Mickey Hover
Head Coach | 11th Season | 79-80
Mickey Hover is the first head coach in the history of the Georgian Court University men’s lacrosse program. Hired in December 2014, Coach Hover enters his 11th season with Lions in 2026.
In 10 seasons, Coach Hover has guided the Lions to a 79-80 record including two CACC regular season and three CACC tournament championships.
Georgian Court set program records in 2023 with 12 wins and a perfect 7-0 mark in CACC play. Hover was named the CACC Coach of the Year as the Lions won the conference regular season and advanced to the tournament finals. The Lions were just as successful in the classroom with Daniel Burnham earning the programs first College Sports Communicators Academic All-American award and Tallen Smith named the CACC Top-17 award winner.
The Lions matched that record for wins with 12 in the 2025 and won their third CACC Tournament Championship. Georgian Court also earned the CACC's first-ever automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament with the win and played in their first NCAA Regional Tournament game. The Lions had four make the All-CACC Team with Brett Bridges and Vincent Burkhart also earned USILA All-Region honors.
Hover and the Lions won the inaugural CACC regular season and tournament championships in 2018. He then went on to win another CACC Tournament in 2019 giving the Lions the first two CACC Tournament Championships in conference history. He was also named the first CACC Coach of the Year following the 2018 season. In addition to their 2019 championship, the Lions were voted the CACC Team Sportsmanship Award by the leagues coaches.
In 2020 Goalkeeper Austin Geissel earned a Division II All-Media 2nd Team All-American accolade. In addition Tanner Lee was a 2020 Scholar All-American.
The 2024 season saw another postseason berth for the Lions who earned the No. 3 seed. They won their opening round game before falling in the CACC Tournament semifinals. The Lions put five on the All-CACC team with Brett Bridges and Kyle Harms making the First Team. They set a program record with Bridges, Harms and Vincent Burkhart all making the All-Region team, the first time the Lions ever put three on an All-Region team. In the classroom, the Lions had 12 make the CACC All-Academic Team, five on the CSC Academic All-District Team and a program record four named USILA Scholar-Athletes.
During Hover's tenure the Lions have earned 17 First Team All-CACC selections, 15 Second Team selections and had CACC Players of the Year Michael Saladino in 2018 and Austin Geissel in 2019. Brett Bridges won the CACC Rookie of the Year award in 2023.
Jeffrey Galatola went on to represent Georgian Court nationally as the senior received selection to the 77th-annual USILA/Nike North-South Senior All-Star Game, which took place May 25th, 2018 in Providence, Rhode Island. He was the first of five Lions to appear in the All-Star game which now includes Austin Geissel in 2021, Daniel Burnham in 2022, Michael Ventresca in 2023 and Kyle Harms in 2024.
Coach Hover has lent his expertise on multiple national committees including the East Regional Ranking Committee, All American Committee, Coaches Connection Committee, and has been a member of the Poll Committee for Division II.
Hover, who played a vital role in the launch and development of the men's lacrosse program as an assistant coach at Gwynedd-Mercy University (2008-12), joined the Lions after two seasons as head coach at Immaculata University in Immaculata, Pennsylvania. A member of NCAA Division III and the Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC), the Montgomery High School (N.J.) graduate increased the Might Macs' roster size by 86% over two years with the addition of 39 student-athletes. His squad excelled in the classroom as well, posting the second-highest team GPA among conference teams in 2014.
While at Gwynedd-Mercy, Hover recruited 97 student-athletes over a five-year span. His squad reached the CSAC finals in 2010 and 2012 as he coached 18 all-conference players during his tenure.
Before stepping into coaching, Hover served as a U.S. scout for the New England Blackwolves (and now-defunct Philadelphia Wings) of the National Lacrosse League.
Hover is a 2008 graduate of Southern New Hampshire University (Northeast-10) where he received his undergraduate degree in Sports Management. He earned his Master's Degree in Elementary Education from Gwynedd-Mercy in 2013. Upon graduation, Hover was a highly regarded goaltender and was selected for the 40-man roster for Team USA in the World Indoor Lacrosse Championships. He also spent two seasons as a goalie for the Philadelphia Wings of the National Lacrosse League, and for the North American Lacrosse League’s Jersey Jesters.
| Mickey Hover Year-by-Year |
| Year |
School |
Overall |
Conference |
| 2013 |
Immaculata |
3-11 |
2-4 |
| 2014 |
Immaculata |
1-13 |
0-6 |
|
Immaculata Totals |
4-24 |
2-10 |
| 2016 |
Georgian Court |
2-13 |
0-0 |
| 2017 |
Georgian Court |
5-11 |
0-0 |
| 2018 |
Georgian Court *! |
11-6 |
5-0 |
| 2019 |
Georgian Court ! |
10-8 |
4-1 |
| 2020 |
Georgian Court ^ |
4-5 |
0-0 |
| 2021 |
Georgian Court |
8-5 |
3-3 |
| 2022 |
Georgian Court |
6-11 |
3-3 |
| 2023 |
Georgian Court * |
12-6 |
7-0 |
| 2024 |
Georgian Court |
9-8 |
6-2 |
| 2025 |
Georgian Court ! |
12-7 |
7-1 |
|
Georgian Court Totals |
79-80 |
35-10 |
|
Career Totals |
83-104 |
37-20 |
| * CACC Regular Season Champion |
| ! CACC Tournament Champion |
| ^ Shortened season played spring 2021 due to COVID-19 |
