St. Joseph’s-LI Hires Bob Vlahakis to Head New Women’s Lacrosse Program
Patchogue, N.Y. – St. Joseph's is pleased to announce the hiring of Bob Vlahakis as the head coach of the Golden Eagles newest athletic program, women's lacrosse.
According to athletic director Donald Lizak, the hope is for the women's lacrosse program to begin playing a varsity schedule in the spring of 2012.
Vlahakis joins the highly decorated coaching staff at the Patchogue campus with an overwhelming resume of success. At Shoreham-Wading River High School, Vlahakis led the girls lacrosse program to four New York State Championships (2007-10), five Long Island Championships ('06-'10), seven Suffolk County Championships ('04-'10) and six Suffolk County and New York State team sportsmanship awards.
Additionally, Coach Vlahakis has been honored with three Long Island Coach of the Year and seven consecutive Suffolk County "C" Coach of the Year awards in lacrosse.
"St. Joseph's College is extremely fortunate and very pleased to have someone with the talents and expertise of Bob Vlahakis, join our staff. He is a proven winner in every respect, and we are excited about what he brings to our program," said Lizak.
The addition of women's lacrosse as an NCAA Division III sport will increase the SJC athletic program's total to 19 teams and one support squad. The newborn club will take the field at St. Joseph's new outdoor athletic complex, which is slated to be completed by this fall.
St. Joseph's College has captured the Skyline Conference Presidents Cup each of the past three academic years as the top rated athletic program in the conference.
Vlahakis, a Shoreham resident, was an English and Social Studies teacher at Shoreham-Wading River Middle School for thirty years. During his high school coaching tenure, the lacrosse team won New York State Scholar-Athlete Team awards each year from 2004-2010.
"I am very excited with the challenge of starting a brand new NCAA Division III lacrosse program at St. Joseph's College, a very special school with a wonderful and positive student body and an amazingly supportive staff whose primary goal is the happiness
and well being of those students," said the new coach.
"Everywhere I walk on campus, people are excited about the prospect of lacrosse coming onto the campus, and I take that as a huge responsibility to the St. Joseph's community. I look forward to the brand new sports facility, which will create an ideal environment for local lacrosse players to hone their skills. We will build the team slowly and carefully from the start, establishing a student centered program that will complement and support the rich academic structure that exists."
"I want to thank Don Lizak and Sister Elizabeth A. Hill for giving me this opportunity to nurture and develop the women's lacrosse program at St. Joseph's College."
Vlahakis , a Shoreham resident, also coached the boy's and girl's soccer programs at Shoreham-Wading River High School, garnering four Long Island Championships, five Suffolk County Championships and nine coach of the year awards. Overall his coaching record in 26 combined seasons of the three sports was 343-133-19 (.721 winning percentage).
Coach is even no stranger to the collegiate scene as he led the club team at Colorado State University to a 23-1 record and a US Lacrosse Women's Division Intercollegiate Associates (WDIA) National Championship in 2008.
Off the field, Vlahakis holds the position of senior editor for the Inside Lacrosse newspaper and Face-Off Lacrosse Yearbook – a publication he founded in 1994. He also volunteers his time at the Guide Dog Foundation in Smithtown and as an academic advisor at the Fredrick Douglas Academy in Harlem. Coach earned his master's and bachelor's degree at Stony Brook University.
