Nick Morgan, Sports Editor
In his second season at the helm of the AU men’s lacrosse program, coach Ben Murphy is excited to continue building the program up — a task to which he is no stranger. The Louisville, Kentucky native began his playing career in high school and then accepted an opportunity to play at D-III Mt. St. Joseph University in Cincinnati, Ohio. After one season, he moved back to the Bluegrass State to finish his playing career at the University of Kentucky, where he graduated in 2013.
Immediately after graduation, he began his coaching trail at Lexington Catholic High School. From there, he moved back home to Louisville to become an assistant coach at South Oldham High School, where he was awarded “Assistant Coach of the Year” for the state of Kentucky.
Murphy then decided he wanted to continue his education and attended graduate school at Ohio Valley University in Vienna, West Virginia, where he was able to continue coaching as a Graduate Assistant. Murphy then took on a new challenge and moved to Fulton, Missouri to start up a D-III lacrosse program at Westminster University.
His family still being in Kentucky was a large reason Murphy decided to make the move back home and begin coaching as an assistant at Asbury. He was then the first choice to take over the program when the head coaching position opened up two years ago.
“The building process, for me, never ends,” said Murphy about the four-year-old program. “We’re still in the early stages of building this program with recruiting but also in finding ways to get better as a team.”
Two years ago, the men’s lacrosse team finished tied for last place in the Appalachian Athletic Conference, but last year under Murphy, AU was one win away from going to the conference tournament. “The goal is definitely to take another step forward this year and trying to break that ceiling and make some noise in the conference and nationally,” said Murphy.
The Eagles will look to get their season underway against Aquinas College on Saturday, Feb. 23, at home. Of their twelve games this season, eight teams they play are either ranked or receiving votes in the national polls, including the top three ranked teams in the nation and the reigning national champion Reinhardt University.
