Stags Coaching Staff : Stags Lacrosse

High School Coach - Sanford Erdahl, Head Coach - Middleton High School

Prior to being named the Head Coach for Middleton High School in August of 2017, Sanford Erdahl was an Assistant Coach/Defensive Coordinator with the Stoughton High School Boys Lacrosse program, a position that he held from 2011 to 2017. During his time as a coach with Stoughton, he was named the Madison Area Lacrosse Association High School Boy's Assistant Coach of the Year in 2014 and 2015. He was also named the Wisconsin Lacrosse Federation High School Boy's Assistant Coach of the Year in 2013. During his tenure, Stoughton played in the Division 2 State Finals for three straight years (2014-2016).

In 2019, Sanford led his Middleton Cardinals team to a State Finals Appearance, a Big Badger Conference Championship and was also named the conference Coach of the Year. He led our Stags Varsity team to Championships at the Madison Capital Classic in July of 2019, the Cow Tipper in October of 2020, and Luck O' the Draw in June of 2021.

Coach Ferd was also the High School Boy's Director for the Wisconsin Lacrosse Federation from 2014 to 2016, where he ran coaching clinics and assisted in the development of new club programs throughout Wisconsin. Ferd was the Head Coach of the Dane County Coyotes Summer 2018 2019/2020 team, who won the Madison Classic tournament. He has been a Coach for Badger Prime Lacrosse and also led the Fall 2018 Middleton Lacrosse Academy 2019/2020 team.

He was a founder of the Saulty Dogs Lacrosse Team, a summer and fall club team. Ferd was a goalie during his tenure as a Stoughton High School varsity player and has trained goalies for several years, with several of his students receiving college scholarships.

High School Coach - Dylan Baier, Head Coach - Sauk Prairie High School

dylan.baier@saukprairieschools.org

Dylan is the Head Coach for Sauk Prairie High School Lacrosse. Prior to that, Dylan was an assistant in Sauk Prairie for 11 years. Dylan played on the inaugural team in Sauk Prairie and has been there ever since.

Some of Dylan's accomplishments on and off the field are: 2 State Championship Titles, 4 State Championship appearances, Badgerland Assistant Coach of the Year (4 times). Dylan also served as VP - Boys Lacrosse for Badgerland Lacrosse for 2 years.

Coach Baier led the Stags JV team to the Championship at The Cow Tipper in October 2019 and at Top Cheddar in October of 2020. He will make sure each player gets the attention and respect that they need and deserve.

14U Coach - David Utterback, Assistant Coach - Middleton High School

dautterback@gmail.com

David Utterback began his lacrosse playing career with the Middleton Lacrosse Club in 7th Grade. Dave was a defensive long pole on the very first Middleton High School varsity lacrosse team.

After high school, Coach Utterback went on the play for the University of Wisconsin Lacrosse Club, where he excelled as a face-off specialist. After his playing career, Dave committed as a coach for the Middleton Youth Program for 4 years.

Dave was an assistant coach during the Summer of 2018 for the Dane County Coyotes U12 and 2020/2021 teams.

During the Fall of 2018, he was the Head Coach of the Middleton Lacrosse Academy's 2020/2021 club team.

He also led our Stags 14U team to a Championship at the Blue Ox Tournament in June of 2019.

14U Coach - Andy Schantz, Head Coach - Sun Prairie High School

andy.schantz@shjms.org

Andy Schantz began playing lacrosse as a freshman at Notre Dame Academy in Green Bay in 2002, as both an offensive and defensive middie. Upon graduating, he went on to play for UW-Stevens Point, who were then a part of the MCLA, and also transitioned to the attack position. He spent a few years playing for Mad Cow, the local men's team as well.

After college he began his coaching career with the Sun Prairie U11 team in 2015. He spent 2016 coaching the Sun Prairie U15s for one year before eventually taking the head coaching job at Sun Prairie High School in 2017, where he's been ever since. He has also coached various summer travel teams, including SP Elite, Dane County Coyotes, and Stags. He has been with Stags Lacrosse since their inaugural year, mainly with the U14 teams.

Andy is currently a middle school science teacher in Sun Prairie, and enjoys coaching to spread his love of the game and helping the younger players improve in the great game that is lacrosse.

14U Coach - Nick Fiske, Assistant Coach - Sun Prairie High School / Edgewood College / Madison Milkmen

nickfiske27@gmail.com

Nick is a sophomore transfer at Madison college. Before Madison College, Nick graduated from Sun Prairie High School in 2018 and attended Concordia University-Chicago, playing NCAA DIII lacrosse in 2018-2019. In fall of 2020, Nick will be attending classes and playing NCAA DIII lacrosse at Edgewood College pursuing a degree in business.

Along with being a college student, Nick is also an Assistant JV Coach at Sun Prairie High School. During the off-season, Nick enjoys training for future season and playing video games with his friends.

12U Coach/Program Director - Joe Rocco, Assistant Coach - Middleton High School

joseph.michael.rocco@gmail.com

Joe Rocco began playing lacrosse in 8th grade as a long pole defender for the first ever Middleton youth team. As a high school player, Joe played multiple positions and lettered on the first ever Middleton High School Varsity team as a senior in 2009.

Joe started his coaching career with the Middleton Youth Lacrosse program in 2011 as an assistant coach and was the 14U Head Coach in 2018.

In Summer 2018, Joe was as a defensive assistant for the Dane County Coyotes 12U team. The team won the Lax Geneva tournament and was invited to nationals. In Fall 2018, Joe coached Middleton Lacrosse Academy's JV team, which placed in several tournaments.

Joe became the Offensive Coordinator of the Middleton High School JV team in 2019 at coached his team to a 14-2 record. Most recently, Joe is the Offensive Coordinator for the MHS Varsity team for 2022. In Summer 2019, he became the Head Coach of our Stags 12U team which won the Blue Ox Tournament in June of 2019.

Joe graduated from UW-Madison in 2014 and is a Credit Analyst at John Deere Financial in Madison. Joe lives in Middleton with his wife Marta, whom he married in August 2019.

12U Coach - Ben Tiller

bctlaw@yahoo.com

Ben fell in love with lacrosse as an elementary schooler in western Pennsylvania. He moved to Colorado in the early nineties, where he played midfield for Douglas County High School. He played his college lacrosse for the Western State College Mountaineers, where he earned Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Conference all conference honors at midfield (2002) and attack (2003). He joined the University of Oregon Men's Lacrosse program in the fall of 2006 as an assistant coach, and helped lead the Ducks to the 2007 MCLA national championship game. He took over as head coach for the 2008 season.

Ben moved to Montana (a lax desert) that fall and filled the lacrosse void by coaching youth ice hockey for 5 years. He is a USA Hockey Level 4 certified coach, and continues to seek out innovation and professional development in all of his coaching activities. His experience at the youth level has taught him that if it isn't fun, it isn't worth doing. He has adopted a coaching philosophy rooted in relentless positivity that aims to teach kids that they are capable of things they never thought possible.

He's glad to be back on the turf introducing the next generation to the joy he's always found in the fastest game on two feet.

12U Coach - Josh Holler, Assistant Coach - DeForest High School

joshholler7@gmail.com

Josh Holler began his lacrosse career in high school where he played for Sauk Prairie. His senior year, he was conference player of the year, a first-team all-conference midfielder, and was a part of Sauk Prairie's second state championship team in 2017. After graduating, he helped coach Sauk Prairie in 2018. After leaving Sauk Prairie to attend the University of La Crosse, he helped coach the La Crosse Lacrosse club team in 2022. Currently, he is an assistant lacrosse coach for Deforest High School.

Josh Is currently a special education teacher at Eagle Point Elementary School in Deforest. He enjoys working with young athletes and helping them improve in all aspects of their lives.

10U Coach - Zach Norgrove - Kalamazoo College

zachnorgrove25@gmail.com

Zach started playing lacrosse back in 2009 for a local Michigan travel lacrosse team called the Blues Brothers. He went on to play at the varsity level all 4 years at Walled Lake Central High School in Michigan and was a Captain his Senior year. Zach played Division 3 Lacrosse as a middie for Kalamazoo College and just recently graduated in 2021 with a major in business with a concentration in Marketing and a minor in Psychology.

He lives in Middleton and works locally. Zach gets great enjoyment from helping younger players develop their fundamental lacrosse skills.

10U Coach - Luke Quakenbush, Edgewood College

lquakenbush@edgewood.edu

Luke is a 2021 graduate from Verona High School. He is currently a freshman goalie at Division 3 Edgewood College. Coach Quakenbush is focusing his college studies on business. During the summer, Luke enjoys hanging with friends and practicing lacrosse.

10U Coach - Dustin Tibbetts, Kalamazoo College

dustinctibbetts@gmail.com

Dustin started playing lacrosse when he was 7 years old for a team called the Muskies. He quickly fell in love with the game and played year-round lacrosse for local school and travel teams.

Dustin played college lacrosse for Division 3 Kalamazoo College where he played Attack and graduated in 2021 with a major in Computer Science. During his time at Kalamazoo College, Coach Tibbetts helped run multiple summer camps to help younger players grow not only their skills, but also their love for the game.

Goalie Coach - Jace Bauer, UW-Madison Lacrosse Club

jacebauer10@gmail.com

Jace Bauer started playing lacrosse in 4th grade, and was a three-year varsity starter at Middleton High School. Jace was first team All State in 2021 at the goalie postition, and an all-star at the national Can-Am Tournament/Showcase in Indianapolis. He received a Division 1 offer from Hampton University, but decided to attend UW-Madison and will play on their top ranked club team.

In the offseason, Jace played for Stags and Badger Prime, and now is very excited to join the Stags coaching staff.

FOGO Coach - Zach Prichard, Edgewood College

zacharyprichard21@gmail.com

Zach played lacrosse since the youth level and within his early High School years he began to focus on the faceoff position. While attending Middleton High School he participated in the 2019 Wisconsin State Championship game and was mentored under a current Division One FOGO. He started on Varsity for 2 years and then committed to Edgewood College.

Zach has an extensive list of training and experience at the faceoff position. He has attended various Faceoff Factory and Faceoff Academy camps around the Midwest, trained with top FOGOs like Greg Gurenlian and Trevor Baptiste. In 2019 he competed in the Faceoff Academy National Showcase in New Jersey. He has played on multiple club teams including Stags, Alpha, Legends, and War Eagles where he traveled the country playing at high level tournaments. He has continued to learn everything about the Face off position and adapting to the new rules as they change.

Stags Coaching Staff