JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Members of the Jacksonville University Men’s Lacrosse team have an excuse for missing Mother’s Day this year, as they look forward to playing the University of Notre Dame on Sunday, May 10, 2026. Both the men’s and women’s teams are enjoying what university officials are calling “tremendous success.”
Named JU’s head coach for lacrosse in 2016, Coach John Galloway, himself a multiple award-winning athlete, is celebrating his tenth season in Jacksonville, and took time just before a meal in Pennsylvania to speak with Kristine Bellino about what is, by all accounts, a banner year for the JU Dolphins.
A native of Camillus, New York, Galloway was a goalkeeper at Syracuse University, helping the Syracuse Orange win a record 59 wins and two national championships. Twice voted All-American while at Syracuse, he is also a two-time finalist to win the Tewaaraton Foundation’s prestigious Tewaaraton Award, the equivalent of the Heisman Trophy for lacrosse. His own experience as an award-winning athlete has helped to push the JU team to success.
Says Galloway, “…[It’s] been a special year for us…We started to see some of the fruits of our labor around 2022…There’s been success regular season for the past few years, but haven’t been able to get over that monkey off of our back in the conference tournament, and in the last week, we’ve been able to finally, you know, rid ourselves of that anxiety and kind of allow ourselves just to play the game freely again, and just got our first NCAA tournament win last night, but, you know, the focus is now set on more, and I think this team has been motivated by more than just games and championships. They’ve been motivated by having more time together, and we’re taking advantage of every second of it.”
The team has won its last five games, with the most recent being a 16:7 win against Air Force on May 3rd, 2026 and a 13:7 win against Robert Morris University in Pennsylvania.
From the Pittsburgh area the team will head to South Bend, Indiana. An optimistic Galloway says his team is prepared to take on the Fighting Irish on Sunday in the first round of the NCAA tournament. “…(Our) guys have a lot of belief in themselves, and we’re just excited to get to work and start the preparation.”
Jacksonville is just the seventh team in NCAA men’s lacrosse history since 1973 to win its debut tournament game. Galloway says it feels special. “It gives us an opportunity to talk about dreaming. You know, our guys get a chance to dream because of what they know they’re gonna be involved in, in the conference tournament, but we also recognize that the play-in game is an opportunity to prove that you belong, and I thought last night was that chance to truly punch our ticket and now put ourselves in what I believe is the best weekend of college lacrosse. It’s the top 16 teams, and everybody’s vying for a chance to play in the Final Four, and you’re only two games away, and everybody has dreams right now, and those dreams are within arm’s reach, which is pretty special.”
[2026 Jacksonville University Men’s Lacrosse Team Photo Courtesy: Jacksonville University]
Jacksonville University has the only Division I Men’s Lacrosse team in Florida, and Coach Galloway and his team want JU to be known as “The Lacrosse Capital of the South.” Although lacrosse does not currently enjoy the popularity of football or baseball, particularly in the U.S. South, Galloway says that it is becoming more popular, and the team recruits from throughout the United States and the rest of the world. Currently 26 states and two provinces are represented by the JU men’s team.
He says he very much feels the responsibility of serving as an ambassador for the sport.
The women’s lacrosse team is enjoying success as well. They have won their last four games, most recently scoring 17:3 against Liberty University and 16:11 against the University of Delaware. Led by Head Coach Tara Singleton, they will meet the University of Colorado for their Game One in the 2026 NCAA Women’s Lacrosse Championship.
Galloway says, “…(We’re) fortunate to share a building with Tara and her program, and obviously they’ve had success throughout the last… more than a decade, and just to be able to share a common passion and a common goal with those girls, and our guys and girls are…are, you know, locked in arms when they go out in the spring, and it’s just so special, unique, when you look at the Division I programs that are representing both teams. You talk about Carolina, you talk about Syracuse, you talk about Johns Hopkins and Jacksonville, and that’s pretty special, and we hope to continue to, to continue to expand on that dream going into the next week or so.”
He says he feels the support of Jacksonville University’s administration. When talking about milestones achieved by both the men’s and women’s teams he credits the administration with some of the teams’ successes. “I think first and foremost is gratitude to our administration. You know, the fact that we are both involved is directly correlated to our president and our athletic director, who believe in lacrosse, and have allowed us to become part of the fabric of the university and the community. And I grew up in Syracuse, that was the case. Syracuse lacrosse was a part of the fabric, and President [Tim] Cost and [Athletic Director] Alex Ricker-Gilbert have allowed us to dream like that, and have given us the resources to do so. It doesn’t happen without them having our back.”
[John Galloway Photo Courtesy: Jacksonville University]
And Galloway knows the player’s perspective firsthand, and hesitates not to credit the players, especially those who have been there while the team was still coming up in the ranks. He says, “You know, before 2022, when we did not have a winning record, these seniors committed to us before that happened. So, there’s a… there’s a little bit of blind faith and trust.” He adds, “…(Ultimately,) we started with humility and gratitude. When we’re losing, when we’re winning, when we start in August, and then even when we’re, you know, getting ready to go to South Bend to play the University of Notre Dame, it’s going to be built on humility and gratitude, and we can fall back on that, on ability and bad days.”
The idea to brand “Lacrosse Capital of the South” was not his, but he agrees that Jacksonville is a special place – for education, sports, and jobs after graduation. He is happy to help JU earn the branding. As to where the idea came from, he says, “You know, I have to give credit to Mindy McCord, who originally started the women’s program. When I first got here. You know, we wanted to kind of lock arms and do this thing together, and, and being the only men’s program in the division on the state, we wanted to kind of, we wanted to build some momentum. And at the time, we needed momentum. It’s probably lost a little bit of a floor at this point. I think right now, we just want to be the best team we possibly can be in the country. I think we’ve just kind of riddled ourselves from the geographic restraints, but, you know, it was kind of from our humble beginnings to try to get a little bit of momentum early on.”
The Jacksonville University Lacrosse teams – both the women’s and the men’s – have certainly gained that momentum. ESPN will stream the NCAA Lacrosse games.
As of this posting the Jacksonville University Women’s Lacrosse Team will play on Friday, May 8, 2026 at 6:00pm ET. The Jacksonville University Men’s Lacrosse Team will play on Sunday, May 10, 2026 at 12:00noon ET.
VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH JOHN GALLOWAY
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