Justin Manjares Announced as Head Coach for Maritime Men's Lacrosse

Justin Manjares has been named the new head coach of the Maritime College men's lacrosse program, as announced by Director of Athletics, Kristofer Schnatz, on Tuesday, July 9 at 12 p.m. Manjares served as the interim head coach this past season, where he led the Privateers to the program's first Skyline Conference championship and a first-round win in the NCAA tournament. Prior to the 2019 season, Manjares began his journey with Maritime as a volunteer assistant coach in 2014 and has now worked his way up to the head coaching position. "Justin has been with the men's lacrosse program for six years now, and after seeing what he accomplished last season we can't wait to see where he'll take the team next," said Schnatz. "We're very excited to have him on board full time and that he will continue to keep the program moving in the right direction." "I'd like to thank the Director of Athletics, Kristofer Schnatz, and the search committee for giving me this opportunity to continue coaching the team I love," said Manjares. "We had a special season this past spring, but I know the team doesn't want to stop there and we all feel like we have the ability to get back to the NCAA tournament. I can't wait to get back to work and keep our momentum going into the next year." Manjares led the Privateers to a program-best 15-4 record in 2019, including a perfect Skyline Conference record at 6-0. Maritime went into the conference playoffs as the No. 1 seed and defeated St. Joseph's College Long Island 17-6 to secure a spot in the championship game against the United States Merchant Marine Academy. The Privateers backed up their regular season win against USMMA with a 16-13 victory in the championship game to punch their ticket to the NCAA tournament. To see the full recap from the championship game, highlights, and the post-game press conference, CLICK HERE! Manjares and the Privateers cleaned up the Skyline post-season awards as they took home all four major awards. In his first year at the helm, Manjares was named the Coach of the Year, while Matt DeMeo (Sayville, N.Y./Sayville) took home Player of the Year, Mark Buchner (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh) earned Defensive Player of the Year, and Kevin Buser (Babylon, NY) was named Rookie of the Year. Prior to the 2019 season, Manjares and former head coach Dan Lawrence helped lead the Privateers to the No. 2 seed in the conference with a 10-5 overall record and 4-2 in Skyline play. "I owe a lot to coach Lawrence for giving me a chance six years ago as a volunteer assistant and helping set me up for success," said Manjares. "I think that he played an important role in setting the program up for the success that we saw last year and I'm excited to keep that success going." Watch the full press conference of the announcement below!