Steve Gartelman

Steve Gartelman enters his seventh season as the head coach of the Frostburg State men’s lacrosse program in the 2024-25 academic year, after being hired from a national search in the summer of 2018.

FSU enjoyed continued success in 2024, being nationally ranked the entire season and earning another trip to the ECC Championship Game. With a 13-4 record, the team tied its win total from the previous season, which included the program's first-ever victory over Seton Hill, as each of the four losses came against eventual National Tournament participants. On their way to receiving the two seed in the ECC, the team had a historic comeback victory over Molloy, winning 12-11 having trailed 8-1 in the first half.

Several players had distinguished performances, with a stunning four All-Americans selected by USILA in Bubba Love, Chase Buckwalter, Luke McCullough, and Seamus Kearney. They were joined by Austin Sipes, Owen McCallum, and Alex Walstrum in being named All-ECC. Love was also the ECC Offensive Player of the year and set the career scoring record along with tying the career goals record, scoring the second-most goals (49) and points (84) in a single season in program history.

The 2023 season began with a winning run of eight straight games, including a shocking upset over #1 Tampa that eventually led the team to become the #9 team in the USILA national poll. Despite losses to three ranked foes and a home loss to Molloy, FSU secured the #2 seed in the ECC Tournament. In a complete Semifinal performance, the Bobcats rolled past #3 Roberts Wesleyan 21-13. In the Championship, Frostburg got out to a fast start but couldn't hold on in a loss to #1 Mercy for another second-place finish.

With a 13-5 record, it was the most program wins since 2016 and tied for the fourth-most in school history. The team smashed every offensive record in the book, setting new program highs for goals (322), assists (213) and points (535). Jake Bowman had arguably the top individual season performance in program history, setting records for goals (67) and points (91) on his way to becoming a USILA All-American and Scholar All-American. Additionally, six players earned All-Conference honors, with three on the first team and three on the second team.

The Bobcats had a stellar 2022 season under Gartelman, posting a record of 11-8. FSU posted a 4-2 record inside the ECC, which was good for a conference tournament berth for the first time in the program’s eligibility. Included in that ECC tournament berth was a run all the way to the ECC Championship game.

In 2022, Gartelman guided sophomore Luke McCullough and junior Jake Bowman to USILA All-North Region honors, and All-ECC First Team honors. McCullough led the team in ground balls from non-faceoff players with 55, also causing 18 turnovers. Bowman finished second on the team in points (60), notching 32 goals and 28 points.

In his third season as the Bobcats’ bench boss, Gartelman guided Frostburg State to a 6-2 record in the condensed spring season. The 6-2 marker included a record of 2-0 in the ECC before that season was also shortened. In the five game win streak that opened up the 2021 campaign, FSU outscored their opponents by a combined tally of 82-30.

2021 saw sophomore Tanner Donaldson and senior Garret Colvin earn USILA All-American Honorable Mentions, as well as All-ECC First Team bids under the tutelage of Gartelman. Donaldson chipped in 6 goals and 10 assists (16 points) in the stout offensive season, and Colvin was a defensive menace registering 14 caused turnovers and accumulating 14 ground balls.

Gartelman had his Bobcats off to a blistering start in 2020 before the season was cut short. FSU was 5-0 in its first season at Division II that included a 16-8 upset of No. 19 Florida Southern and a 15-14 OT win over Lake Erie in the opener. Following the 5-0 start, FSU was receiving votes in the weekly USILA Top-20 poll.

The Bobcats scored 92 goals in five contests, while defensively, they were allowing just under eight goals per game.

In his first season, he led the Bobcats to their first ever ECAC Championship after three previous program appearances. The Bobcats hosted the ECAC Tournament and defeated Westminster (Pa.) 10-8 in the championship game.

Gartelman guided Frostburg to a 12-8 record to collect the most wins the program has had since the 2016 season.

He also guided junior Jimmy Lucas to All-CAC Second Team honors after notching a career-high in goals (23), points (29) and ground balls (23). Junior attack Paul Ruppert set a program record with 48 goals.

The Bobcats made a CAC Tournament appearance for the 2019 season and advanced to the semifinals for the fifth time since 2014.

Gartelman spent four seasons as the head coach at NCAA Division II Lake Erie College. During that time, he has led the Storm to 41 wins with six All-Americans.

Lake Erie, which consistently appears in the Top 20, won the ECAC Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament semifinals in 2015. That same season, the Storm were ranked No. 1 in the USILA weekly poll for five weeks.

Prior to serving as the head coach at Lake Erie, Gartelman was the program's top assistant in 2013 and 2014. The Storm won 22 games during that span and the '14 team won the program's first ECAC Division II Championship.

In 2013, the Storm posted a school record 12 wins (12-5) and earned the program's first NCAA Playoff bid.

Aside from his coaching duties at Lake Erie, Gartelman has served as camp director at Bill Pilat's Goalie School for the past four years.

Gartelman earned his bachelor's degree in strength & conditioning from Limestone College in 2012 and earned his MBA from Lake Erie in 2014.

A goalie at Limestone, Gartelman is the program's all-time leader in both goals against average (6.43) and wins (44). He is fourth in program history with 374 saves in his three seasons and is eighth in saves per game (7.48),

Gartelman takes over a Bobcat program that has won 85 games since being reinstated as a varsity sport prior to the 2011 campaign. Frostburg has appeared in seven-consecutive CAC Tournaments, including the league title game in 2015.