ECC Adds Frostburg State University as Men's Lacrosse Associate Member

ECC Adds Frostburg State University as  Men's Lacrosse Associate Member

West Babylon, N.Y. - Beginning in the 2020 season, Frostburg State University will join the East Coast Conference as an associate member in the sport of men's lacrosse, East Coast Conference Commissioner, Dr. Robert Dranoff, announced today.

Frostburg State, located in Frostburg, Md. and currently a member of NCAA Division III, announced in July that it has accepted an offer of membership with the Mountain East Conference, a fellow Division II conference. The MEC does not offer men's lacrosse as a varsity sport, allowing Frostburg and the ECC to enter into the associate membership agreement.

Frostburg's associate membership is contingent on being accepted into Division II by the NCAA. A decision from the NCAA on Frostburg's application to Division II will come before the 2019-2020 academic year.

The addition of the Bobcats will keep the number of teams playing ECC men's lacrosse at seven. They will replace LIU Post as the Pioneers' Division II athletic program will be discontinued after this season in Long Island University's unification of athletic programs on their Post and Brooklyn campuses. Other ECC members that sponsor men's lacrosse include University of the District of Columbia, Mercy College, Molloy College, New York Institute of Technology, Roberts Wesleyan College, and St. Thomas Aquinas College.

"We are pleased to offer Frostburg State the opportunity to join the East Coast Conference as an associate member in men's lacrosse for Spring 2020 as they work towards a transition to NCAA Division II," said Dranoff. "Frostburg has been a competitive program in this sport over the years and we felt their addition to the ECC, a conference with a long history of success in men's lacrosse, would be mutually beneficial in providing league play and recognition opportunities for the FSU men's lacrosse student-athletes while also strengthening our conference. We look forward to working with Frostburg State."

The Frostburg men's lacrosse program was elevated to varsity status starting in the spring of 2011 and since that time have won 85 games with six-straight trips to the Capital Athletic Conference Tournament. The Bobcats also spent most of the 2015 and 2016 season ranked inside the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Top 20 poll and boast five USILA All-Americans since the program's restart in '11.

"I feel confident that the East Coast Conference will be a very competitive 'home' for our Frostburg State University's men's lacrosse team," said FSU President, Ronald Nowaczyk. "We have been committed to finding quality affiliations for those sports not currently sponsored by the Mountain East Conference. The ECC has a strong tradition in men's lacrosse as 13 teams have advanced to the NCAA Tournament in the past 10 seasons and the conference boasts 14 NCAA Division II National Championships. The high level of success shown by the members of the ECC will be a great challenge for our student-athletes."