Army Black Knights men's lacrosse

Army Black Knights
Army Black Knights
Founded	1907
University	United States Military Academy
Head coach	Joe Alberici (since 2006 season)
Stadium	Michie Stadium; (capacity: 40,000)
Location	West Point, New York
Conference	Patriot League
Nickname	Black Knights
Colors	Black, gold, and gray;
Pre-NCAA era championships
	1923, 1944, 1945, 1951, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1969
NCAA Tournament Final Fours
	1971, 1984
NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals
	1971, 1972, 1973, 1978, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1993, 2010, 2023
NCAA Tournament appearances
	(18) 1971, 1972, 1973, 1978, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1993, 1996, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2010, 2019, 2023
Conference Tournament championships
	2010, 2019, 2023
Conference regular season championships
	1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2017, 2023, 2024

The Army Black Knights men's lacrosse team represents the United States Military Academy (USMA, commonly known as "West Point") in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men's lacrosse competition. During the team's 92-year history, it has won eight national championships and made fifteen postseason NCAA tournament appearances. The team currently holds the fifth-most wins of any team, with an all-time record of 705–332–7.^[2]^[3]

History

The first Army lacrosse game was played in 1907 against Stevens Tech. The Cadets won that season's only contest, 3–1. In 1909 and 1910, Army again fielded a lacrosse team, which mostly played local high school and club teams, but also a game each against Stevens Tech and Columbia. In those first three seasons, Army won all ten games it played. In 1921, lacrosse returned to West Point for good. After a 2–3 mark that season, the Cadets improved to 6–1 the following year, which was the start to a 33-year streak of winning seasons. In 1923, Army finished with an 8–1–1 record and was named the national championship team by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA).^[2]

In 1929, F. Morris Touchstone became the head coach. He remained in that post for 29 years and became Army's all-time winningest head coach in terms of wins with a record of 214–73–4 and winning percentage of 0.743. During this period, the lacrosse and football teams were closely connected and shared many personnel, as football players found the sport an excellent way to remain physically fit during the off-season. In both 1944 and 1945, Army won national championships in lacrosse and football.^[2]

Bill Carpenter, the "Lonesome End" and a future Distinguished Service Cross recipient, continued the tradition as both a football and lacrosse star. After Touchstone's death, James F. Adams took over as head coach in 1958, and in that first season, led the Cadets to their first perfect record since 1910 and the national championship. He stayed on for 12 years and compiled three more shared titles and a winning percentage of 0.777. In 1961, Adams was named the national Coach of the Year.^[2]

Adams was replaced by Al Pisano. In 1971, the NCAA became the awarding authority for the lacrosse national championship and instituted the NCAA tournament. Army participated in each of the first three events. In the inaugural tournament, the Cadets routed Hofstra in order to advance to the final four, where Cornell edged them by one goal. Dick Edell replaced Pisano, and served for seven years before leaving to become Maryland's long-time coach.^[4]

During the 1980s, Army appeared in six NCAA tournaments, including five consecutive ones starting in 1981. In 1984, Jack Emmer became head coach, and Army advanced to the final four, before being eliminated by Syracuse. The 1993 team finished with a 12–4 record, which included a defeat of Maryland in the first round of the NCAA tournament. In 1991, Army joined the Patriot League, and won its first 25 consecutive conference games, a league record.^[4] In 1999, the athletic teams, formerly known as the "Cadets", officially changed their name to the "Black Knights".^[5]

Rob McCallion midfielder in action against Navy during the 2009 Day of Rivals.

Army made three straight NCAA tournament appearances from 2003 to 2005. The following season, former assistant coach Joe Alberici returned to West Point to assume the head job. That year, the Black Knights finished as runners-up in the Patriot League and narrowly missed a tournament berth. In 2008, Army earned the conference regular season championship and Alberici was named the Patriot League Coach of the Year.^[4]

Home stadium

Army currently plays its home games at Michie Stadium, which is also the homefield of the football team and has an official capacity of 40,000. Prior to that, Army lacrosse used "The Plain" (the main parade ground), Clinton Field, Daly Field, and Shea Stadium.^[2]

Championships

From 1934 through 1970, the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) awarded the Wingate Memorial Trophy to the NCAA Division I annual champion, based on regular-season records. Since 1971, the annual NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship tournament has determined the top team in NCAA Division I lacrosse. Army has been awarded eight national championships, but none since the implementation of the NCAA tournament.

Year	National championships	Coach	Record
1923	USILA Championship	Talbot Hunter	8–1–1
1944	Wingate Trophy	F. Morris Touchstone	6–2
1945	Wingate Trophy (with Navy)	F. Morris Touchstone	5–1–1
1951	Wingate Trophy (with Princeton)	F. Morris Touchstone	8–2
1958	Wingate Trophy	James F. Adams	9–0
1959	Wingate Trophy (with Johns Hopkins)	James F. Adams	8–2
1961	Wingate Trophy (with Navy)	James F. Adams	9–2
1969	Wingate Trophy (with Johns Hopkins)	James F. Adams	10–1

Season results

The following is a list of Army's results by season as an NCAA Division I program:

Season	Coach	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Al Pisano (Independent) (1970–1976)
1971	Al Pisano	11–2			NCAA Division I Final Four
1972	Al Pisano	10–4			NCAA Division I Quarterfinals
1973	Al Pisano	6–5			NCAA Division I Quarterfinals
1974	Al Pisano	3–7
1975	Al Pisano	5–5
1976	Al Pisano	6–6
Al Pisano:		48–32 (.600)
Dick Edell (Independent) (1977–1983)
1977	Dick Edell	8–3
1978	Dick Edell	10–3			NCAA Division I Quarterfinals
1979	Dick Edell	10–3
1980	Dick Edell	8–4
1981	Dick Edell	10–4			NCAA Division I Quarterfinals
1982	Dick Edell	9–4			NCAA Division I Quarterfinals
1983	Dick Edell	11–3			NCAA Division I Quarterfinals
Dick Edell:		66–24 (.733)
Jack Emmer (Independent) (1984–1990)
1984	Jack Emmer	11–3			NCAA Division I Final Four
1985	Jack Emmer	10–4			NCAA Division I Quarterfinals
1986	Jack Emmer	6–6
1987	Jack Emmer	10–5			NCAA Division I First Round
1988	Jack Emmer	7–7
1989	Jack Emmer	5–9
1990	Jack Emmer	4–9
Jack Emmer (Patriot League) (1991–2005)
1991	Jack Emmer	10–4	5–0	1st
1992	Jack Emmer	10–4	5–0	1st
1993	Jack Emmer	12–4	5–0	1st	NCAA Division I Quarterfinals
1994	Jack Emmer	8–7	5–0	1st
1995	Jack Emmer	6–8	5–0	1st
1996	Jack Emmer	10–5	4–1	2nd	NCAA Division I First Round
1997	Jack Emmer	9–5	5–0	1st
1998	Jack Emmer	7–7	5–0	1st
1999	Jack Emmer	8–6	4–1	T–1st
2000	Jack Emmer	8–7	4–2	3rd
2001	Jack Emmer	8–6	4–2	3rd
2002	Jack Emmer	8–6	5–1	T–1st
2003	Jack Emmer	8–8	5–1	T–1st	NCAA Division I First Round
2004	Jack Emmer	10–5	4–3	T–3rd	NCAA Division I First Round
2005	Jack Emmer	11–6	5–1	T–1st	NCAA Division I First Round
Jack Emmer:		186–88 (.679)	70–12 (.854)
Joe Alberici (Patriot League) (2006–Present)
2006	Joe Alberici	8–7	4–2	T–3rd
2007	Joe Alberici	6–9	3–3	4th
2008	Joe Alberici	9–6	5–1	T–1st
2009	Joe Alberici	6–10	2–4	T–4th
2010	Joe Alberici	11–6	6–0	1st	NCAA Division I Quarterfinals
2011	Joe Alberici	9–6	4–2	3rd
2012	Joe Alberici	7–8	4–2	3rd
2013	Joe Alberici	8–6	4–2	3rd
2014	Joe Alberici	9–5	7–1	2nd
2015	Joe Alberici	10–7	4–4	5th
2016	Joe Alberici	10–7	5–3	T–3rd
2017	Joe Alberici	12–4	6–2	T–1st
2018	Joe Alberici	5–8	2–6	T–7th
2019	Joe Alberici	13–5	5–3	T–2nd	NCAA Division I First Round
2020	Joe Alberici	6–2	2–0	†	†
2021	Joe Alberici	7–4	5–2	1st (North)
2022	Joe Alberici	12–4	6–2	T–2nd
2023	Joe Alberici	13–4	7–1	T–1st	NCAA Division I Quarterfinals
2024	Joe Alberici	11–3	6–2	T–1st
Joe Alberici:		171–111 (.606)	87–42 (.674)
Total:		848–411–7 (.673)
National champion Postseason invitational champion Conference regular season champion Conference regular season and conference tournament champion Division regular season champion Division regular season and conference tournament champion Conference tournament champion

†NCAA canceled 2020 collegiate activities due to the COVID-19 virus.

References

^ Army Brand Guidelines (PDF). April 13, 2015. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e 2009 Army Lacrosse Media Guide^{[permanent dead link]}, Army Athletic Communications, United States Military Academy, p. 78, 2009.
^ Army Black Knights (M): 2009 Schedule Archived May 12, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, Inside Lacrosse, retrieved May 12, 2009.
^ ^a ^b ^c Media guide, p. 79.
^ SI Wire (April 7, 2015). "Army athletics dropping Black Knights nickname". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved August 27, 2019.

External links

Official website

[1] Army Brand Guidelines (PDF). April 13, 2015. Retrieved June 28, 2020.

[guide78-2] 2009 Army Lacrosse Media Guide^{[permanent dead link]}, Army Athletic Communications, United States Military Academy, p. 78, 2009.

[3] Army Black Knights (M): 2009 Schedule Archived May 12, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, Inside Lacrosse, retrieved May 12, 2009.

[guide79-4] Media guide, p. 79.

[5] SI Wire (April 7, 2015). "Army athletics dropping Black Knights nickname". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved August 27, 2019.

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