No. 19 Saints Open 2010 Season against No. 8 Haverford on Saturday
by:
Tara FreemanScott Smith '10 joins classmates Trevor Scoon and John Manning as captains for 2010.
Mar. 3: The St. Lawrence University men's lacrosse team, ranked 19th in the country by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA), will open the 2010 season on Saturday against No. 8 Haverford College. The nationally-ranked foes will square off at Manhasset High School in Long Island, NY at 2:00pm.
Starting the season against a ranked opponent is nothing new for St. Lawrence, as Saturday's showdown is a rematch of last year's opening game, when Haverford defeated the Scarlet and Brown 9-8 in overtime. Following the Haverford game, the Saints will head west to face Whittier College and Drew University in San Diego, CA.
"We're certainly looking forward to getting the 2010 campaign underway," said St. Lawrence University head coach Mike Mahoney, who enters this season with a career record of 132-52. "We know we have our work cut out for us against an experienced Haverford team, but we hope that our non-conference games will put us in position to play our best lacrosse come the Liberty League regular season."
That recipe has been successful for Coach Mahoney over the last four seasons, as the Saints have won 32 consecutive Liberty League games including four straight conference regular season and tournament titles. St. Lawrence has been in the second round of the NCAA Tournament each of those four seasons as well.
With a schedule that includes pre-season No. 1 Cortland State, No. 14 Nazareth and vote-receivers Skidmore and Union, the Saints have a rigorous 2010 calendar. The team will also be without three All-Americans, PJ Santora, Alex Slauson and Peter Carroll as well as starting defenseman Carl Festa and starting goaltender Thomas Hollingsworth, all of whom were lost to graduation.
Leading the way in 2010 will be senior defenseman Trevor Scoon, who garnered All-American Honorable Mention status in his junior campaign. The New Canaan, CT native shut down opposing attackmen, causing 34 turnovers and scooping up 51 ground balls in 2009.
Joining Scoon along the defensive front for St. Lawrence this season will be classmates Greg Sperrazza at the long stick middie position and Teddy Barber, a close defenseman. With junior Greg Reagan and sophomore Matt Parker and Craig Leach added to the mix, the Saints' defense will once again be a force to be reckoned with.
"With a younger offense, I think we'll need to rely on a more experienced defense to set the tone early on this season," remarked Coach Mahoney. "It's been a very competitive pre-season at the goaltending position and we feel confident in the group's ability to lead our team as well."
St. Lawrence will be looking for a new starter between the pipes in 2010 and senior Andrew Cochran is the favorite to win the job as he's the only goaltender returning to the roster with game experience. However, the Kenilworth, IL native is expected to be challenged for playing time by a trio of goalies including sophomore Matt Ruscio.
A solid corps of defensive middies will also help solidify the Saints' back line. This talented unit includes seniors John Manning and Nick Woodhull and junior Stephen Vaughan. Meanwhile, the team's offensive middies are a veteran group that includes including senior All-Conference honoree Scott Smith, who had 11 goals and 8 assists last season. Smith, who is joined by Scoon and Manning as captains for this year's team, will work alongside classmates CP Rahe, Drew Osinski and Adam Boghosian in the midfield. Adding solid depth to the unit will be a quartet of sophomores including Matt Pope, Peter Carpenter, Eric Newman and Drake Paul.
"I think, as a whole, (our midfielders are) an athletic group that has the ability to push the ball in transition while, at the same time, make sound decisions in our settled offense," explained Coach Mahoney. "The attack unit is also a very hard-working group and we hope to create offense not only off the dodge, but also with our ability to ride and attack in unsettled situations."
Leading the Saints' attack unit this season is sophomore stand-out Caldwell Rohrbach, who put together an impressive 29-point season as a rookie. An All-Conference honoree, Rohrbach had 24 goals in 17 games. Adding to the mix this season will be three fellow sophomores including Mick MacLaverty, James Hutson and Kyle Jacobsen, who suffered a season-ending injury as a first-year student.
Having lost 11 players to graduation, Coach Mahoney added 14 new faces to the program. Those players include sophomore long stick middie Brendan McCarthy and first-year goalies Jack Nuland and Jeff Goeke, attackmen David Hovey, Mac Johnson, and Cody Danforth, midfielders Justin Ingram, Dave Schoettler, Oliver Dennis, James Wilcox, Cam Scullen and Tucker Garfield and defensemen Brian Wilber and Jake Wynn.
"As a whole, this appears to be a talented and hard-working first-year class," said Coach Mahoney. "We expect several players to make immediate contributions on the field."