TJ Toivonen

On Staff this summer will be TJ Toivonen, assistant coach for Transylvania University. Trenten “TJ” Toivonen will begin his second season as a Pioneer assistant coach in the 2023 season.

Toivonen, the program’s all-time leader in caused turnovers and one of the first two Pioneer men’s lacrosse players to be selected to the USILA Senior All-Star game, joined Logan Otto’s coaching staff in his first campaign as the program’s head coach in 2022.

After completing an iconic five-year playing year with the Pioneers from 2016 through 2021, Toivonen began his next chapter with the Transylvania men’s lacrosse in a coaching capacity, where his leadership and expertise quickly helped elevate the program it its first season playing in the CCIW. Toivonen developed the conference’s First-Year Student Athlete of the Year as well as the Offensive Student-Athlete of the Year.

Faced with a full slate of new conference rivals, and facing high octane offenses week after week, Toivonen’s Pioneers excelled in their own end and the midfield, aside from scoring. The Pioneers rose to the challenge in a season that saw them take town #1 seeded Illinois Wesleyan and reach the CCIW Championship game, stepping into the 2022 season immediately as a threat in the conference.

Toivonen came into his new role at Transylvania already holding a variety of coaching experience, having joined Commonwealth Kings Lacrosse in 2018 as a coach for the youth travel lacrosse program based in Central Kentucky. The Transylvania alum has spent several seasons as a coach with the program, coaching a range of incoming freshmen to seniors in defensive fundamentals and transition play.

Prior to his current stint with Commonwealth Kings, Toivonen coached with Lacrosse Northwest, a youth lacrosse travel club based in Portland, Oregon near his hometown of Sherwood, Oregon. Toivonen presents nine total years of coaching experience overall, with one under his belt with the Pioneers.

In the spring of 2021, Toivonen completed an illustrious run with the Transylvania men’s lacrosse program as a student-athlete, serving as the foundation of the program’s first four appearances in the NCAA Tournament. As a defender and long-stick midfielder for the Pioneers, Toivonen was a three-time conference Defensive Player of the Year and completed his career ranked sixth all-time in NCAA Division III men’s lacrosse caused turnovers with 182.

In his final match at Transylvania, Toivonen illustrated one final image of his all-around versatility and athleticism with two goals, four ground balls, and a caused turnover in Transylvania’s NCAA Tournament first-round match against Colorado College.

Prior to graduation, Toivonen earned IMLCA All-Region Honorable Mention as a defender and was named the 2021 Pioneer Men’s Sport Athlete of the Year at the annual RAFY awards.

In September 2021, Toivonen’s professional dreams were made a reality when he was drafted 31st overall in the National Lacrosse Association draft by the Groove LC Lacrosse team.

Toivonen is based in Lexington.