Saint Vincent College has announced that Carl Haas has been named the new head coach of the Bearcat men's lacrosse team.

Haas, a native of Fairfax, VA, spent the 2009 season as the head assistant for the Bearcats, working primarily with the team's  defense in addition to being responsible for recruiting, weight training and conditioning, and academic oversight.

Prior to coming to Saint Vincent, Haas spent five seasons as assistant coach at perennial Division-III lacrosse powerhouse Roanoke College, where he helped guide the team to a 63-22 cumulative record during his tenure, earning two Old Dominion Athletic Conference championships and three trips to the NCAA Division-III National Tournament.  He began his career in 2003 as an assistant coach at Saint Andrew's Presbyterian College in North Carolina.   

Haas played collegiately at Division-I Virginia Military Institute, earning four letters and serving as a two-year captain, while being named to the Southern Conference Academic Honor Roll.

Haas succeeds Peter Tulk at Saint Vincent, who announced his retirement as the Bearcats' head coach following the 2009 season after a 10-year tenure.

The new head coach is extremely eager to begin his new position.   

"I'm thrilled for this opportunity," Haas said, "and I'm extremely appreciative of Saint Vincent College, and especially of Coach Tulk, for giving me this chance."

The Bearcats finished the 2009 campaign with a 5-9 record, but had an extremely young roster, with 20 of the team's 29 players sophomores or younger.   The squad lost four games by fewer than three goals, including a pair of one-goal setbacks, while it also faced a trio of teams the ended up playing in the NCAA postseason. 

"I'm excited about the future of this team," Haas said, "and I look to continue what we started last year, which was to continually compete and improve.  It's no doubt that our prospects for 2010 and beyond are extremely bright."

A number of Bearcat youngsters had impressive seasons in 2009, highlighted by freshman Will DeLanoy, who set a team record for points in a season by a freshman, tallying 36 goals and 27 assists.  The 73 points were also good for the third highest total in a single season by any player in program history.  In all, the team is slated to return its five leading scorers from 2009.  

"We had a number of young players have outstanding seasons," Haas said.  "We're looking forward to see them continue to progress."

Tulk finished his career as the winningest coach in the program's history, compiling an overall record of 70-58, highlighted by a three-year stretch between 2003 and 2005 in which the team went a combined 29-8.