GENEVA \u2014 In 2024, when Craig McDonald traveled to Geneva for the first time as the head coach of Robert Morris University men\u2019s lacrosse, he noted it was a business trip.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a similar story two years later. But with his parents in attendance and his brother Kevin wearing HWS apparel as the school\u2019s equipment manager, perhaps it\u2019s more appropriate to call it a family business trip, even though he had to cut his visit a bit short Friday night.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wish I had more time,\u201d McDonald said of his recent trip to Geneva. \u201cI was a little sick on the way here, so I had to cut (a visit) short last night. I was out seeing my family and seeing my parents. So we\u2019ll say hello but we gotta try and get the boys home at a reasonable hour.<\/p>\n
The Colonials won a wild, 8-7 game in overtime over the Statesmen. It was the program\u2019s second 8-7 overtime win in a row, their fourth overall win, and McDonald\u2019s first win as a collegiate head coach in his hometown.<\/p>\n
He noted nothing but bragging right were on the line between him and Kevin.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a great relationship,\u201d McDonald said of his brother. \u201cA lot of support from his end and me to him as well and just a lot of love there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since his visit in 2024, McDonald \u2014 a Geneva Sports Hall of Famer \u2014 has had two more years at the helm of RMU men\u2019s lacrosse. Now in his fifth year, he is still wowed by how much he learns from each game and each day as head coach.<\/p>\n
\u201cI still learn every single day,\u201d McDonald said. \u201cI try to tell our guys that. I\u2019m not going to say that I know everything or pretend to. I\u2019m learning and growing everyday and I want to try to challenge myself and surround myself with people who are going to help do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
After losing 15-10 in that 2024 game to the Statesmen, McDonald righted the ship and steered RMU to the Atlantic Sun championship, marking the program\u2019s third consecutive appearance. Six Colonials earned all-conference honors, including a league-high three players named to the All-Freshman Team.<\/p>\n
The program left the ASUN and joined the Northeast Conference at the beginning of 2025, Hobart\u2019s old conference. McDonald led the team to the NEC regular-season title with a 6-1 record, a tournament championship, and a berth in the NCAA tournament.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t just a banner year for the program as a whole. McDonald oversaw a program-record 10 players earn all-conference honors, including NEC Player of the Year Bo Columbus and NEC Offensive Player of the Year David Burr. The Colonials also tied the program\u2019s second-longest winning streak, ripping off six consecutive victories from March 15 to April 19. Additionally, RMU went a perfect 7-0 at home during the regular season, marking the most home wins in a single season at Joe Walton Stadium since 2009.<\/p>\n
Since joining RMU on Sept. 20, 2021, it has been a constant education for McDonald. While molding the program a consistent fixture in the Division I NCAA tournament, it\u2019s been the little things that matter the most throughout the season. An example? Not mentally imploding after Hobart shut out RMU\u2019s offense in the entire second half last Saturday.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t get too high with the highs or too low with the lows,\u201d McDonald said. \u201cYou have to find your median and that\u2019s something that we always want to look at ourselves in the mirror and to look at each other in the locker room and know we gave our best. We had the right attitude about being together and fighting for each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
As he noted, it was a business trip for he and the Colonials. But, he always is going to make time for dinner with his parents. Though he would love to stay for more time with old friends, family and a slice of pizza from Cam\u2019s downtown, he has his own family roots down in Pittsburgh with his wife, Maggie, their two sons, Conor and Cian, and daughter, Scotland.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs nice as it is for me to be home, it\u2019s not about me,\u201d McDonald said. \u201cIt\u2019s about the team and it\u2019s about the guys and that\u2019s what it\u2019ll always be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Like many from Geneva before him, McDonald has used the foundation of being raised in Geneva to help navigate life outside of the Finger Lakes. With a pedigree like his after just five seasons at RMU, it is clear that program has their man for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GENEVA \u2014 In 2024, when Craig McDonald traveled to Geneva for the first time as the head coach…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28393,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[7],"tags":[4862,65,17193,307],"class_list":["post-28392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-geneva","tag-american-football","tag-geneva","tag-robert-morris-colonials","tag-sports"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116200274931712741","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28392"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28392\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}