Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 11/14/19
From Press Release
Penn men’s lacrosse coach Mike Murphy, the 2019 Ivy League Coach of the Year, will be inducted into the Connecticut Lacrosse Hall of Fame as part of its 2019 induction class. The ceremony will take place Saturday, November 16 at Vazzano’s Four Seasons in Stratford, Conn.
The all-time winningest head coach in Penn Men’s Lacrosse history, Murphy has won 75 games over his 10 seasons with the Quakers. Overall as a head coach Murphy has 139 wins including his seven years leading the program at Haverford College.
This past season, Murphy guided the Quakers to their first Ivy League championship since 1988 and their first outright Ivy title since 1986. The Red and Blue tied the program record for wins in a season with 12 and achieved the highest national ranking in program history (No. 2) and won the Ivy League regular season and tournament championships in the same season for the first time in program history.
After a 6-0 Ivy League regular season – the first undefeated conference season for the Quakers since 1984 – the Red and Blue knocked off Brown and Yale to win the Ivy League Tournament and earn the No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The Quakers went on to defeat Army, 13-8, in the first round before falling to Yale in an epic overtime quarterfinal, 19-18. Along the way, Penn won 12 games in a row to tie the program record for longest winning streak.
A record seven Quakers were named USILA All-Americans in 2019, led by Sam Handley becoming the first freshman in program history to be named a first-team All-American. In addition, the Quakers had a record nine players named All-Ivy.
During his tenure as head coach at Penn, Murphy has coached 16 All-Americans, 50 All-Ivy selections, and three Ivy League Rookies of the Year.
Murphy attended Duke University, where he was a three-year starter (one as a long stick middie, two at closed defense) for the nationally ranked Blue Devils and captain of the 1991 team. He graduated with a degree in history and political science. Murphy also holds a master’s degree in higher education management from Penn, earned in May 2004. He was head coach at Haverford College before taking the job at Penn.
