Lenoir-Rhyne University Athletics

Ryan Crompton has made a huge impact on the Lenoir-Rhyne lacrosse team on the field and on the sidelines. A record-breaking goalie during his four years, Crompton led the program to higher heights as an Assistant Coach/Defensive Coordinator and led the Bears to a National Championship in 2023.

In 2024, Crompton led the Bears to a 17-2 overall record including 8-1 in the SAC conference. Lenoir-Rhyne opened up the season on a 6-game win streak and ended the regular season on a 7-game win streak. During the South Atlantic Conference Tournament, the Bears defeated Wingate in the SAC Semifinals at home 11-10 to advance to the SAC Championship. Bears would go on to win the SAC Championship against Limestone 13-12 in Mathews, NC on 4/28/2024. In the NCAA Division ll Tournament, Lenoir Rhyne hosted and won the NCAA Quarterfinals in a rematch against Limestone. Bears would then travel to Tampa, FL for the NCAA Semifinals to face off against #1 ranked Tampa and escape with a 15-14 victory to advance to the NCAA Championship. The season would come to an end in the NCAA Championship against #4 Adelphi with a 12-10 loss to finish runner-up in the NCAA Division ll Tournament. 

In that National Championship, Crompton's defense suffocated Mercyhurst and allowed five goals, the third-fewest in a National Championship game in DII history. It wrapped up a standout season for Crompton's defense that saw the unit finish fourth in the nation in goals allowed per game at 8.10 and allowed opponents to score just 33 goals in four NCAA Tournament games. In total, the 2023 Bears allowed just seven teams to reach double digits in the scoring column in their 23 games. Crompton's defense produced All-Americans in Victor Powell (Third Team) and Nate Ashley (Honorable Mention) and saw the rapid ascent of goalie Rob Pensabene who came off the bench to lead LR to a 10-1 record and a National Championship victory. Pensabene recorded a program-record 22 saves in a win over Limestone in the regular season and made 56 saves in four NCAA Tournament games, one shy of a DII record which has stood since 1977. Additionally, SSDM Colten McCracken was a Second Team All-American while LSM Liam Farrell would earn the South Atlantic Conference's prestigious Elite 23 Award given to one student-athlete in the conference with the highest GPA. 

Crompton also helped the program to a National Quarterfinal appearance in 2022 before falling to eventual National Champion Tampa. The Bears went to a National Championship game in 2021 under Crompton's leadership as well before falling to Le Moyne 12-6. 

In his second season, the Bears started 6-1 and posted back-to-back wins over the No. 3 (Adelphi) and No. 1 (Limestone) teams in the nation before the season was shut down due to COVID. 

As a goalie for the Bears, Crompton led the Bears to a 2018 National Semifinal appearance and a 2017 NCAA Tournament appearance. Crompton finished his esteemed career as the program’s all-time leader in saves with 616 but was surpassed by Noah Johnson. The Frederick, MD native posted a 40-10 career record in goal for the Bears and a 56.3 career save percentage. Crompton was named First Team All-SAC as a senior and also earned the SAC Men’s Lacrosse Scholar-Athlete of the Year award. Additionally, he was a four-time SAC Commissioner’s Honor Roll selection, a Lenoir-Rhyne Athletic Director’s Honor Roll honoree, a two-time member of the LR Dean’s and President’s Lists and a member of Alpha Lambda Delta.

In his career, Crompton saw action in 50 career games and played over 2,700 minutes. He graduated with a bachelor’s in sports management. 

Crompton helped coach Noah Johnson to become one of the premier goalies in the nation over his final three seasons as Johnson would go on to win SAC Tournament MVP honors in 2022 and become the program's all-time leader in saves and wins.