Courtesy Massachusetts Maritime Sports Information

Buzzards Bay, Mass. --  Julie Rigo, who helped Stonehill College advance to the 2002 NCAA Division II national championship match and led Bourne High School to a berth in the MIAA tournament last spring, has been named as Head Women’s Lacrosse Coach at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy.  Rigo’s appointment was announced today by Bob Corradi, Massachusetts Maritime’s Director of Athletics.

A native of Sandwich, Mass. and 2005 graduate of Stonehill, Rigo will serve as the head coach of the Buccaneer club program during the 2010-11 academic year, as women’s lacrosse will officially become a varsity sport at the Academy on July 1, 2011 and play its first varsity campaign during the 2012 season.  Rigo replaces Rory Deegan, who served as the women’s lacrosse club coach for two seasons and was named earlier this spring as Massachusetts Maritime’s Head Men’s Lacrosse Coach.

Rigo guided Bourne High to a 10-8 mark during the 2010 season, as the Canalmen qualified for the MIAA tournament in the process.  A former standout at Sandwich High School, she served as the Blue Knights’ junior varsity coach for four seasons before her stint at Bourne while additionally assisting Deegan as a volunteer coach with the Buccaneer club program in 2009.  Julie has participated in numerous camps and clinics both on the Cape and in the Boston area, and she was one of the co-creators of Mid Cape Girls Lacrosse Summer League in 2007.

“This is an incredible opportunity, as there is a great deal of excitement surrounding the addition of women’s lacrosse as a varsity program at the Academy,” Rigo said of her appointment.  “I’m grateful to Coach Corradi for affording me the chance to build something that I think will be very special in the years to come.”

Rigo, who is employed as a full-time teacher in the Bourne School Department, helped lead Stonehill to its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division II national championship contest as a freshman, as the then-Chieftains posted an overall mark of 15-6 and captured their third straight Northeast-10 Conference title before upending defending national champion LIU-C.W. Post in the national semi-finals.  Stonehill fell to West Chester by an 11-6 margin in that national championship match, but Rigo’s efforts helped build a foundation that helped the Chieftains win two national crowns over the next three seasons.

“Julie has been successful in whatever lacrosse venture she has engaged in during her very brief career, and I’m happy to welcome her back to the Buccaneer program,” Corradi said of Rigo’s appointment.  “Her knowledge of the sport, coupled with her extensive background on the Cape and in the region, make her a perfect choice in bringing women’s lacrosse forward as a varsity sport.”