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Merrimack men’s lacrosse coach Mike Morgan has resigned, the school announced in a press release on its athletics website Saturday.
The announcement came just hours after Merrimack — eligible for the postseason for the first time as a Division I program — qualified for the America East tournament. An athletic department spokesman told Inside Lacrosse other members of the coaching staff would take over the team.
Morgan’s resignation comes at the end of a tumultuous week for the Warriors. A player was kicked off the team for making a racist remark toward an Indigenous opponent during their game last Sunday at home against UAlbany.
Merrimack athletic director Jeremy Gibson, who attended the game, addressed the team immediately after the game.
The incident and university’s response — including removing the player from the team — came to light Tuesday with separate statements issued by UAlbany, Merrimack, the America East and the Haudenosaunee Nationals.
Morgan was Merrimack’s head coach for 17 years. He led the Warriors to six Division II final fours and NCAA championships in 2018 and 2019. They transitioned to Division I after that and completed a four-year reclassification period under Morgan’s watch, moving to the Northeast Conference and then the America East.
Merrimack will play UAlbany again Thursday, this time on the road. The Great Danes captured their first America East regular season title since 2018, finishing 6-1 in conference play with an 18-10 win over Binghamton.
Matt DaSilva is the editor in chief of USA Lacrosse Magazine. He played LSM at Sachem (N.Y.) and for the club team at Delaware. Somewhere on the dark web resides a GIF of him getting beat for the game-winning goal in the 2002 NCLL final.