Finally, Saint John’s Lacrosse Has Its Coach

Article by: Mike Murakami
Junior, Attackman
mamurakami@csbsju.edu

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Without further ado ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the new coach of the Saint John’s University Men’s Lacrosse team…Derek Daehn.

“I believe an outside perspective and change is healthy for a team from time to time to shake things up,” said Daehn.

And you better believe he has the ability to do that at Saint John’s.

When Saint John’s was looking for a new coach, he jumped at the opportunity of coaching at the collegiate level. “After coaching in high school for 2 years I wanted to coach at the collegiate level,” said Daehn, “I enjoyed high school, but I wanted to move into an advanced coaching level.”

As far as coming to Saint John’s, it was an easy choice.

“When looking for a program to join I wanted an established team with talent and a strong drive to be successful. One of my assistants at Cooper was a SJU graduate and he mentioned his St. John's experience,” said Daehn, “It is not your average state school and the school has some great history and traditions. I found myself drawn to the school because of its unique characteristics.”

Daehn has jumped right into his role, and there has been no easing into it. Ask any of the Johnnies, seniors or freshmen. He has ran fun, yet challenging practices this year, and wants to see the team mature into a championship caliber team.

His goals are simple.

“I want to see the program grow in terms of participation, graduates, and community involvement,” said Daehn.

Coach Daehn began playing lacrosse when he was a freshman in high school, and played for the Robbinsdale Cooper High School as a defenseman from 1998-2001. While at Cooper, he was selected to be the team captain in 2000 and 2001. With the help of Daehn, Cooper won the Minnesota State High School Championship in 1999.

Daehn also went to Vail with Team Minnesota in 2000 and 2001.

After high school, Daehn attended the University of Minnesota-Duluth and played lacrosse there. The team won the Upper Midwest Lacrosse League (UMLL) Championship in 2002, 2003 and 2004. During his time there, he was selected to be a captain in 2004 and 2005.

Also during college, he played for the USA West team in 2003 and played lacrosse in Prague, Munich and Berlin.

While at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, he received a minor in coaching hockey and coached hockey for the Duluth East End Bantams where he was the Assistant Coach in 2005 and the Head Coach in 2006. Although he enjoys hockey, he would have liked to have minored in coaching lacrosse.

“At the time, lacrosse was not a sanctioned varsity sport and therefore I could not minor in it,” said Daehn

That has not stopped him from coaching lacrosse, though.

Daehn has been coaching lacrosse since he was a senior in high school. He been has coaching grades 7th through 12th from summer leagues to the high school level in Brooklyn Park, Duluth East and Robbinsdale Cooper. He was also the University of Minnesota-Moorhead Assistant Coach/Defensive Coordinator in 2008.

He can now add “Saint John’s University – Head Coach” to his resume, and he is eager to get down to business.

“I am excited to meet everyone who is and has been apart of this great program. I have met a great group of young men who have led this team through a tough period,” said Daehn, “I am available by email if any alumni or parents have any questions.”

The Saint John’s Lacrosse team is very proud and extremely excited to welcome Coach Derek Daehn to the Johnnie Lax family. We are looking forward to what we hope to be many successful years both on and off the lacrosse field.

Saint John’s will take on the North Dakota State University Bison on February 6th, 2009 at the Shattuck St. Mary’s Dome in Faribault, MN at 10:00 p.m. It will be the first game of the year for the Johnnies and their first game under Coach Daehn.

Coach Daehn can be reached at ddaehn@csbsju.edu

2009 Schedule Update

I will be posting the 2009 Schedule with as much information as I can later today (Friday, January 16th, 2009). And, like I said, I will post an article about the Johnnies' new coach, Derek Daehn.

- Mike Murakami
SJU Class of 2010
Webmaster, and Communications Officer

New Coach Announced!

The new coach for the Saint John's University lacrosse team is Mr. Derek Daehn. Coach Daehn met with the captains, introduced himself to the team, and ran a good, fun, yet tough practice tonight (Thursday, January 15th, 2009). More information will come on Coach Daehn soon! Stay tuned!

- Mike Murakami
SJU Class of 2010
Webmaster, and Communications Officer

And so it begins!

First of all, I have received a lot of positive feedback from the blog. Thank you very much! Keep it coming! Also, if you have any requests of what you would like to see on here, please let me know.

Quick update!

Practice officially begins tonight for the 2009 season. The Johnnies are starting conditioning early to get back into shape after a nice break from lacrosse since fall ball (and since last spring for our study abroad returners!).

Also, I would have updated the poll to include another game: SJU vs. Carthage College, but it won't let me since we have had people vote already. However, the Johnnies will face-off against the varsity Carthage College lacrosse team on February 21st, 2009 in Lake Barrington, Illinois (looking forward to seeing you Burgesons!). Please vote for a game if you haven't done so already!

And finally one more update regarding...THE NEW COACH!

We have pretty much locked up our coach for the upcoming season and are very pleased with our choice. I will write an article that will be posted on this blog, the website, and possibly Collegelax.us when we make everything official. I promise that I will post it here first so keep checking the blog! Please stay tuned!

From cold Collegeville, Minnesota, warm wishes!

- Mike Murakami
SJU Class of 2010
Webmaster, and Communications Officer

Check out the new poll!

I hope everyone had a great holiday and rang in 2009 with style!

Please check out the poll towards the bottom of the page to vote for the game you are most excited for! The choices are:

February 6, 2009 @ 10:00 p.m.
(Game played at Shattuck-St. Mary's dome)
North Dakota State University @ Saint John's
First game of the 2009 season! Rematch of a very close game during the 2008 regular season (which the Johnnies won 11-10) and the 2008 UMLL Championship semifinal game (which the Johnnies also won 10-6). The Bison have established themselves as a powerhouse in the UMLL Division II and have given Saint John's some very close games. Mark this one on your calendars and be sure to take a nap so the Johnnies have some wide awake fans on February 6th!

April 4, 2009 @ 7:00 p.m.
Grand Valley State University @ Saint John's
While in Texas, Saint John's got to know the members of the GVSU lacrosse team. There was a lot of talk about getting together to play a game in 2009. Well here it is. GVSU finished 2nd in the nation in 2008, losing to Westminster 17-10 in the MCLA Championship game. However, with impressive wins over Southwestern (23-13) and St. Thomas (13-11), do not underestimate them. Keep this date circled and be ready for a great game.

April 18, 2009 @ 7:30 p.m.
Saint John's @ Saint Thomas
This really needs no explanation. If you aren't looking forward to the Tommie/Johnnie game...you must not like lacrosse that much. Whenever these two teams get together, they generally draw out hundreds and hundreds of lacrosse fans from around the Twin Cities. This is a rematch of the 2008 UMLL Championship game which the Johnnies hung on to win 8-7. With former Johnnie, Tony Sadder (Junior, Midfield) now in the Tommie purple and white, along with standout Joe Costello (Sophomore, Midfield), the Tommies will give it their all to defeat the Johnnies. However, the Johnnies have a commanding lead on the all-time series, and do not plan on surrendering the game. Be there, or turn in your lacrosse fanhood.

Let's hear which game you're most excited for in the 2009 season!


- Mike Murakami
SJU Class of 2010
Webmaster, and Communications Officer