Keith Bugbee
Elite 100 Field Director / Springfield College Head Coach
Keith Bugbee will enter his 33rd season as head men's lacrosse coach and assistant professor of physical education at Springfield College in 2016. Under his direction, the Pride is one of the top programs in the country. Bugbee's coaching record stands at an impressive 353-169 (.676 winning percentage).
Bugbee's teams have competed in 29 post-season tournaments, including 20 NCAA Tournaments, and won a national championship. Forty six of his players have received All-America recognition, including Bob Felt, who was voted the 1994 U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Division II Player of the Year.
Bugbee was named the USILA Division II Coach of the Year in 1994 and 1995. He coached the North team in the annual North-South All-Star Game in 1995 and was the coach for the West squad in the annual New England All-Star Game in 1986. Bugbee served as president of the New England Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association and was inducted into the New England Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2002.
Bugbee became just the seventh coach in NCAA men's lacrosse history to reach the 300 career win milestone after he bested Mass. Maritime, 21-4, on April 23, 2011. The following Saturday, Bugbee's squad toppled MIT, 15-5, bringing Bugbee's win total to 301 as he passed legendary coach Dick Garber for the most wins in New England Lacrosse history.
Springfield captured its eighth-straigh conference championship in 2015 when it defeated Babson College, 13-7, and advanced to play SUNY Cortland in the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship Tournament for the fourth time in the past eight years. At season's end, senior midfielderBryce Serriello and senior attackman Dylan Sheehan garnered USILA Honorable Mention All-America honors.
The 2014 season proved to be one for the record books, as the Pride totaled 15 wins, the second most in program history. Behind the play of two-time conference player of the year Ryon Lynch, the Pride won a NCAA First Round game on Stagg Field over crosstown rival Western New England, 19-13, in front of 2,500 fans.
In 2013, the Pride remained champions of the Pilgrim League for the sixth time in a row and returned to the NCAA tournament. Bugbee won Pilgrim League Coach of the Year honors and Ryon Lynch was selected as the Pilgrim Player of the Year.
In 2012, the Pride was anchored by three All-America selections in Shane Ferguson, Mike Delia, and Robert Maher. Springfield spent the majority of the season ranked in the USILA National Coaches Poll and finished the year with a 14-4 record, marking just the third time in 62 years that Springfield totaled at least 14 victories. The Pride lost in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament in a memorable 13-12 overtime clash at Stevens.
For for the fourth-straight season and 10th time overall, Springfield won the Pilgrim League Championship in 2011. Led the two-time Pilgrim League Player of the Year, Mark Eaton, Springfield went 11-6 on the season before bowing out to Endicott in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
In 2010, Springfield hoisted its' ninth overall Pilgrim League Championship trophy, and third-consecutive title. The Pride hosted Widener in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, and won by the score of 7-1. Springfield's season came to a close in the second round of the national tournament at Salisbury State, who would finish the year as the national runner-up. Eight players were selected Pilgrim League All-Conference squad, including Springfield's third-straight Pilgrim League Player of the Year in Mark Eaton.
The 2009 campaign resulted in the Pride capturing its eighth Pilgrim League crown. Earning a home game in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, the Pride made light work of Mount Ida, winning by a 21-4 count. Going up against the eventual NCAA National Champion Cortland State, the Pride's comeback fell short as it lost, 15-12. The Pride landed eight players on the All-Pilgrim squad, including the Pilgrim League Player of the Year Jake Beebe and Rookie of the Year, Mike Delia.
The 2008 season saw the Pride cruise through Pilgrim League play undefeated en route to winning the program's seventh Pilgrim League crown. Earning a home game in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, Bugbee's troops dispatched Kean, 17-2, before fighting valiantly in a 12-9 loss to eventual national-runner up, Cortland State, in the second round. The Pride were led by eight All-Pilgrim honorees, including Chris Sharpe, who was tabbed the Player of the Year.
In 2007, Springfield advanced to the championship game of the Pilgrim Lacrosse League for the eighth consecutive year. Seven Springfield lacrosse players earned All-Pilgrim League recognition in 2007, including Rookie of the Year Joe Heney.
After starting off the 2006 campaign slowly, recording a 2-3 mark in its first five games, the Pride responded by rattling off victories in 11 of its next 12 games, which included an eight-game winning streak. Springfield captured its fourth-straight Pilgrim League Tournament title, beating WNEC for the championship in a double-overtime thriller, 12-11. In doing so, the Pride earned its 11th berth in the NCAA Tournament. Springfield's season unfortunately ended with a second-round loss in the NCAA Division III Tournament at Middlebury College.
In 2004 and 2005, the Pride clinched back-to-back Pilgrim Lacrosse League titles and reached the NCAA Tournament. In 2005, Springfield won 12 consecutive games, including a pair of victories in the Pilgrim League Championship, before ending its season against Wesleyan in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
The Pride finished the 2004 season with the nation’s fifth-ranked scoring offense (14.53 goals/game) and rolled to an 8-0 mark against league competition, including a pair of wins in the conference tournament. Making the program’s seventh appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament, Springfield fell at Stevens Institute of Technology, 8-4, in a second-round match-up. Two of Bugbee's stars, Paul Purdy and Taylor Brown, were named honorable mention All-Americans, and Purdy was tabbed the Player of the Year in the Pilgrim League.
In 2003, Bugbee was named the Pilgrim League Coach of the Year after leading the Pride to an 11-5 record and the NCAA tournament. Springfield fell at eventual national runner-up Middlebury College, 11-9, in a second-round game.
In 2001, Bugbee led Springfield to a school-record 16-2 mark and a No. 5 final national ranking. The Pride defeated Eastern Connecticut State, 11-9, in a first-round NCAA Tournament game played on Benedum Field, before falling at No.1-ranked Gettysburg (Pa.), 16-12. Springfield led the nation in scoring (17.78 gpg) and scoring margin (+11.67 gpg) while winning its second consecutive Pilgrim League Championship. Springfield, which was ranked as high as No. 3 nationally, had six players named All-American, including former Boston Cannons goalie Jeremy Platt.
In 2000, the Pride finished the season ranked No. 20 after falling in overtime at RIT, 13-12, in the first round of the NCAA Division III Tournament. Springfield was ranked No. 12 in 1999 after compiling a 12-5 record. Springfield finished 12-4 in 1998 and captured its second ECAC Division III Championship. The Pride also won ECAC Championships in 1989, 1993 and 2002.
In 1994, Springfield captured the NCAA Division II National Championship with a 15-12 victory over New York Institute of Technology to finish with a 12-2 record. The following year, Springfield compiled a 13-1 mark with its only loss coming against Adelphi, 12-10, in the NCAA Division II Championship title game.
Bugbee is a 1979 graduate of Keene State (N.H.) College where he lettered in lacrosse and soccer while earning his bachelor’s degree in physical education. He received his master’s degree in physical education from Springfield College.