New Game in Town

Artificial turf field will provide home for new sport

Lacrosse is coming to Pitt-Bradford once the university builds a new artificial turf field at the Kessel Athletic Complex, which will serve as a threeseason home to soccer and lacrosse.

The need for the $5 million turf field project is threefold – to create a more usable home for the current Panthers men’s and women’s soccer teams, to provide more use for intramural and recreational activities, and to create a home for men’s and women’s lacrosse teams, which will increase the student population by 50 students.

By summer, the new field should be under construction, said Bret Butler, director of athletics, with completion set for August, giving soccer teams access during pre-season practice. In addition to artificial turf, the project will include lights, further extending the use of the field.

The university is currently recruiting for a men’s lacrosse coach who will begin recruiting for a team to play as a club in spring 2024 and in NCAA Division III in the spring of 2025. A women’s team will follow a year later. Both men’s and women’s lacrosse play in the spring. Combined, the two teams should bring in an added $1 million annually in tuition revenue for the campus.

“We’re looking forward to having lacrosse teams as well as a new turf facility, which will provide new and enhanced opportunities and facilities for our student-athletes as well as for our fans,” said Pitt-Bradford President Rick Esch.

Lacrosse is one of the fastestgrowing sports in the United States, and its popularity is highest in nearby New York state, making it a good fit for Pitt-Bradford.

Butler said, “Lacrosse is a growing sport that we believe will complement our current offerings while also giving us a new avenue for growth as a university and department. These programs will be a terrific addition to Pitt-Bradford Athletics, and we are very excited to get started.”

Field improvements also will help with soccer recruitment and cut down on near-constant maintenance of the current grass field. Additionally, current artificial turf fields are safer than their earlier incarnations.

More time on the field late into the fall and earlier in the spring will mean

that the university will no longer have to send teams to Bradford Area High School to practice before classes begin at 8 a.m. and will make evening and night games possible. The added use of the field also will allow coaches to hold clinics and recruiting weekends and enable the university to host tournaments like those currently held on baseball and softball fields at the Kessel Athletic Complex.

Connor Weiss, a senior exercise science major from Allison Park, Pa., and Adriana Gallas, a senior biology major from East Stroudsburg, Pa., are already excited. The pair of current Panther swimmers have met with Butler and Randy Ruffner, director of intramurals, recreation and club sports, about starting a club team this academic year.

Weiss said that he did not play the game in high school. He and his friends played it for fun, just like they played baseball, football and hockey.

He said the sport was popular in his suburban Pittsburgh hometown and that he and Gallas have gotten a good response to informal polls of interest in a club team. The pair hope to organize pickup games and scrimmage against other club teams.

Pitt-Bradford currently offers 14 intercollegiate sports and three club sports. To contribute to the artificial turf field project, contact the Office of Philanthropic and Alumni Engagement at (814) 362-5091 or visit givetoupb.org. – Kimberly Weinberg

Bella Anderson, a junior biology major from Richland, Pa., practices cradling the ball on a sunny autumn day. She is one of several Pitt-Bradford students eager to join a club lacrosse team.

Glenn Melvin '04