Keith Cromwell named St. Dominic girls lacrosse coach after eight years leading the Manhasset boys program

The next coach of the St. Dominic High School girls lacrosse team is someone athletic director Chris Mueller thought was too unrealistic to even approach for an interview. But once the two connected on another topic and Mueller received the impression that this former state champion coach would consider heading the program, those plans changed.

Keith Cromwell, who won two state championships during his eight years as the Manhasset boys lacrosse coach, officially was named the St. Dominic girls lacrosse coach Thursday.

Cromwell led the Manhasset boys to the Nassau Class B final in the spring. They lost to Garden City, 13-5.

“Other than marrying my wife and when my children were born, it’s probably one of the happiest moments of my life,” Mueller said with a laugh. “It was huge. I didn’t expect it. And when he opened the door a little bit, I kicked it in. You don’t get many chances to hire people like that.”

Cromwell has a son, Aiden, entering his senior year, and a daughter, Alexis, entering her sophomore year, who play lacrosse for St. Dominic. He said the opportunity to coach his daughter every day and get to watch his son play more played key roles in his decision to leave Manhasset.

“I’m really excited about the opportunity and it’s a lot of mixed emotions,” Cromwell said. “It’s very bittersweet leaving Manhasset and all the people I met over there — the coaches, the administration, the players and the families. It wasn’t an easy decision by any means, but I think ultimately, my son being a senior up that neck of the woods, and with my daughter trying to carve out a path and the success that their teams had, I just ultimately thought it was a really good opportunity and something I’m ready to dive all-in on.”

St. Dominic reached its first CHSAA Class AA final in program history last year during an 11-5 season. The Bayhawks lost to St. Anthony’s, 16-2.

“He’s the type of person who can keep this program growing and sustain it at a high level,” Mueller said. “I couldn’t think of a better outcome than finding this guy to coach my girls team.”

Cromwell played for Hicksville High School and was a three-time All-American at Rutgers. He was Newsday’s Nassau boys Coach of the Year in 2022, when Manhasset won the first of back-to-back state Class C championships.

Cromwell has served as an assistant coach for some of his daughter’s club teams, but now he’ll be fully committed to mastering the girls game.

“I’ve spoken with a bunch of people and they’ve always said when you dive in with the girls, just treat them the way you treat the boys, so definitely going to be a little bit of a learning curve,” Cromwell said. “But I’ve been around some good people on the club circuit . . .  so I’ve kind of been slowly taking it all in and trying to digest it and understand it and I’ve really become a fan of the game.”

Cromwell said the decision to leave Manhasset was “harder than you can probably imagine.” But when he spoke with Mueller and reflected on the chance to see his kids play more, the opportunity intrigued him.

“It wasn’t something I was searching for,” Cromwell said. “We were chatting, Mr. Mueller and I, and it came up kind of loosely to start and then it just got a little bit more legs as the days progressed.”

“I said, ‘If you would consider it, this is a home run for us,’ ” Mueller said. “There’s not another person that I would rather pick over this guy to come coach my girls team.”