The East Coast Conference has announced that Chestnut Hill will join the league as an associate member in men’s lacrosse for the 2010 season.

The addition will bring the ECC to 11 members in the sport by 2010. The expansion includes associate members Wheeling Jesuit and Seton Hill, which bring their established programs to the conference, and full conference member Mercy, which will add the sport during the 2009-10 academic year.

“The opportunity to bring in another developing lacrosse program to our conference is great for Division II lacrosse and for the ECC,” said Commissioner Robert Dranoff.

Richard Carrington, the newly appointed head coach of the Chestnut Hill men’s lacrosse program, said competing against premier Division II competition will be a challenge for his first-year program, “But I feel that we have recruited the student-athletes who embrace this challenge and are eager to establish an identity for Chestnut Hill men's lacrosse.”

ECC men’s lacrosse programs have won 12 NCAA national championships and have appeared in all but five title games since 1974.