July 18, 2007
by Clare Lochary, Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff
Burns and Allen, Lucy and Ricky, Bill and Hillary - you just can't beat a good husband-and-wife act.
At least, that's what Wagner College (N.Y.) athletic director Walt Hameline thought when he hired Jason Rife and Karen Rife to helm the Seahawks' men's and women's lacrosse teams, respectively, on Tuesday.
"We're very excited," said Karen, the former head coach at Bryant (R.I.) University. "Coaching is a very time-consuming job. Sometimes, the only reason we see each other is at work."
Following an 0-15 season for the Wagner men's team, Hameline was on the prowl for someone to revitalize the program. He contacted Bryant athletic director Bill Smith, a former Wagner assistant football coach and athletics administrator, for some advice. Smith conducted a nationwide search for a men's lacrosse coach in 2006 - famously landing on former Duke coach Mike Pressler - but the runner-up for the job was Jason Rife, a Bryant assistant.
Wagner approached Jason, but the Rifes were determined to find a school where both of them could be head coaches. Within three weeks, Wagner returned with a double-barreled offer for both Jason and Karen. They happily accepted.
"They're trying to improve the situation and get the name out in terms of Wagner lacrosse," said Jason, a former UMass player. "It kind of intrigues me to build something like that, to change the culture and build the brand of Wagner."
If Jason needs advice on program-building, he can check with Karen, a two-time All-American who was in Syracuse's first women's varsity recruiting class in 1997. He also got some words of wisdom from Lafayette coach Terry Mangan.
"He said it's like eating an elephant, one bite at a time," said Jason. "I don't have a magic bean or pill or any of that stuff that's going to turn it around in a heartbeat. Everybody's going to have be all in to do that - from the freshmen to the seniors to the administration to me."
The Wagner women's team wasn't shut out in the 2007, but is struggling to rebound from a 4-12 season. Cara Gonzalez, a junior midfielder and returning points leader, is one of just 12 players on the Seahawks' 2008 roster, so Karen plans to recruit heavily this summer.
Between the camp circuit and the process of moving from Rhode Island to Staten Island, there's no time left for a vacation. Fortunately, the Rifes already took a big trip in October 2006. They got married in Hawaii - partly because it was romantic, and partly so the bride and groom could play in the annual Hawaii Lacrosse Invitational Tournament.
"My mother wonders when she's going to get to stop watching my lacrosse games," Karen joked.
Not anytime soon, it appears.
Graduating from High School
Washington College has always had a strong grip on the recruiting circles in and around Maryland. That clench became a little tighter on July 5.
That was the day Matt Parks, a coach at Fallston (Md.) High School for the past eight years and a staple on the Maryland prep scene, signed on as the new assistant men's lacrosse coach at the Eastern Shore institution.
"He knows every Maryland kid out there," said J.B. Clarke, the Shoremen's head coach. "We try to get to every possible recruiting camp out there and he already knows the guys better than we could."
The assistant gig at Washington College attracts some strong prospects, but rarely a thirty-something coach with a big-time pedigree and recruiting punch. Once Parks' name crossed Clarke's desk, it was a done deal for the former University of Maryland standout.
Parks was married in early July, not long after his decision to make the jump to the college ranks. Clarke was more than willing to give his blessing to the union.
"Good news for me is they aren't having the honeymoon until later on in the year," said Clarke. "Matt's been on the road recruiting, and we're already off to a good start."
News & Notes
Johns Hopkins women's team has added Joanna Mooney to the staff, as a defensive coach and recruiting coordinator. Mooney previously coached at Colgate and Davidson...Justin Axel has been named head men's coach for Eastern Connecticut State, the fourth head coach in program history and the third in five years. Axel was formerly a part-time assistant at Salisbury...Doug Misarti, a former associate head coach at Stevens Institute of Technology (N.J.), has accepted the head men's coaching position at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. SIT also lost assistant coach Ryan Wellner, who has become defensive coordinator and assistant coach at Washington and Lee...Curtis Gilbert will helm the men's program at New England College in Henniker, N.H., after spending two seasons as an assistant at Denison (Ohio)...Adelphi (N.Y.) has hired former two-time All-American Gordon Purdie, who graduated from the institution in 1988 after being recruited from Australia. Purdie, who has coached at nearby Waldorf School since 1994 and has played professionally in the NLL, takes over for Sandy Kapatos, who resigned after 14 seasons.
"The Loch-Down" is a weekly column on college lacrosse by LMO's Clare Lochary. Check back on Wednesdays for more offseason news and features. Send comments to clochary@uslacrosse.org.
Jac Coyne contributed to this article.
