GEORGETOWN, Texas – Southwestern University’s lacrosse team has added two volunteer assistant coaches to their staff in preparation for their first ever season of NCAA sanctioned men’s lacrosse at Southwestern and in the state of Texas.

Kyle Swarts will bring extensive knowledge of defensive strategies to the Pirate squad. Swarts began his lacrosse career in Houston, Texas at St. John’s School and continued his high school career at The Hill School in Pennsylvania. He continued playing at the collegiate level, serving as a defenseman for SCAC school Colorado College.

Upon graduation Swarts moved to Austin and got involved with refereeing high school lacrosse on a part-time basis. He is a full-time firefighter with the Pedemales Fire Department.

Swarts’ defensive knowledge and experience will help Southwestern create a stalwart defensive unit and continue the winning tradition of Pirate Lacrosse.

Also joining the staff is Dan Benson who will be primarily responsible for working with the goalkeepers.

Benson is a native of Fairfax, VA where he graduated from Fairfax High School. He played goalie for their varsity team under then Head Coach Marty Joyner and was an All-District, All-Region and All-State selection as well as being named an All-American in 2002.

Benson was invited to try out for the US U-19 men’s lacrosse team and attended the tryout camp at UMBC in 2002 before heading to Rutgers University on scholarship. He was a member of the Scarlet Knights from 2002-2004 including the 2003 team that went 10-5, one of the most successful seasons at Rutgers.

Southwestern will begin their inaugural season on Monday, January 18th with the first day of official spring practice. Their first game is on February 25th at Whittier College in Whittier, CA while their first home contest is on March 13th against Trine University at 1:00 pm.