Rohnert Park, CA – Sonoma State Men’s Lacrosse has announced Panchito Ojeda has been promoted to Head Coach and Matt Blamey to Associate Head Coach. Sonoma State finished second in the WCLL this past year and seventh in the final Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association Coach’s Poll.
The Sonoma State Men’s Lacrosse team has agreed to mutually part ways with Doug Carl who served as Head Coach for the past three seasons. Sonoma State Men’s Lacrosse would like to thank Coach Carl for his years of service to the SSU program and wish him the best in all future endeavors.
“At the conclusion of the year Doug and I sat down to discuss the future of SSU Lacrosse.” said long time team administrator Mike Annala. “After much discussion we agreed that with his pending family obligations, which would require him to step away from coaching in a year, it would be best for the coaching change to occur now. Doug has always considered the interests of the program and players as the primary goal and he will continue to be a valued friend and resource to both me and the team.”
“First and foremost I would like to thank Doug Carl for his contributions to Sonoma State Lacrosse and the opportunity to join Sonoma in 2010. I could not be more excited with where our program has come from and where we are going.” Ojeda continued, “Coach Blamey came here in 2011 and his impact was immediately felt. He guided the defense to a Top 5 rating in the country and will be an intricate part of the continued growth of Sonoma State Lacrosse.”
“We have made significant strides in my first couple of seasons with Sonoma State. The opportunity Coach Carl has given me has been a great one for which I will always be thankful. I am excited to do my part and continue to contribute to the success of our program at the both the conference and national level.” added Blamey. “ More importantly, I look forward to keeping Sonoma State as a model MCLA program and tremendous environment for student-athletes to flourish!”
Panchito Ojeda was the Head Coach at Marquette University from 2007-2010 before joining on at Sonoma State as the Assistant Coach. He has been the Offensive Coordinator the past two years. Matt Blamey joined Sonoma State in 2011 after serving as the founder and first head coach at Northern Virginia Community College, the first junior college lacrosse program in the state of Virginia. He has been the Defensive Coordinator at SSU for the past two years.
About Sonoma State
Sonoma State University is located in Rohnert Park, CA and has an enrollment of just over 9,000 students. Sonoma State Men’s Lacrosse competes in the Western College Lacrosse League (WCLL) Division I. Follow Sonoma State Men’s Lacrosse online at http://ssulacrosse.com.