Mike Faith recently completed his eighth year as head coach of the Elizabethtown College women's lacrosse program, and what a season it was. His team fought through one of the nation's toughest schedules to emerge as the inaugural Commonwealth Conference Champions. The Blue Jays upset No. 7 Messiah, 12-7, on its home field, for the program's second conference title. Both conference championships have come with Faith at the helm. With a 97-48 career record, Faith is just three wins shy of becoming the school's first coach to 100 victories.
Faith regularly puts his Blue Jays up against some of the best teams in the nation, and 2012 was no different. E-town took on the No. 1, 2 and 4 ranked teams in the country as part of a schedule that featured six nationally-ranked opponents. Led by IWLCA Third Team All-American Kara Solesky '13 and sharp-shooting freshman Leigh Anne Flounlacker '15, Faith's most recent team ticked off wins in 10 of their final 13 games, including the Commonwealth Conference Championship May 5 at Messiah.
Elizabethtown's defeat of the Falcons put it into the NCAA Division III Tournament for a second time in three seasons. The Blue Jays fought valiantly against the fourth-ranked College of New Jersey Lions, but came up shy in their attempt to replicate an NCAA First Round victory in 2010.
Six players on the 2012 squad earned all-conference distinction under Faith, including Flounlacker, the conference's Rookie of the Year. Faith placed a school record five players on the IWLCA All-Metro Region teams and has coached each of the school's 20 all-region picks and its four All-Americans.
The Blue Jays nearly captured a second straight Middle Atlantic Conference Championship in 2011, prior to the league splitting into the Commonwealth and Freedom Conferences in 2012. E-town, ranked 17th in the IWLCA Division III National Poll at season’s end, was 16-4 overall and 11-1 within the MAC. Faith’s team featured the second best scoring offense and the second best defense in the MAC. Senior Sarah Cullinan ’11 was named MAC Player of the Year and chosen as an IWLCA First Team All-American, a first in program history.
E-town’s most successful season in the program’s brief 11-year history came in 2010. Faith led the team to a perfect 12-0 mark in Middle Atlantic Conference play, and its first ever MAC Championship. Building on the year of firsts, Elizabethtown made its debut in the NCAA Division III Tournament, where it beat Washington and Lee, 13-12, in the opening round.
After taking over the program in the fall of 2004, Faith needed little time to transform it into one of the powerhouses of the MAC.
In his second season, the Blue Jays made their first postseason appearance. Elizabethtown then ran through the MAC unscathed in 2007, going 10-0. It was the first of three times Faith's Jays have gone undefeated in regular season conference play. E-town finished the year 13-4, at the time setting a new program record for wins. Following the season, Faith was named MAC Coach of the Year while Katie Foley ’09 was honored as Player of the Year and Katie Caprinolo ’10 earned Rookie of the Year honors.
The 2008 squad set yet another milestone by making the program's first appearance in the MAC Championship game en route to an 11-5 record. A year later, the 2009 team finished 16-3 and was ranked 20th in the final IWLCA Division III Coaches Poll.
A 2000 graduate of Salisbury University, Faith earned his degree in health fitness and was an All-America First Team choice while a member of the Sea Gulls men's lacrosse team.
Faith arrived at Elizabethtown after serving as an assistant coach with the women's lacrosse program at Division I University of Maryland-Baltimore County. There he helped lead the Golden Retrievers to their first two NCAA Tournament appearances in 2002 and 2003.
Prior to his time at UMBC, Faith was an assistant women's lacrosse coach and the offensive coordinator at the University of Richmond in 2001. He was also a volunteer assistant women's lacrosse coach at his alma mater of Salisbury University in the fall of 1999 and in early 2000.
Faith got his start in coaching women's lacrosse at James M. Bennett High School in Salisbury, Md., in 1999 and 2000. “The team needed an assistant coach,” Faith explained, “and I learned the rules and took it from there. It made me learn to coach the way I want to coach.” The experience, like his stints as an assistant coach elsewhere, proved successful, as he helped guide the team to the regional quarterfinals both years and set the school record for best overall season.
|
Mike Faith Year-by-Year |
|
|
Overall |
Conference |
|
|
|
Year |
Wins |
Losses |
Wins |
Losses |
Pct. |
Postseason |
|
2005 |
6 |
10 |
4 |
6 |
.375 |
|
|
2006 |
6 |
11 |
5 |
5 |
.353 |
Middle Atlantic Conference Quarterfinals |
|
2007 |
13 |
4 |
10 |
0 |
.765 |
Middle Atlantic Conference Semifinals |
|
2008 |
11 |
5 |
7 |
1 |
.688 |
Middle Atlantic Conference Finals |
|
2009 |
16 |
3 |
11 |
0 |
.842 |
Middle Atlantic Conference Finals |
|
2010 |
16 |
5 |
12 |
0 |
.762 |
Middle Atlantic Conference Champions
NCAA Division III Tournament Second Round |
|
2011 |
16 |
4 |
11 |
1 |
.800 |
Middle Atlantic Conference Finals |
|
2012 |
13 |
6 |
5 |
1 |
.684 |
Commonwealth Conference Champions
NCAA Division III Tournament First Round |
|
8 seasons |
97 |
48 |
65 |
14 |
.669 |
|
