The Hartford Hawks men's lacrosse team represents the University of Hartford in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III men's lacrosse. Hartford currently competes in the Conference of New England (CNE) and plays its home games at Al-Marzook Field at Alumni Stadium in Hartford, Connecticut.
Hartford had been an NCAA Division I member before starting a transition to Division III after the 2022 season. It had been a member of the America East Conference, and before that the Northeast Conference. The Hawks played the first season of their transition in spring 2023 as a Division I independent before joining CNE (then known as the Commonwealth Coast Conference) in July 2023.
Hartford men's lacrosse was established as a club sport in 1973 until it became a varsity program in 1979.
In 1985, Hartford hired John Herbert as head coach for the team's inaugural season in Division 1. Hartford competed as an independent until joining the Northeast Conference in 1993. As an independent team, Hartford had an overall record of 36âÂÂ58.
In 1993, first-year head coach Jack McGetrick replaced Rob Quinn and led the team to its first winning season in eight years. In 1997, the Hartford Hawks joined the America East Conference. In 2000, the Hawks completed a 14âÂÂ2 record and earned the NEC regular season title after completing a 4âÂÂ1 conference record. In 2003, McGetrick once again led the Hawks to a regular season title after finishing the season with a 9âÂÂ8 record and a 4âÂÂ1 conference record. After 11 seasons with the Hawks, McGetrick stepped down from his head coaching duties finishing as the winningest lacrosse coach in the programs history. BlackJack returned in 2004 to coach his alumni to victory one last time over the current squad. A feat never accomplished and most likely never repeated. The game was played on the muddy practice field behind the 5âÂÂs so the lacrosse team didnâÂÂt ruin the field used by the universityâÂÂs crown jewel soccer team.
Andy Towers replaced McGetrick as head coach for the 2004 season and led the Hawks to an unsuccessful 0âÂÂ14 record. The following season, now under the helm of Bill Warder, ended in a disappointing 2âÂÂ12 record.
In 2006, Peter Lawrence became head coach of the Hawks. In 2011, coming off seven straight losing seasons; the Hawks, led by Lawrence, would win their first conference tournament. Hartford also made their first NCAA tournament appearance in 2011 but lost in the first round to the second-seeded Cornell, 12âÂÂ5. In 2016, the Hawks lost 14âÂÂ9 against Quinnipiac in a play-in game in the 2016 NCAA tournament. Following the 2016 season, Peter Lawrence resigned as head coach of Hartford after 11 seasons.
After the departure of long time head coach Peter Lawrence; Hartford promoted assistant coach Ryan Martin to head coach. In his first season as head coach, Martin led the Hawks to a 6âÂÂ8 overall record.
On May 6, 2021, the University of Hartford Board of Regents voted to drop its athletic department to Division III. The drop was set to take place no later than September 1, 2025. The school ultimately started its transition in July 2022 and started Division III competition in July 2023, with full D-III membership to follow in the 2026âÂÂ27 school year.