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MARCH 7, 2025 | composed by STEVE ULRICH

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Headlines
Stevenson Renames Mustang Classic to Honor Former Standout
Growth For DIII Women’s Lacrosse Lags Behind Men
Springfield’s Quirk Looks to Have Impact Like Father
Looking Ahead to the Weekend

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TOP STORY
1. Stevenson University Renames Mustang Classic Lacrosse Tournament and Honors Callum Robinson

“Stevenson University is proud to announce that its prestigious lacrosse tournament, known as the Mustang Classic, will officially become the Callum Robinson Mustang Classic to honor the life and legacy of former lacrosse standout and Stevenson University alumnus, Callum Robinson. This pays tribute to Robinson's exceptional achievements as a student-athlete, a leader, and impactful member of the Stevenson University community.

In recognition of his outstanding career, Robinson will also be inducted into the Dick Watts Hall of Fame to honor his remarkable contributions both on and off the field during his time as a Mustang.

Robinson graduated from Stevenson in 2015 and became one of the most accomplished players in program history. A key contributor to the Mustangs' NCAA National Championship title in 2013, Robinson's dedication, skill, and leadership continued to shine throughout his career. In addition to his national championship, Robinson was named a USILA First Team All-American, Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Men's Lacrosse Scholar Athlete of the Year and was later drafted by the Chesapeake Bayhawks of the Major Lacrosse League (MLL). His exceptional lacrosse talent was accompanied by his dedication to excellence in academics, where he was also a standout student.”

» What They’re Saying. “Callum was a larger-than-life person with a superhero persona that summarized everything Stevenson and Division III athletics stands for: Family, hard work, accountability, toughness, and a competitive fire to be successful," said Head Coach Paul Cantabene. "He showed all Division III student-athletes that you don't have to be a Division I student-athlete to make it to the pros or go to a Division I school to impact our society. Callum did all that and represented all Division III student-athletes with the highest integrity.”

» Why It Matters. “The Callum Robinson Mustang Classic will be officially marking the first step in celebrating his legacy during the 2025 tournament. The renaming of the tournament and the Hall of Fame induction are part of Stevenson University's ongoing efforts to honor his outstanding life, career, and contributions to the Mustang Community.”

» Read More

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ANALYSIS
2. Growth Within DIII Women’s Lacrosse Lags Behind Men’s Teams

by Steve Dittmore

“Just as I did last week with Division III men’s lacrosse, I used publicly available filings with the Office of Postsecondary Education’s Equity in Athletics Data Analysis (EADA) tool to identify possible growth within NCAA Division III women’s lacrosse programs. Similar to the men’s side, the data observed shows growth in the sport across all measures, however, the magnitude of this growth pales in comparison to the increase in the men’s ranks. 

To assess this, I compared the 2018-19 academic year (2019 season) and the 2022-23 academic year (2023 season) as it is the most recent filing. Data from the 2020 COVID season is skewed as operating expenses were considerably less due to canceled games. So, this is as close a pre-COVID look as we can get. 

Specifically, I looked at three pieces of data for this analysis: average roster size, average operating expense per participant, and the average operating expense per team. Operating expenses are defined in the EADA report as: “all expenses an institution incurs attributable to home, away, and neutral-site intercollegiate athletic contests (commonly known as "game-day expenses"), for (A) Lodging, meals, transportation, uniforms, and equipment for coaches, team members, support staff (including, but not limited to team managers and trainers), and others; and (B) Officials.” In other words, nearly everything but coach salaries and athletic-related aid.

The data is in the table below.

Multiplying the number of teams in each season by the average roster size reveals an overall increase in participation of 238.77 total women’s participants from the 2019 to 2023 seasons. Recall that we observed growth on the men’s side of 707.34 total players during the same time period.

Roster size on women’s teams in 2019 ranged from 11 (n=2 schools) to 37 (n=1). In 2023, roster size ranged from a low of 12 (n=4) to a high of 43 (n=1). Thirty-three schools reported 30 or more athletes on their roster in 2023, compared to just 23 in 2019. Recall that men’s teams averaged more than 36 players in 2023, with 39 schools reporting more than 50 on the roster.

A participation statistic that jumped out was the standard deviation for the number of participants. In 2023, men’s teams (N=240) averaged 36.38 participants with a standard deviation of 11.76 while women’s teams (N=272) averaged 21.97 participants with standard deviation of 5.94. Roughly 95 percent of all observations should occur within +/- two standard deviations of the average.

With 240 men’s teams, the finding would suggest 228 (95%) of men’s teams should have between 12 and 60 participants (equivalent to +/- two standard deviations). Instead, we observed just 1.3 percent of programs (n=3) fell outside of this range, all with greater than 60 participants.

With 272 women’s teams, the finding would suggest 258 (95%) of women’s teams should have between 10 and 34 participants (equivalent to +/- two standard deviations). Obviously, 10 is too few to field a team. What we observed was 3.3 percent of programs (n=9) fell outside the range, all with greater than 34 participants.

Given that men’s teams had roster size variance in 2023 from 12 to 66, we could reasonably expect a larger number of outliers than on the women’s side, but that is not what was observed. In fact the mode (most frequently observed response) for women’s teams was 16 participants with 24 observations. The second-most frequently observed response was 17 participants with 23 observations. 

The one area where women’s lacrosse exceeds the men’s game was in operating expenses per participant. Overall operating expenses are, of course, far higher on the men’s side due to the substantially larger roster sizes. Consider the table below: 

Operating expenses per team in 2019 ranged from just $4,212 (n=1) on the low end, to $124,929 (n=1) on the high end. In 2023, the low range of operating expenses per team was $8,561 (n=1) with a high end of $150,074 (n=1).

In 2019, five schools (compared to 17 on the men’s side) spent greater than $100,000 in operating expenses on men’s lacrosse. In 2023, 17 schools (compared to 44 on the men’s side) spent more than $100,000.

FEATURE
3. Kaden Quirk Is Looking to Leave An Impact on Springfield Lacrosse, Just Like His Father

by Sam MacGilpin, Springfield Student

“Kaden Quirk always felt a connection to Springfield College. His father, Sean, played lacrosse for the Pride — and won a national championship — under longtime coach Keith Bugbee. He heard his dad talk about the importance of the “tight-knit family” at Springfield. The Quirks even played the same position, goalie, but Kaden’s path to Springfield was distinctive from his dad’s.

Sean was a highly successful collegiate coach with Endicott College from 1998 to 2015, where he racked up the 16th best winning percentage in Division III lacrosse history, and an astounding .918 winning percentage in conference play. Sean would later become the coach of the Boston Cannons, a team in the Major Lacrosse league when he was hired, and eventually became the Premier Lacrosse League in 2019. His son Kaden was around lacrosse from a young age, and the time around the game and college players later influenced his decisions.”

» Field Awareness. “Kaden didn’t start in goal to begin his playing career. He started off playing attack — the position he closely watched the Endicott student-athletes play. Kaden played attack from first to fourth grade but switched to goalie in fifth grade. The decision to switch positions was his alone.”

» Between The Lines. “As the years went by, it became clear that Kaden had made the right decision regarding sport and position. Kaden was a standout goalie for St. John’s Prep High School, and was named an All-American in 2021. Kaden committed to St. John’s University, a Division I program, in early 2020.”

» Reality Check. After that season, Kaden decided to transfer. “Sean also wanted to be a support network through Kaden’s transfer stage and was pleased to hear his son wanted to play on the same field that he once roamed. “In the back of my head, to see him play on Stagg Field and study at Springfield would be pretty special,” Sean said.”

» Go Deeper

AROUND THE NATION (M)
4. Looking at the Weekend

The most anticipated game of the weekend takes place on the Eastern Shore as #2 Salisbury squares off against #4 Wesleyan. Two of DIII’s top middies will be on display in the Sea Gulls’ Brice Bromwell and Wesleyan’s CK Giancola. Two other top-12 games are on tap, as #7 Bowdoin heads to Vermont to tangle with #12 Middlebury, and #9 Gettysburg travels to Virginia to meet #11 Washington and Lee.

AROUND THE NATION (W)
5. Looking at the Weekend

The DIII women’s weekend schedule has some treats in store with four contests involving teams in the USA Lacrosse top-20. #3 Tufts travels to Connecticut to face #16 Trinity, while #5 Salisbury crosses the Mason-Dixon line to tangle with #4 Gettysburg. #13 Stevens heads across the GWB into the Nutmeg State to meet #10 Wesleyan and #20 York makes the trip down I-81 to Lexington to play #6 Washington and Lee.

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