Justin Ward, a two-time All-American as a player at Loyola University Maryland and a veteran of Patriot League coaching, returned to the Greyhounds' sideline in June 2025 as an assistant coach.
Ward graduated from Loyola in 2014 after a decorated career that saw him help the Greyhounds to the 2012 NCAA Championship and three total appearances in the NCAA Championships.
After graduation, Ward entered the coaching ranks, first at Georgetown from 2015-17 and since then at the U.S. Military Academy.
At Army West Point, Ward led several of the most high-powered offenses in the nation, including this year’s unit that ranks third in NCAA Division I with 14.21 goals per game.
He joined the Black Knights’ staff for the 2018 season and helped engineer a turnaround from a 5-8 record that year to 13-5 and a berth in the NCAA Championships in 2019.
Overall, Army West Point teams have gone 79-32 (.712) in the time that Ward has been on the sidelines. He started his tenure in the Hudson Valley as an assistant coach in July 2017 and was elevated to offensive coordinator in 2020; he added the title of recruiting coordinator in 2021 and has played a critical role in shaping the Black Knights on the field.
Ward has mentored two Tewaaraton Award finalists at Army West Point in Brendan Nichtern (2022) and Jackson Eicher (2025). Three players have combined to win four Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year Awards under his direction in Nichtern (2021, 2022), Evan Plunkett (2024) and Eicher (2025).
The Black Knights led the Patriot League in scoring offense in three of the last four seasons and were ranked in the top 15 nationally in the category in 2022 (14th), 2024 (ninth) and 2025 (third).
Overall, Ward helped Army West Point to a pair of Patriot League Regular-Season Titles in 2024 and 2025 and two Patriot League Championships in 2019 and 2023. The 2023 team reached the NCAA Quarterfinals, and the 2024 side was ranked No. 1 in the Inside Lacrosse media poll for the first time in program history.
Ward coached and developed eight All-Americans on offense since 2021 and 16 All-Patriot League offensive selections in that span, tops in the league.
He was also the team’s recruiting coordinator, helping to compile the No. 9-ranked recruiting class by Inside Lacrosse for the Class of 2024.
Ward’s coaching career started during the 2015 season when he helped Georgetown reach the Big East Conference Championship Game while putting together a 10-6 record. During three seasons at the Washington, D.C., Jesuit school, Ward coached nine All-Big East selections and was the team’s offensive coordinator, offensive player development coach, goalie coach and extra-man coordinator.
His time at Loyola began in the fall of 2010 after he was a standout on attack at Old Mill High School in Glen Burnie, Maryland, where he earned Washington Post All-Metro and Annapolis Capital Gazette All-Area recognition. He earned the C. Markland Kelly High School Lacrosse 4A Award Winner in 2010 and US Lacrosse All-American senior year of high school in 2010.
Ward made his debut in eight games during the 2011 season for the Greyhounds and broke onto the scene during the 2012 campaign that saw Loyola start the year unranked and end as NCAA Champions. He started all 19 games on attack that year and finished the season with 31 assist and 42 points.
The next year, he led Loyola with 62 points and 35 assists, finishing 11th in assists per game and 19th in points per game, earning USILA All-America Honorable Mention and All-ECAC Second Team recognition.
Ward was a tri-captain on the Greyhounds’ inaugural Patriot League team in 2014 that outscored conference opponents 103-46 in eight regular-season games and was the last time to go undefeated in League games. The team spent the majority of the season ranked No. 1 nationally and won the Patriot League tournament.
He scored 18 goals and finished with 53 assists, a total that stood as a school single-season record until 2017 and is now fourth on the program’s single-season chart. Ward ended his time on the playing field for Loyola with 57 goals and 120 assists. His 177 career points enter the 2026 season tied for 10th all-time at Loyola, and his 120 assists are third.
Ward earned USILA All-America Second Team honors and was named Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year in 2014 as a senior. A Dean’s List honoree at Loyola as a junior and senior, Ward earned a spot on the Patriot League All-Decade Team and also picked up USILA Scholar All-America recognition in 2014 while graduating with his Bachelor of Business Administration with a concentration in finance.
He was selected in the second round of the Major League Lacrosse draft in 2014 and was a member of the Charlotte Hounds’ inaugural season. He led the Hounds in points (33) as a rookie and finished third in MLL Rookie of the Year voting.
Ward is married to the former Carlianne McCabe, a 2016 graduate of Lafayette College, where she was an All-Patriot League Second Team selection as a midfielder as a senior. They have two daughters, Hudson and Jordan.
