UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa., September 24, 2004 - The Penn State men's lacrosse team announced the hiring of coaching assistant Travis Johnson today. Johnson brings four years of assistant coaching experience to the Nittany Lions. His tasks include strengthening the defensive unit, recruitment and developing practice and game plans.

For the past three seasons, Johnson was the assistant coach at Stevens Institute of Technology. Along with heading the man-down unit and the development of the defensive unit his duties also included recruitment activities and the development of practice and game plans. Johnson's Ducks reached the NCAA tournament the past three years and participated in the NCAA quarterfinals in 2004. Johnson also carried assistant coaching duties at Rochester Institute of Technology from 1999-00. RIT was an NCAA tournament quarterfinalist in 2000 with a final 11-4 record and a No. 8 ranking.

Johnson graduated from RIT with a Bachelor of Sciences in packaging science in 2000. He played four years of varsity lacrosse as a starter on defense and was named Super Six Conference Honorable Mention in 1999. His team was ECAC Upstate champions in 1998 and NCAA tournament semifinalists in 1999.