Iona University, a DI MAAC programme in New Rochelle, N.Y., announced Monday afternoon that it will add men’s lacrosse for the 2024-25 season.
The Gaels are already undefeated in women’s lacrosse. The men’s club joined the MCLA earlier this month.
Chris Jastrzembski broke the news first on Twitter.
Iona is the first current Division I university to add men’s lacrosse since St. Bonaventure and Utah became varsity programmes before the pandemic in ’19.
Since then, there has been a flurry of activity with new additions in women’s DI, most notably Clemson, which will begin this fall. Lindenwood and Queens men’s DII programmes were also promoted to DI.
Currently, there are 76 men’s DI lacrosse programmes.
With conference realignment, the landscape will look very different. The Atlantic-10 Conference will sponsor men’s lacrosse, which along with other moves spurred the dissolution of the NEC. LIU, Sacred Hart and Wagner went from the NEC to the MAAC.
“With Iona University adding men’s lacrosse as a varsity sport, the MAAC Men’s Lacrosse League will expand even more,” said MAAC Commissioner Rich Ensor. “With our 10 current teams, Iona will strengthen the league and make our already competitive league even better.”
The university also added women’s acrobatics & tumbling.
“It is our mission to create opportunities at Iona University for students to achieve their highest potential both inside and outside of the classroom,” said president Seamus Carey.
“The addition of these two highly competitive and popular varsity programs will be a tremendous benefit both for our student-athletes, and also for the campus community at large.”
“As Iona University continues to grow, we are very proud to offer these expanded opportunities for varsity intercollegiate competition to our students,” said athletic director Matthew Glovaski.
“With the Northeast and in particular Westchester County and the New York Metropolitan Area being a historical hotbed for scholastic men’s lacrosse and the rise of acrobatics & tumbling as an emerging sport for women in the NCAA, these programs will integrate themselves seamlessly into the goals and aspirations of the University.”
