Moon
Township, Pa. – Robert Morris University men's lacrosse head
coach Andrew McMinn announced
Monday the hiring of Dane
Smith as
an assistant coach.
Smith,
a former captain for RMU, has coached at both the college level, with Otterbein
University, and the high school level, with Mt. Lebanon.
Smith
had spent approximately six months on the Otterbein staff as an assistant coach
before joining the Colonials. He was responsible for coaching the defense as
well as overseeing the strength and conditioning of the student-athletes.
Prior
to joining the Cardinals, Smith was an assistant coach at Mt. Lebanon High
School. He helped the Blue Devils to the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic
Association, Inc. (PIAA) state semifinals in 2012 as the squad posted 16 wins.
He assisted primarily with the defense and coached three players who would earn
U.S. Lacrosse All-American honors.
Smith
was a two-year captain for the Colonials, helping RMU to a then program record
10 wins in 2010 before leading the squad to its first-ever postseason berth in
2011. As a defensive midfielder, Smith competed in 53 career contests for
Robert Morris and tallied 44 ground balls and 16 caused turnovers. He also displayed
a level of dependability as he played in 46 consecutive games to close his
Colonial career.
Smith
also claimed two Academic Honor Roll awards from the Northeast Conference (NEC)
once the league began sponsoring men's lacrosse.
Smith,
a native of Hilliard, Ohio, earned his bachelor's degree from Robert Morris in
marketing in 2011. He will be pursuing a master's degree in instructional
leadership at Robert Morris in addition to his coaching duties.
The RMU
men's lacrosse team registered a program-record 11 wins in 2012, including
running through NEC play undefeated to claim the league's regular-season title.
The Colonials knocked off a pair of nationally ranked squads during the
campaign, including a 9-7 road victory at Ohio State, and entered the Nike/Inside Lacrosse national rankings
after a six-game winning streak. McMinn was named NEC Coach of the Year in
voting conducted by his peers as he helped 10 of his student-athletes earn
all-conference honors while RMU also claimed the league's Team GPA and Team
Sportsmanship Awards.