Crandall appointed lacrosse head coach

The CSB Athletics Department has hired head coach Patrick Crandall for the new varsity lacrosse team for the 2022-23 season.

Athletic director Kelly Anderson-Dierks was looking for someone who could be adaptable, resilient, and understand the DIII college athlete experience and what it means to be a student-athlete.

With a new varsity lacrosse team, Anderson-Diercks was also looking for someone to help build up a new program.

“[I was looking for] someone who had an entrepreneurial spirit and saw the amazing potential of the CSB lacrosse program and believed it could be something special in a very short amount of time,” Anderson-Dierks said.

Crandall checked all of those boxes.

Crandall comes with many years of experience as a head coach, coaching at Lakeville South High School since 2011 and working as head director of the Premier Team for True Minnesota lacrosse.

“We are thrilled to welcome him to the staff,” Anderson-Diercks said.

Crandall has high hopes for the start of the varsity team.

“One of my first goals for this program is to initiate development of a culture within CSB athletics. Building that foundational level culture is extremely important to me for immediate and sustainable success,” Crandall said.

He also noted that creating relevancy as an academic-athletic program and in the community is something he is working towards as the program progresses.

“My goal is to help develop student-athletes that are leaders in those three areas immediately and consistently,” Crandall said.

With the creation of a new varsity team, players must be recruited to join.

Currently, Coach Crandall is working to recruit prospective lacrosse student-athletes.

He will be utilizing coaching networks and sitting in on games or tournaments to evaluate players who could potentially compete at a DIII level.

“I look forward to continuing this process with the recruiting really heating up this spring and summer,” Crandall said.

As for current club lacrosse players, meetings will be made to further discuss potentially switching from a club to a varsity level.

Current club athlete Clair Moonen expressed her excitement to try out for the new varsity team.

“I’m pretty sure I will be trying out for the varsity team. If not, I will for sure continue playing club,” Moonen said.

Moonen also expressed gratitude that the sport is getting the exposure, funding and fans it deserves.

The first season of the new lacrosse team will begin in the spring of 2023, but the club team will continue to play.

Both will see a myriad of new and previous opponents, given the varsity team’s acceptance into the Midwest Lacrosse Conference (MWLC).

Regardless of opponents, both incoming players and administration are excited to see this new program grow and evolve into a prominent force on campus.

“Any [varsity] matchup will be historic so I am excited to see the program build,” Moonen said.

Crandall has much to accomplish upon his arrival to CSB.

“I am most excited to be a part of this great institution and to begin the process of working with the student- athletes, developing relationships and building a highly successful and competitive lacrosse program.”