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Fireside Chat: Peter Moosbruger

Ladies and Gents, welcome to my first Fireside Chat. And boy do I have a good one.

Who better for #1 than a guy who just came off an undefeated season and his second national championship? I’m talking about University of St. Thomas head coach Peter Moosbruger

First off, congratulations on your undefeated season. Give us a little of your lacrosse background for the readers.

Peter Moosbruger: I took a much different route than most coaches into lacrosse.  I grew up in Chicago, where there were very few schools with lacrosse.  My cousin played in H.S in St. Louis so I had at least picked up a lacrosse stick.  I was recruited to UST in 95 to play football.  I found out there was a lacrosse club, so I signed up.  I was pretty much hooked from that point!  My coaching career began at Holy Angels H.S. my junior year and then Mounds View (then north suburban) my senior year.  After graduation, I became the head coach at a start up program at Mahtomedi H.S.  2 years later the coach at UST left and I met one of the players at a local watering hole near UST.  I was asked to coach, and I agreed on a temporary basis until they found a coach.  Well they haven’t found one yet and I am still here!!

I have been very fortunate to coach great young men that are driven to succeed.  I also cannot say enough about my assistant coaches, especially Jim Reilly our offensive coordinator.  Jim does not get the recognition he deserves, we would not have the offense we do without his dedication to UST lacrosse.

How is lacrosse in Minnesota, compared to different areas around the country? How has the growth been? I know that when I grew up there, lacrosse wasn’t even on the radar.

Peter Moosbruger: Lacrosse has exploded in Minnesota in the last few years.  We now have varsity for both boys and girls.  NCAA programs have begun to take a look at prospective students in MN and we named our first ever Mr. Lacrosse this year…Attack Baily Dodds from Benilde St. Margaret.  It is still a very new sport, I have noticed more and more lax nets in local park, that is very exciting to see.


What’s in the future for Tommie lacrosse? Minnesota lacrosse?

Peter Moosbruger: The future for Tommie lacrosse is very good.  We graduated some very gifted players this year, so 2011 will be a challenge as we change the guard.  We do have the deepest class of freshman that I have seen in my 8 years at UST.  We will be looking for players like Will Hersman and Nik Colpitts to fill holes left by Andrew Larson and Tony Sadder.  Both have speed and are very good lacrosse players.  We are excited to see what they can do at the college level.  As far as Minnesota as a whole, I think teams like North Dakota State in D2 and Mankato St in D1 have made the turn with a great recruiting class and will turn some heads this year.

What do you see the hiring of guys like Joe Cinosky(U of M) and Kyle Harrison(Asst. Coach, Chapman) doing for the MCLA? Do you think it further legitimizes the league?

Peter Moosbruger: Any time you have names like Harrison and Cinosky associated with your league, you bring legitimacy.  Both are very talented players, Chapman and the U of M are lucky to have these guys.

Looking back on this past season, I noticed that you didn’t really play quality out of conference games. Was there a reason for this or was it just not in the budget this season?

Peter Moosbruger: We were limited in travel this year.  UST is constructing a brand new athletic facility.  While this will be one of the nicest facilities in the Midwest in 2011, we were faced with a challenge in 2010.  With that, we were left without a place to practice.  We were forced to spend over 10K on local domes to practice in, limiting our budget to travel.  While we didn’t play Dayton or Davenport, I wouldn’t say Western Washington and GVSU are poor OOC opponents.  We put together the best OOC schedule we could with limited travel.  We will hit the road in 2011.
Are there any teams you want to play either next season or in the future?

Peter Moosbruger: For the first time we will play an NCAA team in Carthage this fall.  We are excited to see how we stack up against them.  I am always excited to play teams like Westminster and Dayton, as we have formed a very healthy national rivalry.  I am hoping to land in season games against both of them…we will have to see how things play out.
And just so I can put this out there, I’m a former Charlotte player and was supposed to be on the team that took you to 3OT a few seasons back. Any chance there will be a rematch in the future? I know Coach DuVall would love another shot.

Peter Moosbruger: Funny you mention that…..I will leave you in suspense for that answer.

Thanks again for the interview Coach. I’ll be following Tommie lacrosse closely, as usual.

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About the Author: The Lax picked up his first stick when he stepped on campus at MCLA D2 school UNC Charlotte. After taking a short break, he returned to the field for independent UNCG. The Lax enjoys flowers, pictures of unicorns, long walks on the beach, and above all else, beating people with his D-Pole.

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