Paul Cantabene
	Head Coach pcantabene@stevenson.edu 443-352-4254

Paul Cantabene, a long-time assistant coach at the Division I level, enters his fifth season as head men's lacrosse coach at Stevenson University. Last season, Cantabene put together the most impressive season of any Men's Lacrosse team in school history. The Mustangs finished with an overall record of 13-4 and 6-1 in the Capital Athletic Conference. The Mustangs were ranked as high as 8th in the nation and ended the season nationally ranked in tenth place.

In the spring of 2007, the Mustangs spent most of the year ranked in the top 25, getting as high as 11th in the nation.  Cantabene started the season off with a bang as Villa upset Cortland State (#3 in the nation and defending national champion) at home 10-9.  Cortland went on to lose to CAC opponent Salisbury University in the National Championship game at M&T Bank Stadium.

In 2006 Cantabene completed his second year at the helm of the Mustangs taking them to the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference Championship. After playing Cabrini College in the PAC Finals, the team earned an ECAC bid and faced Kean University in the tournament semifinals. Defeating Kean, 15-6, the Mustangs advanced to the ECAC Finals and defeated Montclair State University, 15-8. VJC ended the season 10-8 overall and 8-2 in the PAC.  Three years ago Cantabene ended his second season with the University of Maryland's lacrosse program. Cantabene is a veteran lacrosse coach and player, having coached at Johns Hopkins University and Towson University and played at Loyola College.  He has been an all-star both in indoor and outdoor professional leagues.

In 2002, his first season at Maryland, Cantabene helped the Terps' offense to one of its most successful seasons in recent history. Two of his midfielders were named All-Americans while one of his players was named Atlantic Coast Conference Rookie of the Year and an honorable mention All-American.

Cantabene came to Maryland after serving as the offensive coordinator at Towson for four seasons. Cantabene was a key component in the Tigers' revival which saw them reach the 2001 NCAA semifinals with the highest scoring offense in the nation. He joined the Towson staff under the tutelage of head coach Tony Seaman, whom he had worked with at Johns Hopkins from 1996-98. Prior to his time at Towson, Cantabene served as the midfield coach for the Blue Jays. He helped Hopkins compile a 41-15 record and NCAA Tournament berths in each of the three seasons he spent on Charles Street.

He began his coaching career at the McDonogh School following his graduation from Loyola in 1993, where he worked with the attack and midfield units.

As a player Cantabene has been a star in the indoor, outdoor and club circuit for a decade. He is widely regarded as one of the elite face-off specialists in the sport. This past summer, he helped the Baltimore Bayhawks reach their second Major League Lacrosse championship.  He finished the season leading the league in faceoffs won (208) and a win percentage of .580. The season before, he was an intrical part of leading the Bayhawks to the semi-finals. In the 2003 season he finished second in the MLL in groundballs with 92, playing in all 11 games. He won 51 percent of his face-offs (158-of-312) including a team-record single-game mark of 22-of-35 vs. Bridgeport. Cantabene also scored six goals and had six assists for 12 points.

In the summer of 2002, he captured the Major League Lacrosse World Championship with the Baltimore Bayhawks in just his second season in the outdoor league. He served as the Bayhawks' primary face-off specialist, taking 385 of the team's 419 draws during the season and led the team with 86 groundballs. He also tallied nine goals and added six assists for 15 points in 2002 as he was an MLL All-Star for the second consecutive season and was also named a SoBe Iron Lizard. 

In the indoor game, Cantabene has played in the National Lacrosse League with the Baltimore Thunder, Pittsburgh Crossfire, Washington Power and the Philadelphia Wings, whom he joined in 2002. In his season with the Wings, he notched 18 goals and 40 assists for 58 points and won more than 60 percent of his face- offs as well as leading the team's field players in loose balls with 163. He is a three time NLL All-Star and was named the league's All-Star Game MVP in 1999, the Thunder's Team MVP and Rookie of the Year in 1994.

Heading into the 2004 season, he has a 55.5 face-off win percentage (898-of-1619) in regular-season play. He has recorded 794 loose balls in his career, fifth-most in league history.

As a club player, Cantabene played six years for Mt. Washington Lacrosse Club (1995-2000).  He earned first-team All-Club five times and second-team once. He also played for the Maryland LC in 1994, earning his first first-team All-Club honor. He was named the 2000 Player of the Year in the Southern Division of the United States Club Lacrosse Association (USCLA) while playing for Mt. Washington LC. He was a first team all-midfield, led the league in face-offs and was third in the league and first on the team with 20 goals.

At Loyola College, Cantabene was a second-team All-American, team MVP and team captain his senior season in 1993 and earned a spot on the North-South All-Star Game squad.  He helped the Greyhounds to NCAA Tournament bids in each of his four years and one in the NCAA championship game in 1990.

Cantabene was inducted in the Rochester Chapter of the U.S. Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2003.

The native of Rochester, N.Y. and his wife Tracey, who currently works at Renewal by Andersen, are proud parents of their daughter, Lilly. Cantabene is one of seven siblings and currently resides in Baltimore.