February 15, 2012
2012 Division 1 men's preview
New England teams will be longshots to reach NCAA championships
by Chuck Jaffe/
UMass' defense is led by long-stick midfielder Ryan Hollenbaugh (Glastonbury, Conn.). (photo: Thom Kendall Photography)
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The NCAA men’s lacrosse championships are coming to Massachusetts over Memorial Day weekend, but the only way any New England teams are likely to get to the Final Four is if they buy a ticket.
In two of the last four years, New England schools failed to gain so much as a single bid to the NCAA tournament, and last year saw only the Hartford Hawks — upset winners of an automatic bid — get a spot in the Big Dance.
This year, most New England schools are on the outside of the preseason rankings, and the only preseason favorite to win a conference crown is Hartford. The Hawks proved last year that it’s possible to start the season without fanfare and to finish it making noise in the tournament; that’s the hope most New England squads are harboring.
If Hartford can live up to expectations — a far different challenge than playing as an underdog — reaching the tournament hardly guarantees a trip to Foxboro. In fact, Hartford isn’t even in the preseason top 20 coaches’ poll or the rankings from either Lacrosse Magazine or Inside Lacrosse. UMass, Harvard and Yale make all three of those ratings, placing anywhere from 11th to 19th.
Here, in order of New England Lacrosse Journal’s projection for success this year, is a look at each of the New England men’s Division 1 programs and their outlook for 2012:
UMass
2011: 10-5, 4-1 Colonial Athletic Association
Recap: The Minutemen started the season 7-3, with the losses by a total of four goals, and two of the wins coming in extra time, including a 9-8 triple-overtime classic at Towson. A blowout 11-5 win over conference rival Delaware had the Minutemen poised to claim the conference tournament and automatic NCAA bid. Instead, after a 10-9 OT win over Penn State in the conference semifinals, Delaware sprung a 9-7 finals upset, leaving the Minutemen home for the tournament.
Coach: Greg Cannella (18th season, 149-95)
Key losses: Midfield Ryan Hantverk (fourth on team in goals and points); short-stick defensive middie Stephen Zorkers (Quincy, Mass./Pomfret)
Outlook: UMass ranks as high as 12th in preseason polls, for good reason. The team returns a majority of its starters, led by redshirt-senior goalie Tim McCormack, a three-year starter ranked in the top 20 in D-1 last year for goals-against average and save percentage. If McCormack stumbles, Cannella can turn to his likely successor in freshman Zachary Oliveri, part of the U.S. Under-19 national team.
The defense is solid and experienced, led by Tom Celentani — a second-team preseason All-American, according to Inside Lacrosse — senior Greg Anderson and junior takeaway specialist Jake Smith (Medfield, Mass.). Long-stick middie Ryan Hollenbaugh (Glastonbury, Conn.) is the league’s best at his position.
The picture is just as good up front. Eight Minutemen produced double-digit points last year, and seven of them are back. The headliner is Anthony Biscardi, a preseason third-team All-America, but Will Manny led the team in scoring for the second year in a row (45 points each season), and Art Kell (Westford, Mass./Bridgton Academy) was second in points and the leader in goals with 28. Add Biscardi and the big things expected from Connor Mooney (Wilbraham, Mass./Avon Old Farms) — who notched 14 goals in 2011 as a true freshman — and UMass will be potent. Look for freshman Grant Whiteway (Billerica, Mass.) — the all-time high-school scorer in Massachusetts — to get a chance to make his mark.
To earn an automatic berth, UMass must top Delaware and Hofstra; the Blue Hens aren’t ranked in preseason polls, but the Pride has the edge on the Minutemen in most rankings. Getting back to the conference finals and beating the best teams on its nonconference slate — Army, Harvard, Brown and Harvard — are essential if UMass is to earn the 19th tournament bid in program history.
Harvard
2011: 10-6, 3-3 Ivy League
Recap: Harvard finished with its most wins since 1998. After finishing third in the Ancient Eight during the regular season, the team earned a spot in the Ivy League final by upsetting Penn. After playing Cornell to a one-goal loss during the season, the Crimson fell, 15-6, in the conference championship.
Coach: Chris Wojcik (second season, 10-6)
Key losses: All-American attackman Dean Gibbons (59 points to lead team), attackman Matt Hull (fourth on the team in points), faceoff man Andrew Parchman
Outlook: Harvard’s recruiting class is the talk of the nation (see Page 11), but the Crimson won’t have to rely on those newcomers too much just yet.
Attackman Jeff Cohen is in the school’s career top 10 for goals scored, senior midfielder Kevin Vaughan was a preseason All-American chosen in the second round of the Major League Lacrosse draft, and defender Daniel DiMaria also was drafted. Sophomore Daniel Eipp (Groton, Mass./Groton-Dunstable) — a member of the U.S. Under-19 national team — notched 24 points as a freshman.
Junior goalie Harry Krieger has started 25 games in his first two seasons in Cambridge; he’ll be helped by an experienced back line, and an influx of talented defensive rookies.
A top-20 team entering the season with freshmen expected to figure heavily into the mix, look for the Crimson to improve dramatically as the season progresses. If Harvard can again crack the league’s top four and make the conference tournament, it has a chance at surprising the field.
Yale
2011: 10-4, 3-3 Ivy League
Recap: Coming off a surprising Ivy League co-championship in 2010, Yale went 10-2 to open the season, dropping a two-goal decision to Cornell and a 10-9 triple-overtime heartbreaker to Penn, positioning it to make a late push to defend its crown and reach the NCAA tournament. Instead, a loss to Harvard in the regular-season finale was followed by another loss to Cornell in the Ivy League tournament semifinals. Where 10-4 in 2010 was considered a big step forward, the unhappy ending took some luster off the same record in 2011, leaving players and fans wanting more.
Coach: Andy Shay (ninth season, 55-53)
Key losses: Goalie Johnathan Falcone (second-team All-Ivy; 7.30 GAA to rank seventh in D-1), attackman Brian Douglass (28 goals, 3.07 points per game), short-stick d-middie Patrick Coleman
Outlook: The Bulldogs are deep and experienced everywhere except for where it counts the most: in the cage. Sophomore Jack Meyer and junior Peter Spaulding have just eight career saves between them and will be challenged by highly touted freshman Eric Natale. Luckily, whoever wins the job will have an experienced defense in front of him, led by Michael McCormack, who ranked seventh in D-1 for caused turnovers.
Faceoff specialist Cole Yeager — whose .648 winning percentage ranked fourth in D-1 last year — is an All-American candidate who will enable the Bulldogs to play a ball-control game. Second-team All-Ivy midfielder Greg Mahony was the team’s third-leading scorer last year and will take pressure off an attack unit led by All-American Matt Gibson, drafted by the Chesapeake Bayhawks of Major League Lacrosse. Brendan Mangan — a top recruit who had a solid freshman year in ’11 — and two of the top freshman recruits in New England, Conrad Oberbeck (Greenwich, Conn./Brunswick) and Sean Shakespeare (Walpole, Mass./Noble &Greenough) should benefit from running with Gibson.
If the offense holds its own while the goaltending matures, Yale should get another crack at the Ivy tournament.
Hartford
2011: 11-7, 3-2 America East
Recap: The NCAA’s surprise team, the Hawks went from 4-10 in 2010 — with eight losses by three goals or less — to the NCAA tournament after stunning America East favorite Stony Brook, 11-10, in the conference finals. Even a 12-5 loss to Cornell in the Big Dance couldn’t break the glass slipper on a Cinderella season.
Coach: Peter Lawrence (seventh season, 38-90 career, 22-66 at Hartford)
Key losses: Faceoff specialist Tim Fallon (Lowell, Mass.), the only multiple All-American honoree in school history; defenseman Conor Flynn
Outlook: The pundits still don’t believe in Hartford — or it would be ranked — but that could change quickly because this team is loaded. Seven players accounted for 86 percent of the team’s goals last year, and all of them return for 2011, meaning opponents must pick their poison. If they work to shut down Major League Lacrosse midfield draftees Carter Bender and Martin Bowes (Quincy, Mass./Pomfret), they’re letting juniors Jared Franze and Rory Nunamacher beat them from up top. If they shift their defensive focus to shut down the midfield, then Ryan Compitello and Aidan Genik will fill it up.
The team isn’t just deep and experienced offensively, it has veteran leadership on defense and two top-quality goaltenders in senior Scott Bement and junior Frank Piechota (Trumbull, Conn.). Piechota led the America East in save percentage filling in for an injured Bement, but Bement was so good in his time that he made the all-conference team; he’ll be the starter. One defender who should become an impact player is sophomore Alex Matarazzo (New Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Prep), an all-conference rookie team selection last year.
Hartford is favored to repeat in the America East, but the league should be a slugfest, and the Hawks must fight the potential overconfidence that sometimes comes with success to make sure they’re not the losers in someone else’s fairy-tale season.
Fairfield
2011: 8-8, 3-3 ECAC
Recap: After dropping a 7-6 overtime decision to Loyola in April, the Stags beat the Greyhounds, 10-9, in the conference tournament, only to fall in 11-9 in the conference finals to eventual NCAA runner-up Denver.
Coach: Andrew Copelan (fourth season, 41-35 overall, 23-30 at Fairfield)
Key losses: Leading scorer Max Trunz (9 goals, 25 assists), long-stick middie Sean Bannon, attackman Doug Kuring (16 goals)
Outlook: The starting close defense returns for the Stags — led by fifth-year senior Brendan McTague and senior preseason all-conference pick Drew Palmer — in front of one of the NCAA’s best goalkeepers in Charlie Cipriano (.586 save percentage, 7.9 goals-against average). If Cipriano — the preseason pick for all-conference goalie — can be even stingier in his senior campaign, the Stags should be able to score enough to move up in the ECAC.
Five of the top seven goal-scorers are back, led by the attack of senior John Snellman (Norwalk, Conn.) and juniors Sam Snow and Jordan Greenfield (Dover, Mass./Rivers School).
With that kind of strength at both ends of the field, the question mark for this team is at midfield. Senior Brent Adams (Norwalk, Conn.) earned All-ECAC first-team honors last year despite missing six games to illness, and has been an all-league pick in each of his seasons in Fairfield. The rest of the midfield is largely unproven, although Drexel transfer Michael Roe is strong at the faceoff X and Reed Marko should be a playmaker at short-stick d-middie; a key reserve in 2009 and ’10, Marko missed all but three games last year due to injury.
Most observers see Fairfield just outside the top 20 in preseason, but with a slate of winnable games, it would not be a big surprise to see the team enter the rankings early in the season; the challenge, once ranked, will be to stay that way.
Vermont
2011: 6-9, 1-4 America East
Recap: The Catamounts took on all comers last year, including Virginia and Denver, the two NCAA finalists, and stood at 6-6 after 12 games thanks to an upset of America East power Albany; three season-ending losses showed room for improvement. That said, the Catamounts lost five games by three or less and looked more like a conference contender than they have in years.
Coach: Ryan Curtis (sixth season, 22-53)
Key losses: Kyle Sminkey (15 goals), the starting defense
Outlook: If any team in New England is poised to be the “Hartford of 2012,” it’s the Catamounts, who return five of their six top scorers and an experienced goalie, and whose recruiting class was considered among the best for New England schools.
Junior Drew Philie (Sandwich, Mass./Deerfield Academy) is a junior, and a preseason All-American pick who likely will lead the team in scoring for the third consecutive year. Senior Geoff Worley notched 22 goals and 18 assists, while junior middie A.J. Masson led the team in helpers with 21. Freshman Matt Savlov led the team in scoring in its fall scrimmages.
Goalie David Barton (Hanover, Mass./Boston College) returns for his senior season, anxious to improve his stalwart numbers from 2011 (.537 save percentage, 8.8 goals-against average) because five of the nine defenseman on the Catamounts’ roster are freshmen, and even the returning longpoles have no starting experience in their careers. Only if the defense matures quickly can Vermont reach its potential as a surprise team.
Bryant
2011: 8-9, 3-2 Northeast Conference
Recap: Entering 2011 with high hopes, the Bulldogs got off to a 2-4 start, with three losses by a combined four goals, including a four-overtime disappointment against Drexel. That set a disappointing tone. Bryant upset conference top-dog Mount St. Mary on the road in double overtime but couldn’t duplicate that feat in the conference final, dropping the rematch, 14-9.
Coach: Mike Pressler (sixth season, 277-125 career, 55-27 at Bryant)
Key losses: Gary Crowley (Northeast Conference Offensive Player of the Year), Evan Roberts (26 points)
Outlook: After 2012, the Northeast Conference champ gets an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, but that leaves teams such as Bryant hoping to do enough this year to earn an at-large berth. That’s a tall order, but Bryant should challenge for a conference crown, and could impress the selection committee.
The team is led by senior netminder Jameson Love (Darien, Conn.), who has played virtually every minute of every game since arriving on campus, supporting a strong defense spearheaded by junior all-conference pick Mason Poli.
Junior attackman Peter McMahon (Wilton, Conn.) has been both a feeder and finisher in his two years as a Bulldog; with 50 points a year ago (20 goals, 30 assists), he’ll be looked on to do a little of each this year in Smithfield. Look for fifth-year senior Matt Larson (Cheshire, Conn.) to help pick up some of the load carried by Crowley last year; Larson — who registered 32 points in 2010 — sat out last year with back problems.
Dartmouth
2011: 5-9, 1-5 Ivy League
Recap: A brutal schedule that included nonconference games with Duke and North Carolina was too big a burden for a young Dartmouth squad. A 9-8 win over a ranked Harvard team kept the Big Green from going winless in conference, but Dartmouth struggled to keep it close in its other six games against ranked teams.
Coach: Andy Towers (third season, 10-31 overall, 10-17 at Dartmouth)
Key losses: None
Outlook: The Big Green has tremendous senior leadership, starting with second-team All-Ivy goaltender Fergus Campbell (New Canaan, Conn.), but moving to midfield with league honorable mentions Kip Dooley and Nikki Dysenchuk (Darien, Conn.). With six of the team’s top seven scorers returning and Towers’ second stellar recruiting class in the fold, Dartmouth should be a team on the rise.
Preseason predictions have Dartmouth at or near the bottom of the tough Ivy League, but there’s enough talent and experience here to upset anyone in the league; if the diminutive Campbell can keep the team in games and the young talent learns how to win the close ones, Dartmouth could sneak into the Ivy League tournament.
Brown
2011: 6-8, 3-3 Ivy League
Recap: Quite simply, Brown should have been better in 2011. A one-goal upset against a ranked Penn team and a four-overtime loss to perennial Ivy power Princeton showed that the team had the ability to run with anyone but also a trait of playing to the level of the competition. More was expected from this team.
Coach: Lars Tiffany (sixth season, 62-41 career, 44-28 at Brown)
Key losses: Andrew Feinberg (35 points in just 11 games), third-leading scorer David Hawley, second-team All-Ivy defender Peter Fallon, second-team All-Ivy goaltender Matt Chriss (.584 save percentage)
Outlook: It’s likely a rebuilding year in Providence, as the Bears lose two of their four double-digit goal scorers from a year ago.
There’s senior leadership up front in leading scorer Parker Brown and classmate Rob Schlesinger (Medfield, Mass./Noble and Greenough), a second-team All-Ivy pick, but there are too many question marks all over the field to believe that the Bears can pull a season-long upset and make it into the Ivy League tournament. This team was picked by most experts to vie for the basement of the Ancient Eight with Dartmouth; if the Bears can’t win that game, they probably make good on those projections.
Quinnipiac
2011: 7-7, 4-1 Northeast Conference
Recap: It was an up-and-down, back-and-forth year for the Bobcats, who lost two, then won two, then repeated the pattern three times during the regular season, only to split its games in the conference tournament.
Coach: Eric Fekete (12th season, 72-89)
Key losses: Goalie Kevin Benzing, attackman Jack Oppenheimer, defender Bobby Schnibbe (Duxbury, Mass.)
Outlook: For Quinnipiac to succeed in 2011, it practically has to field the entire Northeast Conference All-Rookie team. That’s because 22 of 40 players on the roster are freshmen, and the team’s 10 upperclassmen have limited starting experience.
With such a young squad, Quinnipiac will be tested in net, precisely where the Bobcats are the most untested, with sophomore Pat Murray (Branford, Conn.), and freshmen Dylan Torey (Darien, Conn.) and Eddie Greco battling to win the starting nod. Basil Kostaras — a second-team All-NEC pick a year ago — will lead the effort at midfield, with help from Dylan Webster, who made the league’s all-rookie team, but expect this to be a building year for the Bobcats, gaining experience to contend for the conference crown in 2013, when the league champ earns an automatic bid to the Big Dance.
Sacred Heart
2011: 4-9, 1-4 Northeast Conference
Recap: Sacred Heart was greeted rudely as it moved from independent into the Northeast Conference last year, but a 13-12, four-overtime loss to eventual NCAA finalist Denver showed that the young Pioneers have a high potential ceiling.
Coach: Tom Mariano (17th season, 100-137, 86-125 at SHU)
Key losses: All-conference defender Tim Lewis
Outlook: Sacred Heart had 30 percent of the Northeast Conference All-Rookie team last year in long-stick midfielder Tim Caton — the league rookie of the year — and attackers Bailey Dodds and Mike Mawdsley; another freshman, Cody Marquis (Londonderry, N.H.), was second on the team in assists despite not earning league honors.
Mawdsley led the team in scoring, with plenty of help from junior Bryan Badolato; put it together and the Pioneers have good firepower up front. The question is whether they will be able to replace their top defender and muster some defense in front of fifth-year senior goalie Zach Frank, who has the prototype Major League Lacrosse goaltending combination of good size and soft hands.
Sacred Heart is picked by most experts to finish at or near the bottom of the Northeast Conference, along with Wagner, which is expecting a renaissance under new coach Matt Poskay, the Boston Cannons’ star. If the Pioneers can outgun Wagner and come up with one other league win to make the conference tournament, consider it a big step in the right direction.
Providence
2011: 3-12, 0-6 Big East
Recap: After a winless season in the school’s first year playing in the Big East, Providence was able to win three times in 2011, albeit never against conference opponents.
Coach: Chris Burdick (13th season, 83-124)
Key losses: Midfielder Evan Helda, goalkeeper Jake Goodelman
Outlook: On paper, it’s hard to say Providence will be favored to win a single game this year. That said, the Friars have been drawing better talent as they transition into the Big East, and could prove more competitive than expected if their youngsters step up. There are some weapons; leading scorer Jake Nolan (Wesport, Conn.) returns, with 6-foot-7 attackman Sean Wright hard to stop as an inside finisher.
Another winless Big East season should be expected, but if the Friars pull some upsets in nonconference games it would show they’re taking steps to catch up with the Big East’s big boys.
Holy Cross
2011: 2-13, 1-5 Patriot League
Recap: An upset win over Lafayette — after an 0-10 start — got the Crusaders out of the Patriot League cellar, and a 2-3 finish gives the team reason for optimism.
Coach: Jim Morrissey (first full season, 2-7 as interim coach)
Key losses: Daniel Broussard (team leader in groundballs and caused turnovers)
Outlook: The best thing about Holy Cross is its young talent, with Morrissey bringing in a large crop of promising recruits in his first full season. The worst thing is that the team’s success depends almost entirely on younger players. Juniors John Hannan and James Kennedy led the team in goals and points last year and are back, but the Crusaders lost the two senior goalies who picked up their wins last year and will count on sophomore Kenny O’Connor — who has just four career starts — between the pipes, backed by true freshman Eddie Cameron (Hull, Mass.).
Picked (again) as preseason favorite to finish last in the Patriot League, the Crusaders can consider it a good season if they once again keep that forecast from coming true.
This article originally appeared in the February 2012 issue of New England Lacrosse Journal.
Chuck Jaffe can be reached at editor@laxjournal.com
