Women's Lacrosse Release (2005) - Grosso Hired - Guilford College

Greensboro, NC -- Matthew Grosso was named Guilford College's head women's lacrosse coach Tuesday by Athletic Director Marion Kirby. Grosso will also serve as Guilford's assistant sports information director and replaces Tara Caminiti-Raggett, who resigned the lacrosse post May 31 after four seasons.

The ninth head coach in Guilford's women's lacrosse history, Grosso joins the Quakers after serving as an assistant women's lacrosse coach at Goucher College from 1999-2004. He assumed head coaching duties on an interim basis two games into the 2003 campaign when head coach Kara Carlin took a maternity leave. The Gophers went 5-9 under Grosso in 2003 and compiled a 47-36 mark in his five seasons. Goucher's 2004 club went 12-5 and finished the year ranked 14th in the final Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association NCAA Division III poll. Grosso also helped Goucher's 2001 squad to a 14th-place national ranking and a 14-4 overall record. The 2001 Gophers led NCAA Division III in scoring and draw controls. In addition to his coaching duties, Grosso coordinated the Chesapeake Bay Lacrosse Challenge Tournament from 2001-04 and aided Goucher's athletic department as a fitness trainer, writer, public address announcer and equipment manager.

Grosso gained his first head coaching experience in 1999 at Trinity College in Washington, DC. The Tigers managed only a 3-13 record, but Grosso received the Atlantic Women's Colleges Conference Coach of the Year Award for his efforts with an undermanned club. He took the Trinity job after a year as a volunteer assistant coach for George Mason's nationally ranked women's lacrosse unit, where he worked primarily with the goalkeepers.

Raised in Springfield, VA, Grosso graduated from nearby George Mason in 1997 with his bachelor's degree in historic architecture and cultural archaeology. While in college he coached the George C. Marshall High School varsity girls' lacrosse team and helped the squad to a 21-21 record and two regional playoff appearances in three years. He directed the school's junior varsity team in 1994 before assuming head coaching duties in 1995, the program's fourth year. The 1996 club reached the state quarterfinals.

Grosso earned his master's degree in athletic program leadership and administration from Goucher in December, 2003. He has spent nine years as a scholastic and collegiate women's lacrosse official and has a District rating from US Lacrosse.

Guilford posted a 4-9 overall record in 2004 and advanced to the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Tournament for the third time in four years. The Quakers expect seven letter winners back in 2005.