Steve Beville begins his 15th season as Cortland's men's lacrosse head coach in 2021. He has led the Red Dragons to the NCAA Division III championship game four times, with a national title victory in 2009, and also guided Cortland to the national semifinals in both 2013 and 2010, the quarterfinals in 2011, 2014, 2015 and 2017, and the second round in 2016, 2018 and 2019.
Beville's record in 14 seasons at Cortland (including an abbreviated season in 2020) is an impressive 218-49 (.816). He guided the Red Dragons to undefeated regular-season records in both 2012 (21-1 overall) and 2013 (19-1 overall), as well as a 19-2 overall record during Cortland's 2009 national championship season. He was selected as the 2009 United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Division III National Coach of the Year after his team won four NCAA tournament games, capped by a 9-7 victory over Gettysburg in the national title game in Foxborough, Mass.
Beville is Cortland's career victory leader with his 218 wins. He brought 18 years of head coaching experience to Cortland, including eight seasons at Division I Vermont. His overall coaching record of 366-160 includes a 100-49 mark in 10 seasons at Colorado College. His Colorado College teams were ranked in the top 25 of Division III seven times and defeated Division I rival Air Force three times. They also had a 100 percent graduation rate and featured the first three All-Americans in school history. During the 2015 season, Beville became the 14th NCAA coach in all divisions, and the fourth in Division III, to reach the career 300-win mark. Through the 2019 season he ranked fourth all-time among Division III coaches and seventh among coaches on all NCAA levels in career victories.
In Beville's 14 years at Cortland, the Red Dragons have won 11 of a possible 13 State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) titles (2008-16, 2018-19) and have made 13 of a possible 13 NCAA tournament appearances. Beville has been named SUNYAC Coach of the Year seven times (2008, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019).
The Red Dragons broke the school record for wins in a season with their 19 victories in 2009, then broke the mark again with their 21 wins in 2012. Cortland advanced to the NCAA championship game in 2012 before losing to Salisbury in a battle of unbeaten teams in Foxborough. In 2013, Cortland finished 19-1, with its lone loss an overtime home setback to RIT in the national semifinals. The Red Dragons advanced to the national quarterfinals in 2014 (17-4 record), 2015 (16-5 record) and 2017 (17-3 record), with two NCAA playoff wins each season, and won an NCAA game in 2016 before falling in the second round to tie for ninth nationally.
Cortland earned a bye into the NCAA second round in 2018 and lost at eventual national champion Wesleyan to tie for 17th nationally. The Red Dragons also tied for 17th nationally in 2019 with a first-round bye and second-round loss.
Beville led Cortland to the national finals in his first two seasons in 2007 and 2008. The 2007 squad, which finished 15-6, earned an NCAA at-large berth and won three NCAA road games before losing to Salisbury in the finals in Baltimore. The 2008 team finished 18-2 and won three NCAA games at home. The Red Dragons lost to Salisbury in the finals in Foxborough.
In 2010, Cortland finished 17-3, including NCAA wins versus Keene State and RIT before losing by a goal to eventual national champion Tufts in the semifinals. In 2011, Cortland finished 16-3 and advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals with a second-round win over Stevens Institute before falling to Tufts by a goal.
Beville's players have earned 72 All-America honors at Cortland. Among those were 2010 Division III National Player of the Year and 2011 Division III Midfielder of the Year Chris DeLuca, 2010 Division III Specialty Player of the Year Tom Burke (short-stick defensive midfielder), 2008 Division III National Attackman of the Year Ryan Heath, who was drafted by the Long Island Lizards of Major League Lacrosse, and 2008 Division III Specialty Player of the Year Josh Cittadino (faceoff specialist).
The Iroquois Nationals men's lacrosse team named Beville as its head coach for the Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) World Championships in Denver in July 2014. He led the team to its first-ever medal with a bronze finish at the 38-nation event. Beville also served as an assistant coach on the 2012 Iroquois Nationals U19 (under-19) squad that won a bronze medal at the World Championships in Finland. During that tournament, the team upset Team USA for its first-ever win versus an American team in international competition.
A native of Syracuse, N.Y., Beville graduated from West Genesee High School in 1981 and went on to enjoy a highly successful playing career at Washington College in Maryland. He was a two-time Division III National Defenseman of the Year and played in three Division III national championship games.
Beville served as an assistant coach at Washington College in 1986 and 1987 and the team reached the national title contest in 1986. He was inducted into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2002.
During his tenure at Vermont, Beville served on the Division I All-America selection committee (nine years total) and the NCAA playoff advisory committee, and was a voter on the national Division I poll. He was also a member of the U.S. National Team selection committee in 1998 and 2002. Beville coached in the North-South Senior All-Star Game in both 1997 and 2004, served six years on the Division III All-America selection committee and was a member of the Division III national championship advisory committee in 1997 and 1998.
Beville was a 2010 inductee into the U.S. Lacrosse Upstate New York Hall of Fame. His daughter, Liz, was a former Cortland women's lacrosse player and assistant coach and is currently the head coach at Le Moyne College.
