Georgetown Lacrosse Hires Maryland Defensive Coordinator – Terrapin Station

Maryland lacrosse took a bit of a hit yesterday, when news that nearby Georgetown had cherry-picked defensive coordinator Kevin Warne from the team.

Warne, a 35 year old Setauket, New York native, played an integral part in guiding Maryland lacrosse to two straight NCAA title berths. His defensive schemes were the main reason why the Terrapins were 9th in the nation last year in scoring defense, allowing only 7.94 goals against on average. The previous year, that goals against average was even lower at 7.00, proving that his strategy was effective in shutting down even the most potent offenses.

Prior to his stint at the University of Maryland, Warne was an assistant coach at Harvard, as well as Maryland sibling school UMBC. In 2009, his defensive unit had incredible success, as they finished third in the nation in goals against average and received numerous All-Ivy accolades. At UMBC, he guided the Terriers to an NCAA playoff berth and advancement to the quarterfinals.

Obviously, Georgetown got a good hire, and Maryland is going to sorely miss his stingy defensive squads. Given the amount of talent that Maryland has, the drop off may not be as significant, but next year will be telling. For a team that, over the past three seasons under the guidance of Warne, had been among the top defenses in the NCAA, there will likely be an adjustment period.

That being said, we wish Mr. Warne well and hope that he can guide a fellow DMV school to a lot of success (while at the same time not nabbing talent that would have otherwise gone to Maryland, of course)!