Coach LaForte is entering his 12th season as Head Men’s Lacrosse Coach at the Coast Guard Academy. LaForte has compiled a 84-70 overall record during his time at the helm of Bears. The 2018 New England Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association and two-time NEWMAC Coach of the Year has overseen the rise of the program from it's status as a club team to it's appearances in the NCAA Top 25.
Since the programs elevation to the varsity level prior to the 2015 season, LaForte has coached the Bears to three NEWMAC Championship Game appearances (2018, 2019, 2021); five NEWMAC Championship Tournament appearances (2018, 2019, 2021-2023, 2025); and three NEWMAC regular season titles (2018, 2019, 2021).
Also under LaForte, the Bears have produced three USILA All-Americans (Trey Johnson and Riley McNulty in 2018; Justin Edwards, McNulty, and Anthony Wyler in 2019; and Caleb Holdridge and Will Iorio in 2021); two NEWMAC Player of the Year selections (McNulty in 2019, Holdridge in 2021); a NEWMAC Defensive Player of the Year (Johnson, 2018 and 2019); and two NEWMAC Rookies of the Year (McNulty, 2017 and Ezekiel Christian, 2025).
The Bears appeared in consecutive NEWMAC Championship Games and posted back-to-back 14 win seasons between the 2018 and 2019 campaigns and received votes in the Nike Top 20 poll six times between those two years. After the 2020 season was canceled due tot he COVID-19 pandemic, the program would make its third-straight NEWMAC Championship Game appearance at the climax of the shorted 2021 season.
In 2017, the men's lacrosse handed NEWMAC rivals Springfield College an 8-9 defeat for the Pride's first-ever home loss in league play. 2018 saw the Bears earn a historic 10-9 overtime victory over then-no. 1 Wesleyan (Conn.), which was the first ever victory over a top-ranked team by any Coast Guard varsity program. A season later, in 2019, the LaForte and the program eclipsed the milestone 50-win mark.
LaForte graduated from Ithaca College with a Bachelors in Physical Education. He was a member of both the football and baseball programs at during his time there, winning National Championships with both in 1988. Following Ithaca, LaForte enrolled in graduate school at East Carolina, where he worked as a graduate assistant for the football team while earning hi Masters of Education in Secondary School Administration. The Pirates were ranked as high as no. 9 in the AP Poll and was the nation's third-best passing team in 1994, when they Heisman finalist Jeff Blake led them to 11 consecutive wins
Ray would later return to Ithaca, spending five seasons with the football team as Defensive Coordinator to Coach Jeff Long. The Bombers appeared in the national tournament twice in those seasons, and LaForte's unit led the nation in man down percentage in 1997. LaForte coached four First Team All-Americans, while the team were National Semifinalists in 1994 and two-time ECAC Champions in 1996 and 1998. The 1994 defense caused an NCAA playoff record 10 turnovers in its quarterfinal win over Plymouth State. Ray's 1998 punt return unit was the NCAA leader in return yards, while that season's defense led the nation tackles per loss.
LaForte began his career at CGA in 1999, and he would take on a number of coaching and teaching roles, most notably with the football and track & field teams. Ray was the football team's defensive coordinator for his first six years at the Academy and the offensive coordinator for the next 15. Under LaForte, the Bears set 31 offensive records while every starting quarterback for the Bears during that time earned regional and/or league honors.
Former quarterback Christian George was a two-time NEFC Player of the Year in 2006 and 2007 after bring converted to quarterback from wide receiver, while four Bears received The Boston Globe's Golden Helmet Award for single-game performances (Niles Pierson in 2006; Jon Resch in 2009; Derek Victory in 2016; and Justin Moffatt in 2018). In 2007, the Bears set a then-NEFC record 684 yards in a game; in 2012, they set a school record of 3,661 total offensive yards; and allowed the least sacks per pass attempt and fumbles lost in the nation twice.
With the track & field team, LaForte was an assistant coach who worked primarily with hurdlers, sprinters, and relays. Athletes under Ray’s guidance won four NEWMAC Championships, and hurdler Adam Scalesse became CGA’s most decorated track & field athlete by garnering six All-America honors and finishing as a national runner-up in the 110-meters high hurdles. As a teacher at CGA, LaForte's duties have included Life Guard Training Instructor; Basic Swim, Health and Wellness; and Life Time Sport Instruction.
Ray and his wife Michelle live in Waterford, Connecticut, and have three children: their oldest son Michael; their younger son Mason, who attends CGA and plays for his father on the lacrosse team, and daughter Madison.
(updated through 2025)
