BALTIMORE – Former Loyola University Maryland All-American and current professional player P.T. Ricci has been named the Greyhounds’ director of men’s lacrosse operations, Head Coach Charley Toomey announced today.
Ricci was a four-year letterwinner for Loyola from 2006-2009 and earned United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) All-America honors as a senior long-stick midfielder.
“We are very happy to add P.T. to our staff with his college coaching and professional lacrosse experience,” Toomey said. “P.T. is someone who brings a strong knowledge of what we expect of players from his time here; he was a great captain and a tremendous player on the field. He is a great young coach and an even better person.”
Since graduation from Loyola in 2009 with a bachelor of arts in communications, Ricci has been a standout defender in Major League Lacrosse (MLL). He was the 11th overall draft pick by the then-Washington Bayhawks in the 2009 MLL Collegiate Entry Draft, and he played his first two seasons with the franchise, the second of which he helped the Bayhawks to the MLL title.
He was traded to the Boston Cannons during the 2011 training camp, and he was named to the MLL All-Star Game that season. Ricci finished the year with 39 ground balls, three goals and three assists during the regular-season, and he posted eight ground balls in two playoff games, helping the Cannons win the MLL Championship.
“I am extremely excited to join the coaching staff at Loyola; it’s a special opportunity to get back to the program where I played, and to learn alongside my former college coaches,” Ricci said. “Getting back into the Division I coaching ranks has been a goal of mine, and Loyola has given me the opportunity to make it happen. I would like to thank Coach Toomey for this opportunity.”
Ricci spent the last 2013 season as an assistant coach at Haverford College near his hometown of Wayne, Pa. He helped Fords senior Scott Chanelli earn USILA All-America honors after he finished fifth in the nation in caused turnovers per game. He also served as the associate head coach at Malvern Preparatory School, alongside current Loyola assistant coach David Metzbower, in 2011 and was a volunteer assistant coach at Towson University in 2010.
While at Loyola, Ricci set the program’s all-time caused turnovers record with 117. He was the 2009 ECAC Defensive Player of the Year in a season that he caused a school-record 51 turnovers. He also recorded 207 ground balls as a collegian, the No. 10 mark on Loyola’s career charts.
