By Jonathan Sawyer
Assistant Sports Editor
Head Coach Ryan Lynn of the women’s lacrosse team is taking another job in the field for which he went to school.
Lynn accepted a position at The State University of New York (SUNY) Metro as a Student Resources Advisor. SUNY Metro is an Oswego State-based school located in downtown Syracuse.
Lynn said he has always dreamed of taking on a position like this, so when the opportunity came to him, he couldn’t resist.
“[It was] always a route I saw myself going. My masters is in higher education administration, but this opportunity presented itself and [I] had to jump on it,” Lynn said.
Losing her head coach right before the 2016 season starts was tough to hear, but sophomore goaltender Kerrigan Cummins said she knows Lynn is just improving his career, and she said she had no hard feelings.
“I understand that he is bettering his career, and I know it’s not anything against our program,
Cummins said. “I wish him all the best and that he is successful with what he will be doing.”
She also said the team has stuck together, and the veterans on the team have really stepped into a leadership role.
“As underclassmen, we are looking up to the old girls on the team and were really focusing on individual skills such as stick skills, weight lifting and conditioning, in order to be ready for pre-season,” Cummins said.
Lynn said even though there is no good time to lose a coach, his timing was perfect because the deputy athletic director, Barbara Questa, was heading to Florida for a coach’s convention.
“With coaching there is never a good time to leave, especially with the fact that it is year round now,” Lynn said. “As poor as the timing might have been, it was the better timing in the poor timing.”
Lynn said he’s going to miss the team and what it has taught him along the way, but also just the closeness that Bona’s brings.
“In Bona’s in particular, [I’ll miss] the tight knit closeness of the campus and the university itself,” Lynn said. “Obviously going to SUNY Oswego is going to be much bigger, plus with it being a branch campus. I am not going to have that direct tie into the main campus.”
Lynn hopes the team embraces the change in coaching and hopes the players continue building as a program, he said.
“We haven’t had the most success over the years. I think where we had success is in the classroom and really being able to come together as a program,” Lynn said. “I think they’re on an upward track right now, and I think a new leader can be nothing but a good thing.”
Lynn also stated that none of the six recruits he had recruited for next season have de-committed, and they all plan to come to Bonas next year.
Questa added there is a number of applicants interested in the job.
“We are doing a national search. We don’t have an assistant. She left for another job last month. We have posted the job nationally,” Questa said. “I have gotten a number of applicants, who are interested in the position and seeing if they have the right experience we are looking for, and we will narrow that down even further to see about bringing one or two candidates to campus next week.”
Questa states that even with the change in coaching, the season is what the team makes of it.
“A lot depends on team members, if they are willing to buy into the fact that it’s going to be a change, that depends on them and how much they want to work,” Questa said. “I think change is good, and that’s not reflecting anybody or anything, but change is good, and I think that it a lot of it has to be a buy in from your student athletes. I think they want to work and want to be successful, and I think our ladies do.”
Questa said she has interviews lined up for next week and hopes to have a new head coach by the end of the semester.
**An earlier version of this story referred to Ryan Lynn as Ryan Flynn in a few cases. Our staff apologizes for the mistake. The Bona Venture is committed to accuracy; if you see a mistake, please contact us at bonavent@sbu.edu or email the Editor-in-Chief.
