Steve Beville begins his sixth season as Cortland's men's lacrosse head coach in 2012. He led the Red Dragons to the NCAA Division III championship game in each of his first three seasons, including a national title in 2009. He also guided Cortland to the national semifinals in 2010 and the quarterfinals in 2011. In both of those seasons, the Red Dragons led Division III nationally in goals-against average.
Beville was selected as the 2009 United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Division III National Coach of the Year as his team won the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) tournament title and established a new school record for victories during a 19-2 campaign. Cortland won four NCAA tournament games, capped by a 9-7 victory over Gettysburg in the national title game in Foxborough, Mass.
In 2008, Beville's squad finished 18-2 and won SUNYAC tournament and regular-season titles. He was selected as the SUNYAC Coach of the Year, and his Red Dragons defeated Springfield, Middlebury and Ithaca in the NCAA playoffs before falling to Salisbury in the national title game in Foxborough.
In his first season at Cortland in 2007, Beville guided the Red Dragons to a 15-6 mark and a SUNYAC regular-season crown. Cortland earned an at-large NCAA berth that spring and won three road NCAA games versus St. Lawrence, Western New England and Wesleyan. The Red Dragons lost to Salisbury in the championship game in Baltimore.
Beville earned SUNYAC Coach of the Year honors for the second time during the 2010 season. Cortland finished 17-3, including a 16-game winning streak, and won the league tournament and regular-season titles. The Red Dragons also won NCAA games versus Keene State and RIT before losing by a goal to eventual national champion Tufts in the semifinals. In 2011, Cortland finished 16-3, won the SUNYAC title 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 27 All-America honors at Cortland. Among those were 2010 Div. III National Player of the Year and 2011 Div. III Midfielder of the Year Chris DeLuca, 2010 Div. III Specialty Player of the Year Tom Burke (short-stick defensive midfielder), 2008 Div. III National Attackman of the Year Ryan Heath, who was drafted by the Long Island Lizards of Major League Lacrosse, and 2008 Div. III Specialty Player of the Year Josh Cittadino (faceoff specialist).
Beville brought 18 years of head coaching experience to Cortland, including eight seasons at Division I Vermont. His overall coaching record of 233-127 includes an 85-16 (.842) record at Cortland and 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.
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.
A 2010 inductee into the U.S. Lacrosse Upstate New York Hall of Fame, Beville and his wife, Jackie, have two daughters – Elizabeth and Lauren.
