, 99 All-ODAC Selections, 34 All-Am

ericans, 26 North-South G

ame

Participants, 6 Academic All-Am

ericans, 5 NCAA Tournam

ent Appearances,

4 ODAC Rookies of the Year, 3 ODAC Championships, 3 ODAC Coaches of the

Year, 3 ODAC Scholar Athletes of the Year, 2 ODAC Players of the Year

All-ODAC99 All-ODAC Athletes4 ODAC Rookies of the Year3 ODAC Coaches of the Year3 ODAC Scholar Athletes of the Year2 ODAC Players of the year