Ron Garling Promoted To Assistant Men’s Lacrosse Coach

HIGH POINT, N.C. – Head coach Jon Torpey of the High Point University men’s lacrosse team has announced the promotion of Ron Garling to assistant coach. Garling has been on the staff as a volunteer coach for the last two seasons.

“Coach Garling is a tireless worker with an amazing lacrosse IQ,” Torpey said. “When we brought Coach Garling in two years ago we knew he was a fierce competitor and he had the fortune of coaching with and playing for some amazing lacrosse minds. In just two short years with our program he has truly established himself as an extremely valuable member of the High Point University family. The success he has had with both our face-off men and our man-down defense these past two seasons is a testament to his coaching ability. Most importantly our student-athletes are thrilled to have Coach Garling on board. I look forward to his role expanding within our staff over the next few years.”

Garling was promoted to assistant coach after Mike Phipps took a job at Navy. Over the last two seasons Garling has been in charge of the face-off unit and man-down defense for the Panthers. HPU’s man-down defense was the third-best in the NCAA last season, allowing just 14 extra-man goals on 62 attempts for a .774 percentage. The Panthers averaged 8.06 caused turnovers per game, the 14th best in the country.

In 2014 HPU ranked 10th in the country in face-off win percentage as a team. Garling coached Jamie Piluso to a .594 face-off win percentage which ranked the sophomore 12th in the NCAA.

“I would like to thank Coach Torpey and the athletics administration for the opportunity to move into a full time role with the men’s lacrosse program,” Garling said. “It has been an honor to work with such great student-athletes, as well as the institution as a whole. I look forward to helping this young program continue to grow for years to come.”

Prior to HPU, Garling served as the offensive coordinator for two seasons at Lafayette College. He coached two players named to the Tewaaraton watch list. Garling also coached Lafayette’s all-time leading scorer, Tom Perini. Prior to his time at Lafayette, Garling was the offensive coordinator for Cabrini College for one season. While with the Cavaliers he coached two All-Americans and five All-Conference players.

Garling played for Drexel and was a three-year starter for the Dragons. He helped Drexel to the CAA Tournament in three of his four seasons and made it to the title game as a junior. He graduated with a degree in Sport Management in 2010.