BUFFALO, N.Y. — Canisius Director of Athletics Bill Maher announced today that Russell Allen has been named the head coach of the Golden Griffin women’s lacrosse team. Allen will be the fourth head coach in program history, as he replaces former head coach Allison Daley, who stepped down from the position in June.

Allen takes over the Canisius women’s lacrosse program after spending the three previous seasons as the head coach at Concordia University Chicago in River Forest, Ill. There, he led the Cougars to a 25-8 overall record with a 12-6 mark in Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) play. Concordia University Chicago posted a school-record 14 victories during the 2021 campaign, highlighted by an appearance in the NACC championship game, the first in program history. A total of 10 Concordia University Chicago players earned all-conference honors following the 2021 campaign, and Allen was recognized as the Concordia University Chicago Coach of the Year, as voted on by athletic department staff members and the school’s student-athletes.

In addition to his collegiate coaching duties, Allen also serves as the assistant head coach for the Puerto Rico Women’s Senior National Team, a position he has held since the summer of 2020. In that role, he develops offensive strategies for the team in preparation for the World Games, which will be held in Baltimore, Md., next summer.

“I am excited to welcome Russell Allen to Canisius as our new head women’s lacrosse coach,” Maher said. “As someone who is familiar with the Western New York and Central New York lacrosse landscape, Russell has a proven track record as a successful coach with a tireless work ethic when it comes to recruiting. He understands and appreciates the strong tradition of success of Canisius women’s lacrosse, and I am looking forward to working with him as he builds our program back into a contender for MAAC championships.”

“I’d like to thank Bill Maher, Associate Athletic Director Lisa Liotta and the entire search committee for selecting me as the next head coach of the Canisius women’s lacrosse program,” Allen said. “I could not be more excited to return to Buffalo and get to work for the women’s lacrosse program. It is an honor to be a part of a program with such a rich tradition. I am very grateful to have this opportunity, and I plan on working tirelessly to help bring more MAAC championships to Canisius.”

Allen is no stranger to the city of Buffalo and the women’s lacrosse scene in Western New York, having served as the head coach for the Medaille women’s lacrosse program from 2014-18. In his time as the head coach of the Mavericks, the Orange, Conn., native guided the program to a pair of regular-season Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) championships in both 2017 and 2018, with the team setting program records for wins in each season (12 in 2017, 14 in 2018). Allen was awarded the Coach of the Year honors in both the AMCC and the North Eastern Athletic Conference in 2018, the latter of which Medaille has a dual affiliation in lacrosse. His four-year record as a head coach at Medaille was 44-22, and his winning percentage of .667 stands the highest of any coach in the program’s history.

A two-sport student-athlete at Medaille, Allen was a member of the school’s men’s soccer team where he played in 57 games and contributed to a pair of conference championships, including the 2006 team that set the program’s single-season record for wins with 20 victories. As a men’s lacrosse player, Allen played midfield and defender, ranking nationally in NCAA Division III in ground balls during the 2007 season. He is eighth on Medaille’s career list with 148 ground balls and he is ranked 10th in the school’s record books with his 4.48 ground balls per game. He graduated from Medaille in 2008 with his undergraduate degree in liberal studies.

Allen, who started his coaching career in 2009 at the Buffalo Seminary School has also coached with the Empress Lacrosse Club, one of the top club programs in Western New York. While at Concordia University Chicago, Allen served as the head coach of True Lacrosse Illinois program, which is based out of Chicago.