Recognized as one of the nation's top lacrosse coaches, Greg Cannella is in his 16th year at the helm of the University of Massachusetts program. Cannella has brought his Minutemen to seven NCAA Tournaments, winning seven tournament games since 1997, claiming six New England championships including 2006, won the 2001, 2002, 2005 and 2009 ECAC Lacrosse titles. He was named ECAC Coach of the Year for the fourth time in 2009, joining his selections in 2009, 2004, 2002, and 2001 and New England Coach of the Year four times including the last two seasons. He was named the 2006 USILA National Coach of the Year after leading UMass to its first-ever lacrosse NCAA Championship game. In 2009, Cannella led UMass back to the NCAA Tournament for the seventh time in his tenure and 18th in program history as the Minutemen won the ECAC with a 6-1 league record. Following the season, goalie Doc Schneider was named a USILA Second-Team All-American in addition to being the ECAC Goalie of the Year. Attacker Jim Connolly and defenseman Diogo Godoi were named USILA Honorable Mention All-Americans. Cannella led UMass to its most memorable season in 2006. As an unseeded team, UMass had the most difficult path to a lacrosse championship game in history, beating the No. 2, 3 and 4 ranked teams in the nation. UMass topped No. 2 seed Maryland, 8-5 in the semifinals after advancing it its first Final Four with a stunning 11-10 overtime win over Hofstra on May 20, 2006. The miracle comeback saw the Minutemen rally from a 10-5 deficit with 8:03 left in the fourth quarter as UMass won its quarterfinal game at Stony Brook. The 2006 season saw UMass produce two first-team USILA All-Americans for the first time in school history with Sean Morris on attack and Jack Reid being honored on defense. Jake Deane was also named an honorable mention All-American. For the second year in a row, Morris was named a finalist for the Tewaaraton Trophy as the top player in all of college lacrosse. UMass had the second-winningest program in all of college lacrosse over six years from 2001-06 with a 70-24 record since. Only Johns Hopkins had won at a better rate than UMass' 75-percnt win mark. Over six years (2001-07), UMass was an amazing 43-6 at home at Garber Field (88 percent). Cannella won his 100th career game on March 11, 2006, when UMass beat Harvard, 12-7. He led UMass to the NCAA Quarterfinals with a 10-9 win over No. 6 seed Cornell on May 13, 2006. Cannella led UMass to 58 wins over the last five years (2002-2006), the winningest five-year span in the program's history. A 1988 UMass graduate Cannella took the reigns of the UMass lacrosse program in the fall of 1994 with a great understanding of the program's storied history. He was a two-time letterwinner under the legendary Dick Garber in the mid-1980s and an assistant coach for two seasons with the Minutemen. Cannella is just the fourth head coach in the program's history. The 2005 season will go down as one of the most successful in school history as the Minutemen tied the school record for wins a 13-3 record. UMass advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals for the 10th time in school history while winning the ECAC and New England Championships. The season was historic as UMass knocked off Syracuse twice in a three-week span including a 16-15 win in the NCAA First Round to end the Orange's 22-year run of reaching the NCAA Semifinals. UMass was featured on ESPN's SportsCenter as well as in Sports Illustrated after the monumental win. Cannella continued to coach some of the nation's top players as attackman Sean Morris was selected as UMass' first-ever finalist for the Tewaaraton Trophy as the sport's top college player. Morris was one of four All-Americans on the 2005 team which also featured seven All-New England selections. The 2003 UMass squad tied a school record with 13 victories, advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals for only the fifth time in school history and was ranked as high as No. 3 in the country, the highest ranking ever for the Minutemen. In addition, the Minutemen ended a 24-game losing streak to Syracuse, becoming the first UMass team to defeat the Orangemen in over two decades. Prior to returning to his alma mater, Cannella spent four years as an assistant coach at Stony Brook from 1988-92. Cannella served as the offensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator on John Espey's staff. He earned a master's degree in liberal studies while coaching at Stony Brook. Cannella earned a bachelor's degree in physical education while playing at Massachusetts from 1986-87. He was a two-year starter for the Minutemen and a member of two NCAA Tournament teams. Cannella scored 64 points (33 goals, 31 assists) in his UMass career. Prior to playing at UMass, Cannella spent one year at Nassau (N.Y.) Community College, where he was a first team All-America selection and led Nassau to the 1985 Junior College national title. A native of Lynbrook, N.Y., Cannella played for three years at Lynbrook High School. One of the most prolific scorers in Lynbrook history, Cannella was a high school All-America selection and still ranks among Lynbrook's all-time leading scorers. Cannella served as the President of the New England Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association in 1998, 1999 and 2000, and served as the Vice President in 1997. Cannella is currently the chairman of the annual NEILA Scholar Athlete Team, which he started in 1999. He has also served on the NCAA Championships Regional Advisory Committee that selected the teams for the NCAA Tournament in 1997, 1998 1999, 2002, 2003, and 2004. Cannella was a regional voter in the USILA/STX weekly poll from 1997-2001, as well as a USIlA regional voter for All-Americans since 2003. He now serves on the prestigious committee to help select the Tewaaraton Award, a honor given to the nation's top player. Cannella was born on Sept. 2, 1965, in Rockville Centre, N.Y. He and his wife, Laurie, reside in Hadley with their son Vance (8), and daughter Virginia (6).
Year-By-Year Record TOTALS 131 84 .609 One NCAA Final, Seven NCAA Appearances, Four ECAC Titles
Cannella's Coaching
Highlights
The Cannella File
Cannella's Milestone Wins
Cannella's Coaching Tree |
  
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