Mark Goers has been experiencing lacrosse from opposite ends of the spectrum for the past few months.

Goers helps coach his son's youth team and is an assistant with the Chesapeake Bayhawks of Major League Lacrosse. With the recreation club, Goers is teaching the fundamentals of the sport. With the professional team, very little instruction is required.

In the MLL, “the coach's job is to guide and help unify. These players know the game every bit as well as I do,” Goers said.

In the youth league, Goers is proud of leading the Kent Island Pee Wee A team to the state semifinals. He is part of a standout coaching staff that includes fellow former Division I players Andy Claxton (Maryland) and Rich Betcher (Towson, Salisbury).

“It's so great working with the little guys. They love the game so much and have a ton of fun,” he said.

Working with some of the best players in the world is also rewarding.

“I'm constantly amazed by the stick skills, the passing ability, the shooting accuracy,” Goers said.

This spring has been a trifecta of sorts for Goers, whose full-time job connects him with the college game. Goers just completed his 15th season with Navy, his fifth as director of operations.

Goers has come to love the Naval Academy, where he is also a physical education professor teaching martial arts and wrestling. During the summer, Goers turns his attention to his duties as director of Navy Lacrosse Camps.

“Working with the midshipmen has been the greatest experience of my life,” he said. “I have an absolute blast interacting with these young men.”

Goers is one of the greatest faceoff specialists in Towson history. He holds the NCAA record for single-season winning percentage after capturing 78.8 percent of faceoffs as a junior. A third-team All-American in 1994, he held school records for faceoffs won in a game (21 against Villanova), ground balls in a season (127 in 1994) and ground balls in a career (274).

Brian Reese was a defenseman at Maryland when he watched Goers dominate the draws during a game. The two became teammates with Team Toyota and have remained friends.

When Reese was named head coach of the Bayhawks last winter, Goers was among the first people he thought about when putting together a staff.

“We needed someone who was an expert on faceoffs, and there is no one better in that department than Mark,” Reese said. “I also knew Mark had a background in college coaching and could bring a wide range of expertise.”

Two months into the season, Reese believes he made a wise choice. Goers has been an asset on the sideline, developing the team's faceoff strategies and running the substitution box during games.

“Mark is a high-energy guy and the players like being around him,” Reese said.

Goers was intrigued when Reese offered him the position, but wanted to discuss it with his family first. It was 10-year-old William Goers who insisted his father take the job.

“William is a real lacrosse junkie and has always loved going to the Bayhawks games,” Goers said. “He was really excited when he heard I had a chance to coach in the pros. So I jumped at the opportunity to get back behind the whistle.”

Goers began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Towson in 1996 and, following a stint at his high school (Langley in McLean, Va.), took his first full-time job at Ohio State in 2000. He developed one of the nation's best faceoff specialists, Anthony Kelly, while with the Buckeyes.

Kelly is now Chesapeake's top faceoff man and one of the best in MLL history, with 1,648 wins during his 10-year career.

“I guess I did a pretty good job of teaching Anthony how to face off,” Goers said with a laugh. “Anthony could probably show me a few things these days.”

Goers, who served as defensive coordinator for former Navy coach Richie Meade in 2005, gave up coaching to become director of lacrosse operations because of family reasons.

Since 2006, he has overseen travel arrangements, video operations, facilities scheduling and other administrative duties.

Goers has brought some military concepts he's picked up during his 15 years at the academy and invited officers to speak to the team. It did not take long for Goers to realize how much he missed coaching — the intensity of the game, the competitive atmosphere.

“I just try to provide motivation and encouragement, do whatever I can to keep everyone positive,” he said.