A former quarterback on the St. Lawrence University football team and a midfielder on the lacrosse squad, Mike Mahoney took over the head coaching duties for men's lacrosse in the fall of 1997. Under Mahoney, the Saints experienced immediate success and have continued to excel, winning ECAC Upstate Championships in 2001 and 2002 as well as Liberty League titles in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. He enters the season as the 10th winningest active head coach in Division III.
Entering the 2013 campaign, Mahoney has posted a 156-71 (.687) record in the past 15 seasons, with 12 of those teams earning post-season bids. Mahoney coached his team to the NCAA Tournament's Second Round four straight seasons ('06-'09) after winning the Liberty League Tournament. With his team on a 32-game winning streak in the Liberty League, Mahoney was named the conference's "Coach of the Year" in 2009 for the second time (2004), and he earned that distinction again in 2012 after his team finished 12-2 in the regular season.
St. Lawrence defeated Endicott College 13-10 in the opening round of the 2006 tournament before falling to Geneseo in the Regionals. The victory over Endicott was the team's first ever NCAA Touranment win. No. 5 St. Lawrence then hosted Cortland State in the second round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament, which was the first NCAA Men's Lacrosse game to be played at North Country Field. St. Lawrence also hosted a second round NCAA Tournament game in 2008 against Western New England College. Mahoney then guided the Saints to a 2009 NCAA First Round victory over Nazareth, which was the program's first ever NCAA Tournament win at North Country Field.
In 2003 the Saints went 12-4 and finished the season ranked #16 in the final USILA Poll and were as high as #8 during the season. In 2002, the Saints were 12-3 overall and 5-1 in UCAA play and defeated top-seed Oneonta 13-8 in the final game of the season to repeat as ECAC Upstate Tournament champions.
A native to the North Country, Mahoney was an All-American lacrosse player at St. Lawrence Central High School. He continued his athletic success at the collegiate level as a two-sport standout at St. Lawrence, serving as captain of both the football and lacrosse teams his senior year.
Mahoney graduated from St. Lawrence in 1993, with a B.A. in Government. He then moved on to the University of Albany, where he served as a gridiron graduate assistant while earning his master's in Liberal Studies. In the 1993-94 school year, he also worked as a physical educator in the Waterford Central School District.
In 1995, Mahoney returned to his alma mater and began his tenure as an assistant coach for both football and lacrosse. Mahoney was selected as a coach of the 2000 North-South game that was held at the University of Delaware. He remains active in the lacrosse camp circuit, serving as an instructor at various caps throughout the Northeast and director of the Saints Lacrosse camp held at St. Lawrence University. The former chair of the ECAC Upstate Tournament committee, Mahoney also serves on the USILA Poll committee and has served as a regional advisor to the NCAA tournament selection committee.
Mahoney resides in Canton with his wife Pam and their sons Mark, John and Daniel.
