WORCESTER, Mass. – Clark University Director of Athletics & Recreation Trish Cronin announced the hiring of Justin Dionne as the next head coach of the women's lacrosse program. Dionne will become the third head coach in program history.
"I first want to thank Trish and the entire search committee for this incredible opportunity. I'm excited and honored to lead this program and become part of such a great community," said Dionne. "I'm looking forward to getting to know this group, building something special together and getting right to work. Go Cougars!"
"We are excited to welcome Justin to Clark University and have him lead our women's lacrosse program. His experience as a head coach, along with his track record of developing student-athletes both on and off the field, made him an exciting hire for our department," said Cronin. "We look forward to seeing the impact he will have on our student-athletes and the future of Clark women's lacrosse."
Dionne joins Clark after serving as the head coach at American International College (AIC), where he led a program that produced multiple IWLCA Academic Honor Roll selections and maintained a team GPA above 3.4. Under his leadership, AIC also had an All-NE10 Third Team selection who became just the eighth player in program history to record 100 career goals.
Dionne arrived at AIC after serving as the head coach at Dean College during the 2024 and 2025 seasons. He led the Bulldogs to their second-ever postseason appearance in 2025 and the highest seeding in program history in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament. During his tenure, he coached three All-Conference selections and helped develop several of the program's top student-athletes. In 2024, Mackenzie Fillion was named the College's NCAA Woman of the Year and GNAC Athlete of the Year nominee, while Natalie Peterson and Haley Gaunt earned the College's Woman Athlete of the Year and Senior Athlete of the Year honors, respectively.
Academically, the Bulldogs earned IWLCA Academic Honor Squad recognition in both seasons under Dionne. In 2025, the team posted a cumulative GPA of 3.70.
In addition to his coaching responsibilities, Dionne served as Dean's Athletic Facilities Coordinator, managing and coordinating practice, game and class schedules for the College's athletic facilities while providing weekly schedules to athletics staff.
Prior to his time at Dean, Dionne served as the offensive coordinator for the Wabash College men's lacrosse program from 2020-2023. In addition to overseeing the offense, he managed team travel logistics, monitored academic progress, analyzed game film and assisted with recruiting efforts. During his tenure, Wabash produced multiple All-North Coast Athletic Conference selections, including Ethan Stonis, who scored 54 goals during the 2023 season.
Dionne also brings extensive club coaching experience, having joined Penguins Select Lacrosse Club in June 2023. There, he led weekday team practices and conducted smaller training sessions focused on developing attacking skills. Previously, he served as a varsity assistant coach and junior varsity head coach with CFL Vikings Lacrosse Club and Timber Creek High School during the summer and fall of 2019.
A four-year member of the lacrosse team at Hiram College, Dionne earned his bachelor's degree in communications in 2019. He started 55 of the team's 56 games from 2016-2019, recording 39 goals and 69 assists for 108 career points. In 2019, he led the team in assists with a program-record 26 and collected 52 ground balls as a senior. He finished his collegiate career with 110 ground balls and earned All-North Coast Athletic Conference recognition following his senior season.
