Peter Burke is currently in his sixth season at Holy Cross and is in his third season as head coach in 2020-21.
In the 2020 season, Burke led the team to a 4-3 record before the season concluded on March 12 due to COVID-19. Burke coached the team's defense to rank fourth nationally in caused turnovers per game (10.43) with Chris Conlin leading the nation (2.86) and Philip Turner ranking fourth (2.50). He also coached Dan O'Connell to break the program's all-time ground ball record (230) and to a .662 faceoff winning percentage, to rank eighth nationally. Burke coached Jonathan Tesoro to break the all-time victories record, with 20.
Burke was appointed the interim head coach for the 2019 season and led the team to its best record (7-7) since the 1987 season. The first year head coach guided he program's most-ever all-Patriot League selections (four) and coached Matt Farrell to become the program's first-ever all-Patriot League first team selection. Burke coached the team to a Patriot League quarterfinal appearance for the first time since 2017 and key wins over Harvard, Brown, Navy, and Lehigh.
At Holy Cross, Burke aided in the back-to-back Patriot League tournament appearances for the Crusaders in 2016 and 2017 along with their first tournament victory in 2017.
A 2014 graduate of Bucknell, Burke spent the 2015 season as an assistant coach at Emmanuel College in Boston as the team won the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) championship and earned an appearance in the NCAA Tournament recording a 13-5 overall record (8-0 GNAC). Burke was responsible for the design and implementation of offensive systems, strategy and personnel while also focusing on individual player development. He also assisted in the process of scouting and recruiting of potential student-athletes.
Burke was a four-year member and senior captain of the men’s lacrosse team at Bucknell as a midfielder. The Bison qualified for the Patriot League Tournament all four years and won the championship and appeared in the NCAA Tournament in 2011. As a freshman, Burke was named the Patriot League Rookie of Week. Burke played in 59 career games with 51 goals and 31 assists for 82 points.
Burke was not only a standout on the field at Bucknell, he was also a member of the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll, served on Bucknell’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and received Bucknell’s Lacrosse Service Award.
A native of Walpole, Mass., Burke graduated from Bucknell in 2014 as an Economics major.
