BU men’s lacrosse head coach Ryan Polley has garnered two notable honors recently—he’s been named the 2017 Patriot League Coach of the Year by the league and 2017 New England Division I Coach of the Year by the New England Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association. The accolades follow a season that saw the Terriers earn their first conference postseason appearance, just four years after the program began.

“I’m very honored. We have unbelievable coaches in both these conferences,” Polley says. “It’s a great honor for the program. It just shows how far we’ve come and what a great season we had. I’m honored. I’m humbled.”

He is quick to credit his success to his players. “These things don’t happen without the team and the program having a great year. It’s a staff award, and it’s a team award,” he says. “I’m proud of the fact that I get the honor, but it’s just so much more than that.”

The Terriers have improved year by year over their four seasons. They finished this year’s conference schedule with a 5-3 record and the regular season at 12-5, setting program records for wins and losses, capped off by their first Patriot League tournament bid. BU defeated Lehigh in the playoff contest April 25 before falling to Army 10-7 in the semifinals three days later.

The men’s lacrosse program has improved each season under Polley. This year the Terriers collected 12 wins and earned their first Patriot League playoff appearance, taking down Lehigh at Nickerson Field in the tournament’s first game before falling to Army April 28. Photo by Rich Gagnon

Polley isn’t the only one singled out for recognition. Christian Carson-Banister (CGS’15, CAS’17) and Cal Dearth (SHA’17) were named Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association All-Americans; Carson-Banister made the third team and Dearth earned honorable mention. All-New England honors went to six Terriers. Dearth and Dominick Calisto (Questrom’17) were selected for the first team, and Carson-Banister, Jack Beall (Questrom’17), Brendan Homire (CGS’18), and Greg Wozniak (CGS’15, Questrom’17) were second team picks.

Polley says it’s particularly fitting that so many of this year’s honorees are seniors and have been with him since the program launched in fall 2014. “The senior class has put BU on the map. We’re now a nationally recognized program,” he says. “They’ve really established an unbelievable foundation on campus as far as the right way to do things, both on and off the field—socially, athletically, and academically. As far as the future, they’ve made this program and this opportunity better for people to come.”

“I’m extremely proud of what Ryan has accomplished, as he has built a nationally recognized program in a short amount of time,” says Drew Marrochello, BU vice president and director of athletics. “He has attracted a terrific group of young men to our campus that fit the fabric of Boston University, succeeding on the field, in the classroom, and in the community. I’m excited for the future of the men’s lacrosse program and hope to have Ryan here at BU for years to come.”

With a highly touted class of recruits scheduled to arrive in September, Polley and his upperclassmen are enthusiastic about what lies ahead.

“We’ve always kind of had a next-man-up mentality,” Jack Wilson (Questrom’18) says. “We always have another guy that’s willing to step up and make some big plays. That’s something we’re looking forward to… This year went pretty well, and we made another big step as a program. I think the sky’s the limit.”

Taylor Raglin can be reached at traglin@bu.edu.