PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State Department of Intercollegiate Athletics has announced the addition of women's lacrosse as its 18th varsity sport on Tuesday afternoon.
 
The Cardinals will begin NCAA Division III competition in 2018-19 and will compete in the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC). Plattsburgh State's addition of women's lacrosse means that all 10 SUNYAC schools will now sponsor the sport. The rest of the SUNYAC includes The College at Brockport, Buffalo State, SUNY Cortland, Fredonia, SUNY Geneseo, SUNY New Paltz, SUNY Oneonta, Oswego State and SUNY Potsdam.
 
"I am beyond thrilled to make this announcement today," said Plattsburgh State director of athletics Mike Howard. "The addition of women´s lacrosse has been a point of discussion for many years here at Plattsburgh and was certainly high on my list of priorities when I accepted this position as the director of athletics in June. This program complements all of our existing programs extremely well and positions us well as we look to expand our recruiting footprint throughout the entire Northeast. The sport of lacrosse is quickly becoming one of the fastest-growing sports on the high school level, and I am hopeful that this program, similar to all of our other Cardinal teams, will play a key leadership role in the continued growth of the game at the youth and high school level in our region. It also provides a tremendous opportunity for young women who are looking seriously at SUNY Plattsburgh and are passionate about continuing to play the sport they love. It's a win-win situation for all of us."
 
According to the 2015-16 NCAA Sports Sponsorship and Participation Rates Report, women's lacrosse has seen the largest rise in sponsorship among any sport at the Division III level over the course of the past 10 years, seeing a 78 percent increase from 2005-06 to 2015-16. During that span, 120 new programs have been added.
 
This marks the first addition of a sport at Plattsburgh State since baseball was reintroduced in 2001 and began its first spring of competition this millennium in 2002.
 
"SUNY Plattsburgh is excited to be adding a women's lacrosse team to our line-up of sports for the 2018-19 academic year," said SUNY Plattsburgh vice president for student affairs Bryan Hartman. "This addition builds upon our strong tradition in Cardinal Athletics of providing student-athletes a well-rounded experience focused on success in the classroom, on the playing field and through leadership and service opportunities. This decision also helps the institution as a whole by bringing students for the Plattsburgh Experience that otherwise would have attended elsewhere."
 
The team will utilize the Field House Complex as its facility for both practices and home games. The state-of-the-art field, which is lighted, has a sand and rubber mixture, topped with plastic blades of grass, providing consistent playability, superior durability and traction. It also serves as the home facility for men's and women's soccer as well as men's lacrosse.
 
Plattsburgh State has a tradition of athletic excellence with eight national team titles and 55 conference team titles in the history of the department. The Cardinals most recently have won four consecutive national championships in women's ice hockey from 2014-17.
 
SUNY Plattsburgh boasts an undergraduate enrollment of 5,377 and offers more than 60 degree programs within three academic schools. Located in the heart of the scenic Champlain Valley, Plattsburgh is an hour's drive from Montreal, Quebec, Lake Placid, N.Y., and Burlington, Vt., and the region provides students with rich recreational and cultural experiences.
 
On the women's side, Plattsburgh State currently sponsors basketball, cross country, ice hockey, indoor track and field, outdoor track and field, soccer, softball, tennis and volleyball. On the men's side, Plattsburgh State currently sponsors baseball, basketball, cross country, ice hockey, indoor track and field, lacrosse, outdoor track and field and soccer.
 
A national search for the program's head coach will be conducted in June.