(Photo courtesy of Notre Dame Athletics)
Nothing was more of an impact on the college lacrosse offseason than the NCAA Transfer Portal.
While transfers have always been pretty regular in college lacrosse, the portal turned things up a notch. The NCAA’s Transfer Portal allows players to enter their name and test the waters without permission from their current program. The portal has made transferring much easier for the athlete and with the extra eligibility given to spring sport athletes last season, portal season was wilder than ever.
Throughout the 2021 season, Lacrosse Bucket will track the performance of transfers from week to week and examine some of the top performers, which usually entails 5-8 players.
Here’s some of the top transfer performances from week nine of the 2021 season:
Sean Donnelly, Attack, Drexel: In a 12-11 upset win over UMass, the Syracuse transfer put up a career-best in assists with six and added two goals for a career-best eight-point outing.
Will Yorke, Attack, Notre Dame: A week after having his best day as a member of the Fighting Irish, Yorke was inputted into the starting lineup and put up four goals in the Irish’s 18-11 win over Syracuse.
Matt Stagnitta, Midfield, Jacksonville: Despite the loss, Stagnitta continued his successful season with the Dolphins on Saturday as he put up five points (4G/1A) against Robert Morris.
Connor Shears, Defense, Jacksonville: Continuing a solid season as an important piece of the Dolphins’ defense. Shears picked up two ground balls and had one caused turnover in Jacksonville’s one-goal loss against Robert Morris.
TD Ierlan, Faceoff, Denver: A week after going 100% at the dot in his debut with the Pioneers, Ierlan went 11-for-12 (92%) in Denver’s 16-6 win over Marquette.
Mike Adler, Goalie, Duke: The fifth-year Saint Joseph’s transfer has his best performance as a Duke Blue Devil, recording 17 saves in to help lead Duke past arch-rival North Carolina 12-11 in overtime.
Colin Kirst, Goalie, Rutgers: In the Scarlet Knights’ lowest margin of victory of the season, the Lehigh grad transfers racked up 15 saves to help lead Rutgers to victory, 10-9, over Ohio State to sweep the season series.