By: BigTenNetwork.com –
The Ohio State men’s lacrosse team will join the ECAC Lacrosse League for the 2009-10 season, ECAC Commissioner Rudy Keeling announced Wednesday. Ohio State and other current Great Western Lacrosse League schools Air Force, Bellarmine, Denver and Quinnipiac, will join existing members Fairfield, Hobart and Loyola to form one of the top lacrosse conferences in the country.

“The lacrosse world is going through a metamorphosis and the ECAC Lacrosse League has emerged stronger than ever,” said Keeling. “The combination of the teams from the ECAC and the Great Western Lacrosse League will make us one of the power lacrosse conferences in the country.”

Nick Myers, who was named Ohio State’s head coach Thursday, is excited for Ohio State to have the chance to compete for the ECAC Lacrosse League’s automatic bid into the NCAA tournament each year, and thinks the strength of the league will help the conference teams earn at-large bids into the NCAA tourney.

“”The eight teams that will make up the ECAC Lacrosse League in 2010 will form one of the strongest conferences in Division I lacrosse,”" Myers said. “”Three of the teams competed in the NCAA tournament last season and from top-to-bottom it will be a competitive league each year.”"

TJ Shelton, assistant athletics director for sport administration at Ohio State, thinks the ECAC Lacrosse League will be a good fit for the Buckeyes.

“Joining the ECAC Lacrosse League is a positive move for the Ohio State lacrosse program,” Shelton said. “The merger provides our program an opportunity to maintain rivalries against fellow GWLL members Denver, Air Force, Bellarmine and Quinnipiac and compete with current ECAC members Loyola, Fairfield and Hobart. The conference will give our coaches and student-athletes an opportunity to compete against some of the best lacrosse players in the nation.”

Three of the eight teams in the newly constituted league qualified for the NCAA tournament last season: Denver, Loyola and Ohio State. Each of those teams had an RPI in the Top 25 in the final national rankings. Six of the eight teams in the new ECAC had .500 or better records last season.

“Overall, we feel it is going to continue to be a highly competitive league and we are excited for 2010,” said Keeling. “The game of lacrosse is growing rapidly across the nation, and we are excited to bring some of the western teams into the East and for those eastern teams to have a chance to play out West. It will only accelerate the growth of the sport across the country.”

In its nine-year history, the ECAC Lacrosse League has enjoyed tremendous success. League members have earned 19 NCAA Tournament bids, and more than two thirds (68%) of those berths have been at-large selections. An ECAC team has advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals in seven of the league’s nine years, and in six of the last seven seasons. In 2003, the ECAC had four teams qualify for the NCAA tournament, a quarter of the 16-team field.

Ohio State was 11-6 last season and advanced to the NCAA quarterfinal round for the first time in program history. The Buckeyes, who had four players named All-Americans and a league-best eight all-conference honorees, shared the GWLL title in 2008.

ABOUT THE ECAC
The ECAC is the nation’s largest athletic conference with 321 Divisions I, II, and III colleges and universities from Maine to North Carolina. Established in 1938, the ECAC, a non-profit service organization, sponsors more than 100 championships in 37 men’s and women’s sports. The ECAC assigns more than 4,400 officials in 12 sports. The Conference,  located on Cape Cod, administers eight affiliate sports organizations and six playing leagues, including the ECAC Lacrosse League. Established in 1999, the ECAC Lacrosse League is a Division I men’s lacrosse league. Hobart College and Loyola College (Md.) joined the league in 2005, and added Fairfield University in 2006. In 2010, the league will add Air Force, Bellarmine, Denver, Ohio State, and Quinnipiac.

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