SBU's Sowell to coach Navy lacrosse

Rick Sowell wasn't necessarily looking for a new challenge in college lacrosse, but with the success he had at Stony Brook University, opportunity was sure to knock. After catapulting Stony Brook into the national scene during his five-year tenure, Sowell will become the head coach at Navy, the Academy and Stony Brook announced Thursday.

Sowell coached Stony Brook to a 47-26 record. The pinnacle occurred two seasons ago when the Seawolves came close to reaching the Final Four before a 10-9 loss in the quarterfinals to Virginia before more than 10,000 fans at LaValle Stadium.

Sowell, 48, who also has held head coaching jobs at Dartmouth and St. John's, believes he achieved his goals with the Seawolves.

"I fulfilled them and then some," he said. "I thought I could come in, or at least I hoped I could come in and compete for the conference championship. I knew I was going to work for a guy who wanted to win bad, who was like me, who shared my passion, my energy . . . I'm very proud of what we accomplished here at Stony Brook.''

Of Sowell's departure, senior attack Brett Drost said, "I guess I'm surprised, I didn't think it would happen. We'll miss him. It will be weird coming to alumni games and seeing a different person coaching.''

Timmy Trenkle, a senior midfielder, added, "He was a good motivator. He was a great coach for us. He definitely put the program on the map. We got as much out of it as we could."

Sowell will replace Richie Meade, who resigned after 17 years.

"I'm very excited," Sowell said. "Obviously, Navy's a special place. Unique. To have the opportunity to work at a place like the Naval Academy where you are going to be coaching some tremendous young men, as I did . . . These kids are going to serve our country. To play a part in leading them to become prepared to go out and serve our country, I'm excited about that."

The Seawolves were in the national rankings for most of the 2011 season but were denied an NCAA bid after being upset by Hartford in the America East championship game.

"It still stings a little bit that we couldn't grab that last game at home,'' Sowell said. "But you know things have changed when Stony Brook men's lacrosse goes 10-4 and you feel a little empty. I think six, seven years ago Stony Brook's going to go 10-4, I think everyone would have signed up for that."

Sowell recruited five players who went on to earn All-American honors, including Jordan McBride, who became the university's first player to be named to an All-American team four straight years.

Fiore said he was sad to see Sowell leave, but knows he helped build a strong foundation. "He came to Stony Brook when many other established head coaches didn’t maybe have the courage to take this position," he said. "Our relationship helped build a program that is very well respected nationally and that’s set up for future success."

Fiore said the search to find Sowell’s successor would begin immediately. "We're going to cast a wide net, have a national search, go out and be very aggressive and get the very best candidate that's a good fit for Stony Brook and Long Island. Somebody who wants to bleed Seawolves red."