FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Courtesy of USJ Athletics Communications

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - University of Saint Joseph (USJ) Athletic Director Bill Cardarelli has announced the hiring of Andrew Fink as the first-ever head men's lacrosse coach in University history. Fink, who comes to USJ after spending the previous 16 years at Mount Ida College, will immediately begin recruiting for the Blue Jays' inaugural men's lacrosse team set to take the field in the spring of 2020. Fink will also guide the USJ women's lacrosse team as the interim head coach for the spring 2019 season.

"We are very excited to welcome Coach Fink to the USJ family. He has shown great success in building and sustaining a program and has a winning mentality that is unparalleled," stated Cardarelli. "He brings a wealth of lacrosse experience and knowledge to USJ and we look forward to him getting started recruiting our future men's team and coaching our women's team this spring."

Men's lacrosse will be the fifth male sport added since the University made the decision to go coeducational in the summer of 2017. USJ will officially open its doors to male undergraduate students this fall and begin competing on the men's side in soccer, cross country, basketball, and swimming & diving.

"I am extremely honored to be given the opportunity to begin to lead the Blue Jay's lacrosse programs and continue to compete in the GNAC," said Fink. "I look forward to the challenge of building a men's program here at the University of Saint Joseph and am excited to immediately start coaching with the women's team this spring. I would like to thank Athletic Director Bill Cardarelli for this opportunity and I can't wait to get started."

Fink joins the Blue Jays after spending the previous 16 seasons at Mount Ida College, serving as the head men's lacrosse coach for the last 15. He has compiled an overall head coaching record of 171-91 and currently holds the record for most wins as a head coach in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) with 54 since the conference opened its doors to men's lacrosse in 2011.

While at Mount Ida, Fink led the Mustangs to eight conference championships, six in the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) and two in the GNAC. He is a four-time Coach of the Year earning the honor as NAC Coach of the Year in 2004 and 2010 and GNAC Coach of the Year in 2011 and 2015. Fink was also dubbed Mount Ida College's Coach of the Year twice, garnering the status by the Mustangs in 2009 and 2011. 

In 2017, Fink led the Mustangs to a 14-5 record, including an eight-game winning streak, and helped them reach the GNAC championship game for the fifth time in seven years since joining the league.

That game also marked the eleventh season in which Fink and the Mustangs appeared in their conference title game, as they made seven appearances in the NAC championship, winning six straight conference titles from 2004 and 2009. His 2007 NAC championship team, which earned the first NCAA tournament bid in program history, was inducted into the Mount Ida College Athletics Hall of Fame in 2014. 

While members of the NAC, Fink compiled a regular season conference record of 47-1 and began a streak of eight seasons in which he coached the team to double-digit victories, including a program-record 15 victories in 2012, when they repeated as GNAC champs in just their second year in the conference. 

Fink, whose teams have made four trips to the NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse tournament, played his college lacrosse at the University of Hartford, graduating in 2001 with a degree in communications from the College of Arts and Sciences. As a four-year varsity player and three-year starter, Fink played defense for the Hawks. In his junior campaign, the Hawks earned the American East Conference regular-season title.

Fink and his coaching staff presented for the ninth time at the U.S. Lacrosse National Convention in 2018, with previous topics including "Offense vs. Defense - Strategy and Adjustments", "Team Defense", "Man-Down Defense", and "Team Defense Playing Angles and Throwing Quality Checks" in Baltimore, Maryland. Fink and his staff's presentation at the 2018 convention in Baltimore was a field demonstration in conjunction with the Boston Storm of the United Women's Lacrosse League (UWLX), a team which he is the general manager of.

Working with Championship Productions, Coach Fink has also created a video titled "Building a High-Pressure Zone Defense," which utilizes his expansive knowledge of the game.

He is also the owner and operator of the Big 3 Lacrosse and Xcel Lacrosse.  Fink also skippers two travel teams and has traveled to Prague, Czech Republic, and Berlin, Germany with his international team to compete in the Prague Cup. 

A graduate of Rocky Hill High School in East Greenwich, R.I., Fink earned all-league and all-state honors in lacrosse.

Andrew and his wife Noelle reside in Cumberland, Rhode Island with daughter Micah and son, Meyer.