The American Lacrosse Conference (ALC) was a women's lacrosse-only college athletic conference whose members competed at the Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). All of the ALC's members throughout its history were located in the eastern half of the United States. The conference was founded in 2001 in advance of the 2002 NCAA lacrosse season with seven members; nine schools were members at one time or another during its history.
In 2009–10, two more Southeastern Conference universities joined the ALC: South Carolina and Florida. The South Carolina program was eventually delayed with no timetable to begin play. In 2011 it was announced that the conference would add Michigan as the seventh member. The Wolverines began NCAA competition in 2013–14, after transitioning the program from club to varsity status.
Starting with the 2015 season, Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, and Northwestern joined Maryland and Rutgers in the new Big Ten women's lacrosse league, and Johns Hopkins' women's lacrosse team went independent. In April 2014 it was announced that the two remaining programs, Florida and Vanderbilt, would be joining the Big East Conference as affiliate members in 2015, leaving the 2014 season as the last in American Lacrosse Conference history.
Final members In its final season, the ALC had seven members in the Eastern United States:
InstitutionNicknameLocationFoundedAffiliationEnrollmentNew lacrosse conferenceCurrent lacrosse conferenceGatorsGainesville, Florida1853Public51,413Big EastThe AmericanJohns Hopkins UniversityBlue JaysBaltimore, Maryland1876Private6,025IndependentBig Ten" Ulehla Selected as Michigan's First Varsity Women's Lacrosse Coach," MGoBlue.com (September 8, 2011). Retrieved April 20, 2012.WolverinesAnn Arbor, Michigan1817Public37,197 Big TenNorthwestern UniversityWildcatsEvanston, Illinois1851Private13,407 Big TenOhio State UniversityBuckeyesColumbus, Ohio1870Public51,818 Big TenPennsylvania State UniversityNittany LionsState College, Pennsylvania1855Public41,289 Big TenVanderbilt UniversityCommodoresNashville, Tennessee1873Private11,500Big EastThe American
Former members Schools that left the ALC before 2014 include Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina and Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. Davidson later moved to the National Lacrosse Conference, still later became an associate member of the Big South Conference, and now houses its women's lacrosse team with most of its other sports in the Atlantic 10 Conference. Ohio University exited the ALC when the OU Athletics Department decided to drop several sports programs including women's lacrosse in January 2007.
Membership timeline Years listed in this timeline are lacrosse seasons. Since NCAA lacrosse for both men and women is a spring sport, the year of joining is the calendar year before the first season.
Championship history Year Regular season Record Tournament championship 2002 Vanderbilt 6–0 not held 2003 Ohio State / Penn State 5–1 not held 2004 Vanderbilt / Northwestern 5–1 not held 2005 Northwestern 6–0 not held 2006 Northwestern 5–0 not held 2007 Northwestern 4–0 Northwestern 22, Johns Hopkins 6 2008 Northwestern 4–0 Northwestern 14, Vanderbilt 3 2009 Northwestern 4–0 Northwestern 13, Penn State 3 2010 Northwestern 5–0 Northwestern 23, Vanderbilt 14 2011 Florida 5–0 Northwestern 10, Florida 9 2012 Florida 5–0 Florida 14, Northwestern 7 2013 Florida / Northwestern / Penn State 4–1 Northwestern 8, Florida 3 2014 Florida 6–0 Florida 9, Northwestern 8
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