Adelphi's Spallina Applies for Towson Opening
by Corey McLaughlin | Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff
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Joe Spallina, head coach of two-time defending Division II champion Adelphi, has applied for the job at Towson vacated by Missy Doherty. He was also a finalist for a since-filled vacancy at Ohio State. © John Strohsacker/LaxPhotos.com |
Joe Spallina, head coach of two-time defending NCAA Division II
women’s lacrosse champion Adelphi, said Thursday he is
“100 percent interested” in the open head coaching
position at Towson.
Spallina, who was a finalist for the Ohio State job that went to
former UMass coach Alexis Venechanos, applied for the job at Towson
on Wednesday and said he’s eager to hear back for an
interview.
“I would be interested in a few situations and this is
definitely one of them,” Spallina said by phone from his Long
Island, N.Y., home. “It’s a program that is right
there, in terms of being an NCAA contender… I’m
confident I could do the job there. I really want the
opportunity.”
In three seasons at Adelphi, Spallina compiled a 53-2 record and
led the Panthers to consecutive national titles in 2009 and 2010,
becoming the first D-II women’s lacrosse program to win
back-to-back championships. Adelphi went 16-1 in 2008, 18-0 in
’09 and finished 19-1 last season, beating West Chester,
17-7, in the title game. And the Panthers are set up well to try
for a third straight title, returning their top seven scorers.
“We’re loaded,” Spallina said.
“That’s why for me to leave it would have to be a
program that’s right there. Towson is on the cusp. Missy
[Doherty, the previous coach] did a great job. I think I could put
the finishing touches on that with my recruiting connections to
Long Island and being right there in Maryland in one of the
hotbeds.”
Before coaching Adelphi, Spallina was the girls' lacrosse coach at
Rocky Point (N.Y.) High School for 10 years, winning three county
titles in his final three seasons, and is still a physical
education teacher there. (His brother, Dan, is now the girls' coach
at Rocky Point.) Spallina is also in his first season as an
assistant coach with MLL’s Long Island Lizards.
He and his wife, Marybeth, have four young kids, but Spallina said
he would be willing to relocate to Maryland, where he has extended
family.
Of his players at Adelphi, he said: “They know I’m out
there. Everything we can accomplish at the D-II level is something
we’ve already done. We’ve won wherever I’ve had
the opportunity to coach. The next logical step is Division
I.”
The Towson job became open in early July when Doherty, the coach
the last seven seasons, was named the new Penn State coach. The
Tigers won three CAA tournaments during Doherty’s tenure and
made the NCAA tournament four times.
