31 Years Later, Jim Murphy Leads Bentley into the NCAA Tournament

Jim Murphy has been the only head coach of the Bentley men’s lacrosse team since the program’s inception in 1993. He’s amassed 227 career victories, won seven Northeast-10 Coach of the Year awards and captured three NE-10 championships.

One thing missing from his resume was leading a team the NCAA tournament, but it was not something that he worried much about.

“It’s been an honor to be with this school, never mind the program,” he said. “It’s a lot of hours, but I wouldn’t trade a day or second of it. It’s not always sunny and 70 [degrees] like it is today, but I’ll tell you one thing, I wouldn’t want to be any place else.”

The future was a little cloudy Saturday evening after the team fell short of winning the NE-10 title. Sunday night, the team was together in a room off the side of the basketball court with the video wall down and trays of chicken parmigiana and ziti served.

The Falcons weren’t sure they would earn a bid. Murphy figured that whatever the result was, they should all be together; they were either going to celebrate the milestone moment in program history or console each other in the face of disappointment and enjoy one last moment together as a team.

When the bracket was revealed, Bentley had earned the fourth seed. It will host a game in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Murphy couldn’t help but smile.

“That smile on my face,” he said, “really confirmed the fact that every bit of my life and second I put into this was worth it for them.”

In 2022, Bentley finished 8-6 with a loss to Adelphi in the NE-10 semifinals. Coming into 2023, senior captain Luke Jaber said the team made a goal to win the conference tournament for the first time since 1998.

The team had lofty expectations, but it was what happened in a loss that convinced both Jaber and junior Cam Bartolomeo this team could get over the hump and accomplish something it never had before.

“Once we came back after that Le Moyne game, and we realized it was 12-10, and they were number one in the country,” Bartolomeo said, “I think the entire team can kind of feel an energy of we could hang with the big dogs, and not just hang with them; we could beat them, and then, again, that’s when we went on our streak, and I really think that loss kind of fueled us.”

After the team’s close loss to Le Moyne, Bentley won each of its next five games, including two wins over conference rival Adelphi.

Adelphi has consistently given Bentley trouble. Prior to this year, the Panthers owned a 24-1 record over the Falcons all-time; you have to go back to 2009 for the lone Bentley victory in the series.

The first meeting of 2023 was another close matchup. The Panthers were ahead 11-10 with 6:46 remaining, but the Falcons scored the final three goals to secure a massive victory over the then-No. 2 Panthers.

The teams met again a week and a half later in the NE-10 semifinals. Bentley was in control the entire game thanks to a 3-0 start in the first quarter. Bentley won 7-4; the four goals were the fewest Adelphi scored all season.

The victories were not only big for the players on the current roster but also for the alumni of the program. Bartolomeo said he met Nick Irby, the team’s previous faceoff athlete, after the Adelphi game, and the two bonded over the victory.

Another former Bentley faceoff athlete, Max Adler of the Premier Lacrosse League’s Chaos and the Nationa Lacrosse League’s Buffalo Bandits, emphasized the importance of those wins.

“I knew they were going to be in the [NCAA] tournament. You beat Adelphi twice and were in the NE-10 championship,” he said. “It shows we got over the hump and can compete for the national championship and not just say that but win some games.”

The NE-10 tournament championship game was a rematch with Le Moyne, and once again, the Dolphins got the best of the Falcons. Murphy said his team always prepares for every game like it’s their last, and this loss very well could have been.

“[Le Moyne was] respectful. They shook all our hands after that game and said, ‘Great game,’” Jaber said. “For us, that one definitely hurt to watch them raise that trophy.”

Fortunately for Jaber, the rest of the players and the coaching staff, Bentley is still alive. Familiar foes await. Bentley hosts Adelphi in the first round, and if the Falcons win a third game in one season against the Panthers, they take on undefeated Le Moyne for a third time, too.

Adler — who has won championships with the Chaos and Major League Lacrosse’s Denver Outlaws — said he learned from a young age that it was necessary to prepare for every game like it’s a playoff game. He said he remembered Murphy always preached to carry yourself in practice and off the field how you would carry yourself in a game, that there wasn’t a switch you could turn on and off at will.

They are lessons Murphy’s players still live by, even as they enter unknown territory.

“Adelphi is a great team, and Le Moyne’s a great team, but we also know we’re that we’re a great team,” Bartolomeo said. “So, going into this next stretch, we really are just gonna focus on our fundamentals and what we’ve been working on this whole season.”

Jaber said he’s gotten texts from Bentley lacrosse alumni encouraging him and the team to keep up the good work. He said this year’s success is in part because of the work the players before him put into the program. He also noted how involved the alumni are and how supportive they are is indicative of the legacy Murphy has left with the program.

For Murphy, it’s been the core of Bentley Lacrosse since its inception.

“I’ve always said to these guys and so many others,” he said, “surround yourself with good people and good things will happen, and that’s a big statement that we live by.”

Good things will happen even 31 years after they began.