HEAD COACH SCOTT STARK

Maryville University director of athletics and campus recreation Lonnie Folks announced Scott Stark as the new head coach of the men’s lacrosse team starting with the 2021 season.

Stark made an immediate impact on the Saints program as he was voted the 2021 Great Lakes Valley Conference Coach of the Year. He helped Maryville achieve the highest ranking in program history as the Saints were voted No. 9 by US Lacrosse and up to No. 12 in the USILA poll. Stark coached the 2021 GLVC Freshman of the Year in Connor Robinson, and he guided two first-team All-GLVC selections, five second-team recognitions, and three honorable mention All-Conference choices. In addition, he helped Jake Foster become Maryville's first men's lacrosse professional draft pick when the Albany FireWolves selected Foster with the 14th pick in the fifth round of the National Lacrosse League.

During the 2022 campaign, Stark oversaw eight Saints earn All-GLVC honors, and he guided Clayton Cerett as the Freshman of the Year and Reid Usrey as a first-team All-Conference selection. The Saints were also chosen as the recipients of the GLVC's James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Team Award that season. Usrey earned USILA All-South Region Team honors. Maryville earned the USILA Team All-Academic honor, while TIm McCarthy and Tyler Wenck were tabbed as USILA Scholar All-Americans.

In 2023, Stark was voted as a co-Coach of the Year in the GLVC. He led the Saints to eight victories, and Maryville's third-place finish in the league was its highest in the GLVC standings in program history. Three of the team's losses came on the road to ranked teams and two occurred in overtime. Stark oversaw Clayton Cerett, Garrett Rivers and Reis Usrey all garner first-team All-GLVC honors as the Saints saw five honored in total that year. Usrey was an USILA All-American Honorable Mention selection, and he, Rivers and Shae Raeburn were USILA All-South Region selections. Rivers also earned CSC Academic All-American honors. After the season, Stark had the program's second player drafted in a professional league when Justin Morgan was selected in the sixth round of the 2023 NLL Draft by Panther City.

Stark came to the Saints after six seasons as an assistant coach, including the last five as defensive coordinator, at Lindenwood University. Before working with the Lions, Stark was a volunteer at the University of Minnesota-Duluth where he served two seasons as an assistant coach and was the program’s head recruiting coordinator

During his time at Lindenwood, Stark helped the Lions post a 55-33 record (.625) and earn a bid to the 2015 NCAA Division II Tournament. The Lions recorded at least 10 victories in four seasons. In 2019, Lindenwood matched the best start in program history at 5-0. After beginning the season unranked in the USILA poll, Lindenwood quickly elevated itself to the 10th-ranked team in NCAA Division II. The Lions ended the year as the 17th-ranked team in the country and recorded a 7-2 home record, the most single-season home wins in the program’s NCAA era.

Prior to the 2018 season, Stark was promoted to associate head coach of the Lions program. During the year, Lindenwood moved as high as No. 13 in the poll and ranked 25th nationally in scoring offense, averaging 11.69 goals per game. Under Stark’s leadership on the defensive side in 2017, Lindenwood ranked fourth in NCAA Division II in scoring defense after allowing 7.14 goals a game, which was also a new program record. During the 2016 season, Lindenwood ranked sixth in NCAA Division II in scoring defense at 7.73 and saw four all-conference selections.

In 2015, the team’s defensive performance in 2015 played a big role for the best season in program history. Stark’s defense ranked eighth in NCAA Division II in scoring defense. He helped defender Graeme Hossack earn All-American honors and ECAC Specialist of the Year honors. The Lions went 14-4, advanced to the ECAC Tournament Finals and reached the NCAA Division II Tournament for the first time in program history. In his first season at Lindenwood, Stark helped Hossack earn his first ECAC Specialist of the Year award.

Stark graduated from the University of Minnesota-Duluth with a bachelor's degree in business administration. As a player, Stark started his career at Minnesota-Duluth as an offensive midfielder, and finished it on the defensive side of the field as a long-stick midfielder. He graduated from Lindenwood with a master’s degree in communications with an emphasis in training and development in the spring of 2015.