Oneonta Sports Information Department
SUNY Oneonta Director of Athletics Tracey Ranieri has announced that Brandi Lusk has been selected as the new head coach of the women's lacrosse program. Lusk becomes the 12th head coach in the history of the program that started in the spring of 1974.
Lusk is no stranger to the area having grown up in East Springfield and attending Cherry Valley-Springfield High School. Lusk also returns to the SUNYAC where she enjoyed success as the head coach of both the field hockey and lacrosse programs at Oswego State for eight years collecting a combined 103 wins. She most recently was the head lacrosse coach at Hartwick College where she spent the past two years.
"I am very excited for this opportunity to work at SUNY Oneonta and be a part of the women's lacrosse program," said Lusk. "Oneonta is coming off a winning season and has a solid foundation in place from which to continue to build upon for even more success moving forward. This will be an exciting new beginning that I think the players and myself will be very happy to be a part of!"
While at Hartwick, Lusk guided the Hawks to back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in over a decade including an 8-6 record this past spring. In 2017, her first season with the Hawks, she guided the squad to a 10-6 mark. In addition to her duties as head coach, Lusk also served as the coordinator of physical education and advisor to the Student Athlete Advisory Committee.
Under Lusk's tutelage seven individuals earned All-Empire 8 honors while the program earned academic honors from both the Empire 8 and the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association earning a team GPA of over 3.0.
While at Oswego, Lusk was responsible for recruiting, budget planning, practice planning, game scheduling, tactical preparation, fundraising, monitoring grades and team building for both Laker lacrosse and field hockey programs.
In 2016, she guided her lacrosse team to one of the most successful seasons in program history, tying a program record with 12 victories to go along with its first SUNYAC playoff appearance since 2005. The win total included a 13-12 upset of nationally ninth-ranked Brockport in the regular season finale.
Lusk's Oswego athletes earned 33 All-Conference selections, three SUNYAC Rookie of the Year awards, three All-Regions selections, and one athlete was named an IWLCA All-American.
As the head coach for HCCC in 2007, Lusk guided the Hawks to an appearance in the regional championship game while earning a berth to the NJCAA national tournament where the team placed third. That spring, she was selected as NJCAA Region Coach of the Year.
As a student-athlete, Lusk attended HCCC, where she played lacrosse for two seasons in 2004 and 2005. She was a member of the school's inaugural women's lacrosse season and helped the Generals to a 12-1 record the following season. She was a two-time NJCAA Academic All-American, a two-time NJCAA All-Tournament Team pick, named the HCCC Female Athlete of the Year, as well as a SUNY Chancellor's Scholar Athlete.
Lusk graduated from Herkimer with an Associate degree in Science majoring in Physical Education. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Education in May 2007 from SUNY Cortland and earned her master's degree in Science and Education from SUNY Cortland in 2010.
