Randy Mearns
Encyclopedia
Randy Mearns is a former lacrosse
player.
Mearns was inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2006 following a lengthy career in the Ontario Lacrosse Association
, Major Series Lacrosse
and Western Lacrosse Association
Canadian professional box lacrosse leagues as a player.
for 5 years. In 1990, Mearns led the team to their first Minto Cup
championship since 1950, and was awarded the "Jim McConaghy Memorial Cup" for Minto Cup M.V.P. He was later given the "B.W. Evans Award" for Top Graduating Player. Mearns his ranked 36th all time in Canadian Junior A lacrosse
assists (regular season and playoffs combined) with 348.
player at Canisius College
from 1990 to 1992 who is currently 13th all-time in Division I career points-per-game (PPG), having scored 95 goals and 95 assists for 190 career points in 39 games. He is also the all-time leading scorer at Canisius.
's Buffalo Bandits
and Rochester Knighthawks
, acting as captain of the 1997 NLL champion Knighthawk team. Since his retirement from professional lacrosse, he has served as the color commentator for the Bandits' radio broadcasts alongside play-by-play man John Gurtler
.
. Mearns has won 58 games in his 10 years of coaching at Canisius, and led the Griffins to their first ever NCAA tournament bid in 2008 where they lost to Syracuse in the first round. Mearns has provided development for his players towards the professional ranks, including Mark Miyashita who graduated from Canisius in 2003 and was the first overall selection in the 2003 National Lacrosse League draft. In a preseason coaches poll, Canisius was picked to repeat in 2009 as MAAC
champions. However after a rough start to the season where they lost six straight including 3 one-goal losses, the Griffs ended 2009 on a 4 and 3 run.
Lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...
player.
Mearns was inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2006 following a lengthy career in the Ontario Lacrosse Association
Ontario Lacrosse Association
Ontario Lacrosse Association is a sanctioned sports body in Ontario, Canada. Empowered by the Canadian Lacrosse Association, the OLA controls and regulates Minor level, Junior level and Senior level Lacrosse...
, Major Series Lacrosse
Major Series Lacrosse
Major Series Lacrosse is a Senior A box lacrosse league based out of Ontario, Canada sanctioned by the Ontario Lacrosse Association. Most of the players in the league play or have played in the National Lacrosse League. Each year, the playoff teams battle for the right to compete against the...
and Western Lacrosse Association
Western Lacrosse Association
The Western Lacrosse Association is an amateur league of men's Senior A box lacrosse sanctioned by the Canadian Lacrosse Association. It consists of seven teams, based in cities throughout southwestern British Columbia. Each year, the playoff teams battle for the right to compete against the...
Canadian professional box lacrosse leagues as a player.
Junior career
Mearns played for the St. Catharines AthleticsSt. Catharines Athletics Jr. A
The St. Catharines Athletics are a Junior "A" box lacrosse team from St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. The Athletics play in the OLA Junior A Lacrosse League.-Minto Cup Championships:...
for 5 years. In 1990, Mearns led the team to their first Minto Cup
Minto Cup
The Minto Cup is awarded annually to the champion junior men's lacrosse team of Canada.It was donated in 1901 by the Governor-General, Lord Minto, and from 1901 until 1909 awarded to the senior men's champion of Canada...
championship since 1950, and was awarded the "Jim McConaghy Memorial Cup" for Minto Cup M.V.P. He was later given the "B.W. Evans Award" for Top Graduating Player. Mearns his ranked 36th all time in Canadian Junior A lacrosse
Canadian Lacrosse Association
The Canadian Lacrosse Association , founded in 1867, is the governing body of lacrosse in Canada. It conducts national junior and senior championship tournaments for men and women in both field and box lacrosse...
assists (regular season and playoffs combined) with 348.
College career
Mearns was an All-American NCAA lacrosseLacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...
player at Canisius College
Canisius College
Canisius College is a private Roman Catholic college in Buffalo, New York, United States. The college was founded in 1870 by members of the Society of Jesus from Germany and is named after St. Peter Canisius. The college is one of 28 institutions in the Association of Jesuit Colleges and...
from 1990 to 1992 who is currently 13th all-time in Division I career points-per-game (PPG), having scored 95 goals and 95 assists for 190 career points in 39 games. He is also the all-time leading scorer at Canisius.
Professional career
Mearns played professionally for the NLLNational Lacrosse League
The National Lacrosse League is a men's professional indoor lacrosse league in North America. It currently has nine teams; three in Canada and six in the United States. Unlike other lacrosse leagues which play in the summer, the NLL plays its games in the winter and spring. Each year, the playoff...
's Buffalo Bandits
Buffalo Bandits
The Buffalo Bandits are a team in the National Lacrosse League . They play at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, New York. The Bandits played in the Major Indoor Lacrosse League from 1992 to 1997, until the MILL turned into the NLL in 1998....
and Rochester Knighthawks
Rochester Knighthawks
The Rochester Knighthawks are a professional lacrosse team in the National Lacrosse League. They play in Rochester, New York at the Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial. The Knighthawks were previously members of the Major Indoor Lacrosse League from 1995 to 1997...
, acting as captain of the 1997 NLL champion Knighthawk team. Since his retirement from professional lacrosse, he has served as the color commentator for the Bandits' radio broadcasts alongside play-by-play man John Gurtler
John Gurtler
John Gurtler II is an American sportscaster from Orchard Park, New York. He is most notable for having succeeded Ted Darling as television play-by-play announcer for the Buffalo Sabres, a position he held from 1992 until 1995...
.
Coaching career
He is currently the head coach of the Canisius men's lacrosse team and also was an assistant coach on the Canadian national team that won the gold medal at the 2006 World Lacrosse Championship2006 World Lacrosse Championship
2006 Warrior World Lacrosse Championship, held in London, Ontario from 13–22 July 2006, was won by Team Canada and featured a record twenty-one competing nations...
. Mearns has won 58 games in his 10 years of coaching at Canisius, and led the Griffins to their first ever NCAA tournament bid in 2008 where they lost to Syracuse in the first round. Mearns has provided development for his players towards the professional ranks, including Mark Miyashita who graduated from Canisius in 2003 and was the first overall selection in the 2003 National Lacrosse League draft. In a preseason coaches poll, Canisius was picked to repeat in 2009 as MAAC
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference is a college athletic conference which operates in the northeastern United States. MAAC teams compete in the NCAA's Division I. Most of the members are Catholic or formerly Catholic institutions; the only exception is the private but secular Rider...
champions. However after a rough start to the season where they lost six straight including 3 one-goal losses, the Griffs ended 2009 on a 4 and 3 run.
NLL
| Regular Season | Playoffs | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | LB | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | LB | PIM | ||
| 1993 | Buffalo | 8 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 27 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 | ||
| 1995 | Rochester | 8 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 29 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 2 | ||
| 1996 | Rochester | 10 | 10 | 24 | 34 | 63 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 0 | ||
| 1997 | Rochester | 10 | 9 | 17 | 26 | 55 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 16 | 0 | ||
| 1998 | Rochester | 11 | 7 | 20 | 27 | 44 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 1999 | Rochester | 10 | 9 | 18 | 27 | 50 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 18 | 0 | ||
| 2000 | Rochester | 11 | 6 | 20 | 26 | 89 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 19 | 2 | ||
| 2001 | Rochester | 12 | 2 | 17 | 19 | 75 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 2002 | Buffalo | 15 | 14 | 24 | 38 | 66 | 4 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| NLL Totals | 95 | 62 | 152 | 214 | 498 | 70 | 13 | 4 | 26 | 30 | 84 | 8 | |||
OLA
| Regular Season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1985 | Niagara Warriors | OLA Jr B OLA Junior B Lacrosse League The Ontario Junior B Lacrosse League is a box lacrosse league sanctioned by the Ontario Lacrosse Association in Ontario, Canada.-History:The Junior "B" level of the Ontario Lacrosse Association has been around since at least 1964... |
2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |||||||
| 1985 | St. Catharines Athletics St. Catharines Athletics Jr. A The St. Catharines Athletics are a Junior "A" box lacrosse team from St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. The Athletics play in the OLA Junior A Lacrosse League.-Minto Cup Championships:... |
OLA Jr A OLA Junior A Lacrosse League The Ontario Junior A Lacrosse League is a box lacrosse league in Ontario, Canada sanctioned by the Ontario Lacrosse Association. The playoff champion moves on to compete for the National Championship—the Minto Cup.-The teams:-Playoff Champions:... |
4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | |||||||
| 1986 | St. Catharines Athletics | OLA Jr A | 20 | 15 | 25 | 40 | 8 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 2 | ||
| 1987 | St. Catharines Athletics | OLA Jr A | 25 | 33 | 70 | 103 | 23 | 9 | 10 | 20 | 30 | 8 | ||
| 1988 | St. Catharines Athletics | OLA Jr A | 15 | 28 | 33 | 61 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 20 | 2 | ||
| 1989 | St. Catharines Athletics | OLA Jr A | 24 | 31 | 61 | 92 | 17 | 11 | 7 | 18 | 25 | 2 | ||
| 1990 | St. Catharines Athletics | OLA Jr A | 18 | 39 | 62 | 101 | 11 | 9 | 16 | 39 | 55 | 8 | ||
| 1991 | Brampton Excelsiors Brampton Excelsiors (MSL) The Brampton Excelsiors are Senior "A" box lacrosse team from Brampton, Ontario, Canada. The Excelsiors play in the Major Series Lacrosse Senior "A" Lacrosse League.-Season-by-season results:... |
MSL Major Series Lacrosse Major Series Lacrosse is a Senior A box lacrosse league based out of Ontario, Canada sanctioned by the Ontario Lacrosse Association. Most of the players in the league play or have played in the National Lacrosse League. Each year, the playoff teams battle for the right to compete against the... |
13 | 14 | 14 | 28 | 2 | 6 | ||||||
| 6 | 6 | |||||||||||||
| 1992 | Brampton Excelsiors | MSL | 14 | 12 | 12 | 24 | 2 | 12 | 14 | 11 | 25 | 6 | ||
| 1993 | Brampton Excelsiors | MSL | 15 | 22 | 31 | 53 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 6 | ||
| 1994 | Six Nations Chiefs Six Nations Chiefs The Six Nations Chiefs are Senior "A" box lacrosse team from Six Nations, Ontario. The chiefs play in the Major Series Lacrosse Senior "A" League.-See also:* Six Nations Arrows - an affiliated Junior "A" box lacrosse team.-External links:* * * *... |
MSL | 20 | 15 | 33 | 48 | 43 | 18 | 7 | 24 | 31 | 31 | ||
| 1995 | Six Nations Chiefs | MSL | 18 | 15 | 33 | 48 | 29 | 14 | 4 | 20 | 24 | 19 | ||
| 1996 | Six Nations Chiefs | MSL | 18 | 12 | 22 | 34 | 33 | 6 | 1 | 9 | 10 | |||
| 1997 | Niagara Falls Gamblers | MSL | 15 | 12 | 29 | 41 | 12 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 31 | 24 | ||
| 1998 | Buffalo | MSL | 10 | 7 | 11 | 18 | 4 | 9 | 5 | 13 | 18 | 4 | ||
| 1999 | Brampton Excelsiors | MSL | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | ||||||||
| 19 | 9 | 26 | 35 | 2 | ||||||||||
| Junior A Totals | 106 | 148 | 253 | 401 | 65 | 45 | 43 | 95 | 138 | 22 | ||||
| Senior A Totals | 125 | 110 | 188 | 298 | 135 | 109 | 63 | 134 | 197 | 92 | ||||
Canisius College
| Season | GP | G | A | Pts | PPG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 16 | 45 | 49 | 94 | 5.58 | |
| 1991 | 13 | 30 | 18 | 48 | 3.69 | |
| 1992 | 10 | 20 | 28 | 48 | 4.80 | |
| Totals | 39 | 95 | 95 | 190 | 4.87 |