Daly Named As 2005 IWLCA Division II Women's Lacrosse National Coach Of The Year After Guiding Chieftains To Second NCAA National Championship In Three Seasons

June 16, 2005

Stonehill College Head Women’s Lacrosse Coach Michael Daly has been named as the 2005 Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association Division II National Coach of the Year for his efforts during this past spring in guiding the Chieftains to their second NCAA Division II national championship in three seasons.

The award is the third national accolade for Daly during his seven-year tenure at Stonehill, as he previously copped the honor in 1999 after guiding the Chieftains to an 11-3 mark in their first varsity season and additionally won the award in 2003 after leading Stonehill to its first NCAA national championship with a 17-2 mark. The 1990 New Hampshire graduate has been a finalist for the IWLCA honor on three other occasions during his career as well.

Daly, a five-time selection as Northeast-10 Conference Coach of the Year, led the Chieftains to a perfect 21-0 campaign during the 2005 season, a year that was capped on May 15th with Stonehill’s second NCAA Division II national title in three seasons with a 13-10 victory over West Chester in the national championship match. The 2005 season also saw the Chieftains claim their seventh straight Northeast-10 regular season title and sixth straight conference tournament crown, as Stonehill has won 48 straight league matches dating back to April of 2000 and will bring a school-record 27-match winning streak that dates back to April 2004 into the 2006 campaign.

“Michael has worked very hard to make our program the best in the nation throughout his career, and he is once again very deserving of this honor,” Stonehill Director of Athletics Paula J. Sullivan says of Daly’s award. “To be recognized for excellence by your peers is an outstanding tribute and one I know he will share with everyone associated with the program.”

In seven seasons at Stonehill, Daly sports an overall mark of 106-22 (.828) and has guided Stonehill to four appearances in five seasons in the NCAA Division II Women’s Lacrosse Championships. In addition to the two national crowns in 2003 and 2005, the Chieftains advanced to the 2001 national semi-finals as well as the 2002 national championship contest. Daly has mentored a total of 14 IWLCA All-America selections on the field as well as a pair of CoSIDA Academic All-America honorees off the field.