Rob Grella begins his third year as the Head Coach of the women's lacrosse team. He was named head coach on July 25, 2011 by Assistant Vice President/Director of Athletics, Robert E. Hartwell and is just the third head coach of the program.
In 2013, the Panthers continued their tradition of strong play by posting an 18-3 overall record and an 11-1 conference record. The Panthers reached the Northeast-10 Conference Championship game for the fourth straight year, but fell in their title defense to Le Moyne by an 8-6 score. The Brown and Gold earned their sixth consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament, where they rallied from an 8-3 deficit against Le Moyne in the opening round en route a 9-8 victory. The Panthers suffered a buzzer-beating 7-6 defeat to LIU-Post in the semifinals, as the Pioneers went on to win the title. Seven players were named to All-Conference teams, five were selected to All-Region teams and two were named to the IWLCA All-America First Team.
In 2012, Grella led the Panthers to a 16-3 record, posting an 11-1 record in the Northeast-10. The program won its third straight Northeast-10 Tournament championship with a 13-12 victory over Le Moyne, earning their fifth straight NCAA Tournament berth. The team fell in the first round of its title defense at the NCAA Tournament to C.W Post, the eventual national champions. Nine players earned All-Conference honors, with four First-Team honorees, the Defensive Player of the Year, two Second-Team selections and three freshmen earned All-Rookie status. Six were named to IWLCA All-Region teams, and three were named IWLCA All-Americans. One player was named CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-District, and two were named ECAC All-Stars. Four were recognized by Synapse Sports, with one First-Team All-American, two Second-Team All-Americans and one All-Rookie selection. Two were also selected to play in the DI-II North/South All Star Game.
Grella inherited an Adelphi program that has won three straight NCAA Division II National Championships, the first program in Division II to accomplish that feat. In all Adelphi has won five National Titles, the most of any program in the Division.
A 1997 and 2004 graduate of Adelphi University, Grella was a two-time First-Team All-American for the Panthers, helping the team to back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Division II National Final. He was also named the NCAA Division II Attackman and Player of the Year in 1996 and played in the Division I USILA North/South All-Star game in 1997.
Grella also left his mark on the Adelphi record books, where he currently sits second on the Division II list in single season goals with 59 and third on the career goals list with 140. He was also honored with induction into the Adelphi Athletics Hall of Fame in 2010.
As a coach, Grella has been on the sidelines of the Summit High School boys and girls lacrosse programs, most recently as the Head Coach of the girls lacrosse team, a position he has held for the past five years. In that time he has been named Union County Coach of the Year twice and led the team to three straight Union County Championships. His Summit High School team appeared in the New Jersey State Sectional Finals for the past three years and Grella was part of the selection process for the Under Armour All-America team this past spring.
