Travis Crane

Travis Crane joined the Ohio State men’s lacrosse staff as a volunteer assistant coach in September 2016 and was promoted to assistant coach in Summer 2017. In August of 2021, Crane was promoted again, this time to associate head coach. Crane, a captain at Penn State, had spent the past three years coaching at Calvert Hall College High School in Baltimore and as director of operations for FCA Maryland. He works with the Buckeyes’ defensive unit along with its long and short stick defensive midfielders.

In 2022, Crane’s defensive unit held five opponents to nine or fewer goals. He also mentored freshman Bobby Van Buren, who became the first-ever close defenseman to be named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Van Buren went on to earn honorable mention All-America honors.

Crane’s 2019 defensive unit held six opponents to 10 goals or less and was 28th nationally in scoring defense. He also mentored one of the strongest shot stick defensive units in the country, led by All-American and first team All-Big Ten choice Ryan Terefenko. In a shortened 2020 season due to the Coronovirus global pandemic, the Buckeye defense was once again among the nation’s best: it ranked 18th in scoring defense and 17th in man-down defense.

Under Crane’s guidance, the 2018 Buckeyes continued their tradition of playing strong defense. Crane coached two All-Americans on the close defensive unit (Ben Randall and Erik Evans) and Ohio State ranked first in the Big Ten in goals-against average for the second consecutive year. In wins over Michigan, Maryland and Rutgers to close the regular season, Ohio State gave up just 7.00 goals per game.

With Crane on staff, the 2017 campaign was the best in Ohio State history. The squad notched a program-record 16 wins and advanced to the NCAA Tournament semifinals and final for the first time. The Buckeyes, who played in the Big Ten Tournament championship game, limited opponents to 8.38 goals per game, ranking first in the Big Ten and 11th in the NCAA in scoring defense, and held opponents to nine or fewer goals in 13 games. A program-record tying six Buckeyes earned USILA All-America honors, with defenseman Ben Randall the first First Team All-American in program history and Tom Carey the first Buckeye goalie to earn a spot on the first/second/third team.

In his time with Calvert Hall, Crane served as the defensive coordinator for the school’s varsity lacrosse team and guided the squad to the lowest goals-against average in the MIAA “A” conference. In addition, Crane helped coach the school’s junior varsity program to two championship appearances. With FCA Maryland he served as both a coach and administrator for the club program.

A short stick defensive midfielder, Crane spent two years at Penn State, serving as a co-captain in his senior season and leading the team to the NCAA tournament. He was an Academic All-Big Ten selection and was selected for the USILA North-South Senior All-Star game. In his time at Penn State, Crane tallied three goals, picked up 27 groundballs and had 15 caused turnovers.

A native of Parkville, Md., Crane spent the 2011 season at Community College of Baltimore County Essex in Baltimore, picking up 42 points (26g, 16a) and 52 groundballs. He was a First Team All-American and was named the Maryland Junior College Midfielder of the Year. He also earned first team all-region and first team Maryland JUCO honors. He began his collegiate career at UBMC in 2009 after earning All-America honors at Eastern Technical High School. The squad won the 2008 Region 1A/2A North championship and Crane was a finalist for the C. Markland Kelly Award, presented to the top boys lacrosse player in Maryland.

Crane earned a master’s degree in educational leadership and administration from Penn State. He also earned a bachelor’s degree in financial economics from the University of Maryland Baltimore County.