Current time in Baltimore 8:44 p.m. Monday, July 6, 2009
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Matt Dwan enters his sixth season overall as an assistant coach with the Loyola men's lacrosse program. After serving as a volunteer assistant in 2004, he was named a full-time assistant in June of 2004. He works primarily with the team's defense, assisting in scouting, game planning and heading up the Greyhound man-down unit.
Dwan organizes all of the team's travel, equipment needs, as well as all NCAA compliance paperwork and is a co-director of the Greyhound Lacrosse Summer Camp. With recruiting being such an important part of the college game, he has helped bring some of the top student- athletes in the country to Loyola College. This past fall, he was instrumental in helping the program secure two new major sponsors of the Greyhounds' program, Brine and Under Armour.
Dwan, a 1995 graduate of Loyola College, has shaped the Greyhounds' defense into arguably the premier unit in the ECAC. Since joining the ECAC in 2005 Dwan has helped guide the Loyola defense to a 7.5 goals against average in 27 conference games. During that stretch the Greyhounds have held opponents to six goals or fewer 13 times, while giving up double digit goals just nine times in 4 years.
In 2008, Loyola allowed a league-low 39 goals in seven conference games (5.57 a game), an impressive 18 goals fewer than the second-ranked team (Hobart, 57). Three Greyhound defensive players were honored with post season accolades last year, with P.T. Ricci receiving first-team All-ECAC honors, while Steve Dircks and Jake Hagelin both received second-team honors, with Hagelin also receiving the rookie of the year.
Overall last season, the Greyhounds held nine of their 14 opponents to under 10 goals, and limited four of those to five or fewer goals. In a convincing 15-1 win over Massachusetts, the defense allowed only one goal for the first time since the 1999 season, and nearly registered the program's first shutout in 60 seasons.
A former lacrosse standout himself, Dwan played professionally for the Baltimore Bayhawks of Major League Lacrosse. Part of the inaugural MLL season in 2001, Dwan played in every game for the Bayhawks from 2001 to 2003. He helped anchor a defense that advanced to the MLL championship game in each of his three seasons, while capturing the championship in 2002.
During his collegiate career, Dwan was named an All- American three times, helping the Greyhounds advance to the NCAA tournament each of his four seasons at Evergreen. His senior year in 1995, Dwan recorded 11 goals, five assists and 93 ground balls, earning first-team All-American. At the time he was just the second long-stick midfielder in NCAA history to accomplish that feat.
In 1994, he was selected as a second-team All-American and was named honorable mention as a sophomore. Dwan was named co-captain and team co-MVP his final two seasons at Loyola and in May of 1995 he graduated with career totals of 19 goals, eight assists and 240 ground balls. In June of 2003, he was inducted into Loyola's Athletic Hall of Fame, and in November of 2005 he entered the Hudson Valley Chapter of the US Lacrosse Hall of Fame.
Dwan is a native of Yorktown Heights, N.Y. He and his wife Michelle currently reside in Pasadena, Md. Michelle is one of the most decorated players in Loyola women's lacrosse history, earning All-America three times, including First-Team honors twice, as well as the 1997 midfielder of the year.
