- Article written by Inside Lacrosse.com -
Farmingdale State's head men's lacrosse coach, Sean Chamberlain, was mentioned in an article written by Inside Lacrosse writer Ken Stockmann.
Baltimore, Md. - Ken Stockmann will be filling in readers on everything DIII weekly throughout the season. He starts the year with a look at the big questions heading into DIII play.
Which new coach is going to have the biggest impact?
With more than 20 coaching changes in the offseason this year saw more turnover than in recent memory. A new head man can change the dynamic of a team and help elevate it to new heights. Some of the more interesting names that landed at new schools this year were Don LaSala at Hartwick, Sean Chamberlain at Farmingdale State, and Johnny Mouradian at Byn Athyn. LaSala arrived at Hartwick from Adrian College, where he led the Bulldogs to the NCAA tournament in each of his three seasons. Hartwick will be a bigger challenge because it plays in the highly competitive Empire 8 conference, but LaSala's Upstate roots should help on the recruiting trail.
Chamberlain's hire at Farmingdale State is interesting because he is a coach whose resume is predominantly rooted in club coaching. His experience with Long Island's Team 91 and his exposure to some of the Island's top talent should help to keep some big time players at home to compete for the Skyline Conference title. Mouradian is taking over a Lions team that is entering just its third year of existence. He is a household name in box lacrosse circles and had been a general manager in the NLL from 1992 until just this past summer when Philadelphia relocated its team to New England. Currently he's already a member of the NLL Hall of Fame and the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame as well as a few others. His unique background will make the Lions a team to keep an eye on down the road to see if his box success will translate to the NCAA field.
Which conference will be the best?
Last season was the first time the Capital Athletic Conference sent three teams to the NCAA Tournament and had a winning percentage of .720 in non-conference games, which led all conferences in both categories. In doing so they were arguably the top conference in DIII last season. Despite only two teams in the NESCAC and Liberty league receiving bids to the tourney, they tied to for second with a .719 winning percentage in non-conference games. Regardless of which criteria you use to determine the top conference the NESCAC, ODAC, and Centennial are all in the conversation as candidates to be the top league in '15. This season the ODAC and Centennial both have four teams ranked in the Face-Off Yearbook top 30 and should be the early favorites.
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