Steve Gartelman enters his third season as the head coach of the Frostburg State men’s lacrosse program after being hired from a national search in the summer of 2018.
Gartelman had his Bobcats off to a blistering start in 2019 before the season was cut short. FSU was 5-0 in its first season at Division II that included a 16-8 upset of No. 19 Florida Southern and a 15-14 OT win over Lake Erie in the opener. Following the 5-0 start, FSU was receiving votes in the weekly USILA Top-20 poll.
The Bobcats scored 92 goals in five contests, while defensively, they were allowing just under eight goals per game.
In his first season, he led the Bobcats to their first ever ECAC Championship after three previous program appearances. The Bobcats hosted the ECAC Tournament and defeated Westminster (Pa.) 10-8 in the championship game.
Gartelman guided Frostburg to a 12-8 record to collect the most wins the program has had since the 2016 season.
He also guided junior Jimmy Lucas to All-CAC Second Team honors after notching a career-high in goals (23), points (29) and ground balls (23). Junior attack Paul Ruppert set a program record with 48 goals.
The Bobcats made a CAC Tournament appearance for the 2019 season and advanced to the semifinals for the fifth time since 2014.
Gartelman spent four seasons as the head coach at NCAA Division II Lake Erie College. During that time, he has led the Storm to 41 wins with six All-Americans.
Lake Erie, which consistently appears in the Top 20, won the ECAC Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament semifinals in 2015. That same season, the Storm were ranked No. 1 in the USILA weekly poll for five weeks.
Prior to serving as the head coach at Lake Erie, Gartelman was the program's top assistant in 2013 and 2014. The Storm won 22 games during that span and the '14 team won the program's first ECAC Division II Championship.
In 2013, the Storm posted a school record 12 wins (12-5) and earned the program's first NCAA Playoff bid.
Aside from his coaching duties at Lake Erie, Gartelman has served as camp director at Bill Pilat's Goalie School for the past four years.
Gartelman earned his bachelor's degree in strength & conditioning from Limestone College in 2012 and earned his MBA from Lake Erie in 2014.
A goalie at Limestone, Gartelman is the program's all-time leader in both goals against average (6.43) and wins (44). He is fourth in program history with 374 saves in his three seasons and is eighth in saves per game (7.48),
Gartelman takes over a Bobcat program that has won 85 games since being reinstated as a varsity sport prior to the 2011 campaign. Frostburg has appeared in seven-consecutive CAC Tournaments, including the league title game in 2015.
