Lacrosse Magazine has put the finishing touches on its 2010 college preview issue, which mailed US Lacrosse members the first week of February. LM canvassed rival coaches to give us their anonymous take on the top 10 preseason ranked teams for Division I men's and women's lacrosse.
MD1: 10 UND | 9
Hofstra | 8 UMD |
7
Princeton | 6 Cornell
| 5
Hopkins | 4
UNC | 3 UVA |
2
SU | 1
Duke
WD1: 10 Princeton | 9 UND | 8 UVA | 7 SU | 6 Georgetown | 5 Duke | 4 Penn | 3 UNC | 2 UMD | 1 Northwestern
Scouting Report: No. 3 Virginia (Men)
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First team All-American Ken Clausen headlines a deep and talented defensive corps for the No. 3-ranked Virginia men's lacrosse team. © Kevin P. Tucker |
HEAD COACH: Dom Starsia
CONFERENCE: ACC
2009 RECORDS: 15-3, 2-2
2010 SCHEDULE: Click Here
WHO'S BACK
A Steele Stanwick (So.)
Expected to shoulder the load on attack now that Glading and
Billings are gone. Said Starsia: “You shouldn’t feel
too sorry for a team that has Steele Stanwick to build
around.”
M Shamel Bratton (Jr.)
First-team All-American was Virginia’s fourth-leading scorer
in 2009 (31g, 11a). An improvement in shooting percentage (.228 in
‘09) could lead to huge offensive production in 2010.
M Brian Carroll (Sr.)
His game-winning, left-handed runner to beat Maryland in the
seventh overtime of last year's epic game was not an aberration --
kid is clutch. UVA's No. 5 scorer (29g, 10a) led the squad with
five man-up and three game-winning goals.
D Ken Clausen (Sr.)
First team All-American headlines a deep defensive corps that
follows with senior Ryan Nizolek, fifth-year
senior Max Pomper, Brown transfer Todd
Faiella, tri-captain Mike Thompson,
juniors Bray Malphrus and Matt
Lovejoy and freshmen Harry Prevas and
Chris LaPierre.
G Adam Ghitelman (Jr.)
Allowed 8.39 goals per game in 2009. Starsia: “Adam’s
ready to reap the benefits of having been in the cooker for two
years now. He seems more confident and more relaxed.”
WHO'S NOT
A Danny Glading
Decorated scorer (32g, 31a) leaves a void, no doubt, but his
mentoring of Stanwick will help the Wahoos overcome that and allow
his legacy to endure.
A Garrett Billings
Anybody see Billings tearing it up recently as the NLL's hottest
rookie with the Toronto Rock? UVA no longer has that sheer finisher
on attack.
LSM Mike Timms
Relentless long pole led Wahoos with 31 caused turnovers. Malphrus
and Lovejoy are equally as athletic, but don't have the same
wherewithal with the wand.
D Matt Kelly
Very athletic defenseman allowed UVA to pressure the ball outside
the box and recover with timely slides.
WHO'S NEW
A Matt White
Highly-touted recruit brings a quarterback's mentality to the
attack position.
A Connor English
Gem of this freshman class is a dynamic, left-handed attackman who
will compete for playing time right away. Stanwick was forced to
become more left-handed last year opposite Glading. English could
allow him to return to his comfort zone.
M/A Nick O'Reilly
Polished player brings versatility to Virginia. He can both create
for himself and find the open man. He's in line to see playing time
right away after a strong fall-ball performance.
M Chris LaPierre
Starsia called him “just a big freight train of a
kid.” LaPierre was one of the top football players out of
South Jersey. You don't waste that kind of physical presence on the
bench. Look for him to learn the ropes at short stick d-middie. His
nickname is "Shocker."
X FACTOR
Don't sleep on sophomore Chris Bocklet. It's easy to overlook him with Stanwick back and the excitement over UVA's freshmen at the attack position. But even though Bocklet (4g, 1a) did not see a ton of action in '09, he developed some nice chemistry with Stanwick in the fall.
RIVAL COACHES' TAKES
"Athletes all over the field."
"They have all the horses to win it. Can they keep their focus and
team chemistry?"
"Big-time individual players need to learn to play as a team."
"They always reload. The attack will be young, but is talented.
Their goalie has been decent, and he returns. Ken Clausen is
athletic."
"Their attack is young, but they’ve got a couple of young
guys stepping in. Defensively they’re sound. Seasoned veteran
in the cage."
"The one thing about Virginia that pops in my head is they have as
much talent as anybody in the country, as much athleticism as any
in the country and I imagine they’ll be as motivated as
anyone in the country in 2010. With that formula you have an
extremely dangerous mix coming into the year."
