Siena lacrosse names UAlbany assistant Gleason as next head coach
LOUDONVILLE — Siena College announced Tuesday that they have named Liam Gleason as the tenth men’s lacrosse head coach in program history.
Gleason, 33, replaces John Svec, who resigned on May 14 after seven seasons at the helm of the team after a lackluster 2018 season that saw the Saints go 3-9.
Before Gleason took the head job at Siena, he had spent the last seven seasons as the associate head coach under Scott Marr at UAlbany, helping lead the team to six straight NCAA tournament appearances and reaching the national semifinals this spring. Before this, he had spent three years, 2008-2010 as the defensive coach at Siena under Brian Brecht. After that, he was the first head coach in program history for St. Rose, helping prep the team for their inaugural season in 2012.
“I’m extremely honored for the opportunity to return to Siena College and head the men’s lacrosse program,” Gleason said in an official statement. “I’d like to thank Vice President and Director of Athletics John D’Argenio, Associate Director of Athletics Lori Anctil, and the entire search committee for choosing me to be the next head coach. Additionally, I’d like to thank UAlbany Head Coach Scott Marr and Director of Athletics Mark Benson for my fantastic experience over the past few years which helped prepare me to take on this new role. I’m excited for the opportunity to build Siena back into a MAAC Championship contender, and I look forward to rekindling the relationships I previously made with our loyal alumni base.”
In his 10 seasons as an assistant coach at the Division I level, his teams have gone 123-52, and a 56-7 record in conference play. In Gleason’s final six seasons at UAlbany, he helped lead them to an 89-35 overall record, 36-3 in conference play. During that time, the Great Danes won six America East regular season titles and five conference tournament titles, and was there for the Danes record-breaking 16 win season this past spring.
During his three seasons at Siena previously, he saw them have a record of 34-17, and 20-4 in MAAC play. They won the MAAC regular season titles in 2009 and 2010, and won the conference tournament and reached the NCAA tournament in 2009.
“We are excited to welcome Liam back to Siena,” said Siena athletic director John D’Argenio in a statement. “It was very evident when he was here previously that he possessed the makeup to be a successful head coach. He comes from an outstanding program at UAlbany where he was part of the team’s national success, while also being an accomplished recruiter in the geographic areas where Siena has been successful in the past.”
Gleason, who played collegiality at UAlbany and later Division II Adelphi and later drafted professionally by the New Jersey Pride, will be formally introduced on Thursday.
