(Photo Courtesy of Virginia Athletics)
As the calendar turns to November it marks the end of fall ball and the beginning of, essentially, the pre-season for NCAA lacrosse. While it is still early and there is only so much you can take from fall ball scrimmages, let’s take a look at who some of the early contenders in each conference are. Continue reading “Early Contenders: ACC” →
After the ACC semifinals on Saturday, Virginia and Notre Dame advance to face each other in the ACC championship game next weekend. The Cavaliers had to fight for everything in their win while Notre Dame came out and dominated from the opening whistle, never looking back.
The 2019 ACC Championship game will be at Virginia on May 4th at Klockner Stadium.
Virginia 14, North Carolina 13
The North Carolina Tar Heels looked like they were going to pull off another upset in the ACC tournament and beat Virginia, but the Cavaliers weren’t going to let that happen as they put together a big fourth quarter comeback and secured the win.
Virginia started hot right out of the gate as they went up 3-0 early in the first. North Carolina soon woke up and started to fight back on both ends of the field, making it a 6-3 Virginia lead at the end of the first. After two-goal Virginia run to end the first, North Carolina took over.
The Tar Heels held the Cavaliers scoreless in the second quarter while they went on a four-goal run to tie things up heading into the half. Tanner Cook had two of the Tar Heels four goals during that run.
North Carolina continued their run early in the third as they went started the second half with four straight, making it eight straight goals for the Tar Heels since the second quarter. With North Carolina leading 10-6, Ryan Conrad and Michael Kraus finally stopped the bleeding and got Virginia back on the board late in the third.
Starting the fourth man-up North Carolina got a quick goal to go up 12-8 with 14:09 in the fourth quarter. That would be the last goal the Tar Heels would enjoy for a while as Virginia arose and put on an offensive clinic, scoring four straight to tie things up at 12 all with 5:37 in the fourth. Dox Aitken scored two goals during that four-goal run for Virginia. Alex Trippi answered for North Carolina a few minutes later as the Tar Heels took the lead once again.
Michael Kraus tied things back up for Virginia and it looked like overtime was the only possiblity after a few great defensive stands. However, Virginia freshman goalie Patrick Burkinshaw made a clutch save that led to a fast break and Ian Laviano netted the game winner for the Cavaliers with one minute left in the game.
Ian Laviano led Virginia with 4 goals in the win while Matt Moore had 7 points (1G,6A) to help the Cavaliers. In goal, Alex Rode and Patrick Burkinshaw split time. Rode made 4 saves and Burkinshaw made 6
North Carolina was led by Justin Anderson who tallied 4 points (2G,2A). In goal for the Tar Heels, Canton Johnson made 10 saves.
Notre Dame 12, Duke 10
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish got off to a hot start and were able to stay ahead the whole game and secure the win. While Duke was able to put together a strong comeback, they would fall in their effort, taking the 12-10 loss to the Fighting Irish.
Notre Dame started strong as Bryan Coatabile scored the first two of the Irish’s three-goal run to open the game. Duke was able to finally get on the boar at the end of the first and make it a 3-1 Notre Dame lead heading into the second quarter. Notre Dane extended their lead t 4-1 early in the second before Duke answered with a two straight goals from CJ Carpenter to cut the Notre Dame lead to 4-3 with 10:33 in the second.
A two-goal run for Notre Dame but them back up by three before Nakeie Montgomery got the Blue Devils going again. Notre Dame ended the half with a two-goal run to give themselves an 8-4 lead heading into the half.
Duke got the first goal of the second half on a man-up situation early on in the third. Notre Dame then answered with a two-goal run and Duke did just the same to counter. That two-goal Duke run gave them some momentum heading into the fourth and cut the Notre Dame lead to 10-7 at the end of the third.
After Notre Dame scored the first goal of the fourth quarter Duke went on a three-goal and cut it to a one-goal game. Bryan Costabile scored on a man-up with less than a minute left to give Notre Dame the 12-10 victory as Duke’s comeback fell short.
Bryan Costabile led the way for Notre Dame with 5 goals in the win. In cage for the Irish, Matt Schmidt made 18 saves.
Duke was led by CJ Carpenter with 4 goals on the day. Turner Uppgren made 15 saves in cage for the Blue Devils.
As always the ACC tournament is the first to be played and the first to be set. Virginia is the top seed followed by Duke as the two seed, Notre Dame as the number three seed, Syracuse as the four, and North Carolina sits in last place as the fifth and final seed in the ACC tournament.
The 2019 ACC Men’s Lacrosse tournament will kickoff on Thursday, April 25th with Syracuse and North Carolina playing in the quarterfinal game. The winner of that game will advance to the semifinals where they will play Virginia. The other semifinal features Duke and Notre Dame. The winner of the two semifinals will meet in the ACC Championship game on Saturday, May 4th.
#4 Syracuse vs #5 North Carolina – Quarterfinals
The Syracuse Orange will face the North Carolina Tar Heels in the quarterfinal round of the ACC tournament. This is an interesting one for two reasons. One being that these two just faced each other two weeks ago and the other is that the Soloman brothers, Nate (Syracuse) Nicky (North Carolina) will face each other for the second time this season.
Last time these two faced each other Syracuse got the better of the Tar Heels, walking away with the 12-9 win. Since then Syracuse got to beat up on a lack-luster Navy squad and North Carolina dropped a close one against Notre Dame, their third straight loss. The Orange are coming in on a high note while the Tar Heels are not, but still it is conference tournament time and everything is kicked up a notch.
This Syracuse team is much better than some give them credit for and what makes them so good is how balanced they are. While Bradley Voigt, Nate Soloman, and Stephen Rehfuss may be the headliners of that Syracuse offense, Jacob Buttermore, Brendan Curry, Jamie Trimboli, and others have also made big impacts all season. While younger than some, this balanced offense can really get it done night in and night out while using their depth to their advantage.
On the defensive side of the ball, it’s been the two-headed monster of Nick Mellen and Tyson Bomberry getting things done. The Syracuse defense did a good job of limiting North Carolina’s opportunities last time out and should be able to put up a similar performance on Thursday.
While the Tar Heels have struggled at times this season they have always been in pretty much every game this season. On the offensive end of things, the Tar Heels will be looking to use that attack of Timmy Kelly, Andy Matthews, and stud freshman Nicky Soloman. Add in a midfield that features Tanner Cook and Alex Trippi and that’s a tough offense to stop when they are on. The Tar Heels will need to attack that Syracuse and make smart plays if they want any chance at getting more quality looks this time around.
North Carolina’s defense is headed by Jack Rowlett who can pose a threat to any opposing offensive player in the country. The defense as a whole will need to step up in this game and not allow any big runs like they did last game, and it ended up being one of the things that costed them in the end.
The goalie battle in this one is between Syracuse’s Drake Porter and North Carolina’s Canton Johnson. Porter has been stellar this season, making 112 saves with a 58% save percentage. The freshman, Johnson hasn’t even been North Carolina’s number one guy all season. Even with that he has been impressive down the stretch, but he obviously is still grooming his game as a freshman.
(Note: A more in depth semifinals preview will come after the quarterfinal round has been played.)
#2 Duke vs #3 Notre Dame – Semifinals
The Duke Blue Devils come into this game after escaping a scare from Marquette and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are coming off of a win over North Carolina. With both teams have deep offenses and a pretty good defensive unit, this should be a good one.
#1 Virginia vs Syracuse/North Carolina – Semifinals
The Virginia Cavaliers await the winner of the quarterfinal game. The Cavaliers are coming off of two cupcake games in which they blew by VMI and Marist.
The number 6 ranked Duke Blue Devis took down the number 3 ranked Loyola Greyhounds 12-7 in a Thursday night home contest. Duke used a big offensive spurt in the third quarter to help them run past Loyola. This was Duke’s third straight win over Loyola since the first round of the 2016 NCAA tournament when Loyola last beat Duke.
While the Blue Devils were able to dominate in almost every area of the game, things started off a bit tighter than they ended, for sure. Loyola was able to keep it close until Duke went off in the second and third quarter’s. Loyola was able to find their offense late in the game, but the deficit was too big for a comeback.
Duke was led by Joey Manown who had 4 goals in the win. Brad Smith contributed heavily as well, tallying 5 points (2G,3A). Nakeie Montgomery also had 4 goals as well. In goal, John Upgren made 10 saves for the Blue Devils.
Chase Scanlan led Loyola with 5 points (3G,2A), while Pat Spencer tallied 3 points (1G,2A) for the Greyhounds. Jacob Stover made 15 saves in cage for Loyola.
Nakeie Montgomery got the scoring started for Duke early on to get the Blue Devils on the board first. Montgomery found the back of the net again a few minutes later, making it a 2-0 Duke lead. Less than a minute later, Pat Spencer got Loyola on the board to cut it to 2-1. A Chase Scanlan goal tied things up at 2 with 5:21 in the first, and that’s a close as it would get.
A three goal run from Duke, lasting from late in the first through early in the second, put the Blue Devils up 5-2. Each team scored once more before the half. That made it a 6-3 lead for Duke going into the half.
Coming out of the half, Duke dominated in every facet of the game. Their defense wasn’t allowing anything. The Blue Devils scored five straight unanswered goals in the third and held Loyola scoreless. That third quarter performance pretty much sealed the deal for the Duke win, but Loyola still had some fight left.
Just as the third was owned by Duke, the fourth was owned by Loyola. Bailey Savio got the Greyhounds going early on in the fourth, and they kept rolling from there. That Savio goal was the start of a four goal run from early in the fourth until late in the fourth. That helped Loyola get back into it, somewhat. The Blue Devils scored the last goal of the game and held on for the 12-7 win.
Duke’s next contest will be a home game against Utah on Tuesday, March 12th. Loyola will play Navy on Saturday, March 16th in their next contest.
On a Sunday afternoon in South Bend,IN, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Maryland Terrapins went to battle indoors. It was a game of runs, and quite the offensive battle from what we have seen in the past when these two meet. While Maryland was able to force overtime, Notre Dame finished as the 17 ranked Irish took down the 2 ranked Terrapins.
Notre Dame was led Brendan Gleason and Brian Willetts who each tallied 5 points in the Irish win. Matt Schmidt made 11 saves in goal, anchoring that tough Notre Dame defense they are known for.
Logan Wisnauskas led the Terrapins with 5 points (3G,2A). Jared Bernhardt, Anthony DeMaio, and Kyle Long all contributed heavily as well, each tallying 4 points. In goal, Danny Dolan made 7 saves.
As many say, lacrosse is a game of runs. That statement proved to be true in this game as it truly was a game of runs, and that made for some exciting back-and-forth lacrosse.
Louis Dubick got things started off early with a goal to give Maryland the 1-0 lead. Notre Dame answered just a few minutes later as Connor Morin got the Irish on the board to notch things up at 1. After a three-goal run midway through the first Maryland was abale to push out to a 4-1 lead. Notre Dame answered with a two-goal run to end the first and make it a one-goal game heading into the second.
Notre Dame turned their two-goal run into a four-goal run as their offensive success continued into the second with Brian Willetts and Morrison Mirer each finding the back of the cage. Maryland was able to find a little offensive success as Kyle Long scored the Terrapins only second quarter goal. Notre Dame ended the half strong, pushing their lead to 7-5 and using strong defensive stands to limit the Terrapins getting any momentum.
Coming out of the half trailing 7-5, Maryland was able to finally get passed the Notre Dame defense early on with two goals coming from Will Snider. The Irish again answered in a big way, scoring four straight to go up 11-7 with 7:16 in the third. The Terrapins started to heat up with two goals to end the third, cutting the Notre Dame lead to 11-9.
The Terrapins continued their offensive firepower into the fourth as Logan Wisnauskas tied things up at 11 midway through the fourth. Brendan Gleason went off zipped two past Dolan to give Notre Dame a two-goal 13-11 lead late in the fourth. Logan Wisnaukas scored a transition goal off of deflected save to make it a one-goal game. Anthony DeMaio tied things up with :16 in the fourth to tie it up at 13 and force overtime.
Brian Willettes set up behind the cage at ‘X’, turned the corner, and zipped it past Danny Dolan to score the game winner for Notre Dame to secure the 14-13 victory.
Both of these squads will be in action next weekend on Saturday. Maryland will travel to Albany and Notre Dame will face Denver at home in some Saturday night lacrosse action.
Freshman goalie Patrick Burkinshaw came into Virginia with high praise and high expectations. An Under Armour All-American, Burinshaw was ranked as the number 1 goalie and number 12 player overall in the 2018 recruiting class.
Even with the high rankings and praise, it means nothing once you step foot on campus. Every man has to prove themselves no matter how many stars you had next to your name in high school.
The Madison, CT native and Brunswick school product was coming into a goalie room at Virginia headlined by Alex Rode who broke onto the scene last season as a freshman in 2018. It was evident that Burkinshaw would have to prove himself if he wanted to get a shot at playing meaningful minutes as a freshman.
Many thought it might be a year or two before Burkinshaw really got to showcase his talents since he would be behind a goalie such as Rode, who made 142 saves with a .493 save percentage as a freshman, and started in 12 out of 15 games.
Virginia started the 2019 season with a 1-2 record, with loses to Loyola and High Point and a win over Lehigh. After that 1-2 start head coach Lars Tiffany made a change in goal and started the freshman Burkinshaw on the road against Princeton.
First career start for goalie Patrick Burkinshaw and he already has 14 saves through 30 minutes of play. #GoHoos 🔷⚔️🔶 pic.twitter.com/f8m6zbzmEV
— Virginia Men’s Lacrosse (@UVAMensLax) February 23, 2019
Burkinshaw showed his prowess right away racking up 14 saves in the first half alone. Coming back in the second half Burkinshaw made 14 more to help lead the Cavaliers to a 12-11 overtime victory. His biggest save of the game was the one that helped force the overtime period.
In the win, Burkinshaw faced 55 shots from the Princeton Tigers offense. The Tigers gave him and the Virginia defense all they had with Michael Sowers leading the charge.
Goalie Patrick Burkinshaw made 24 saves today, a facility record. His 24th save was one of the biggest saves of the day, helping force overtime. #GoHoos pic.twitter.com/Up79gh5ekV
— Virginia Men’s Lacrosse (@UVAMensLax) February 23, 2019
24 saves is very impressive for a freshman in his college debut, especially against a high caliber offense. But it was more than just his personal numbers that made Burkinshaw’s performance even more impressive.
By the conclusion of the game Burkinshaw had already broken three records. Burkinshaw broke the school record for saves in a game by a freshman and the school record for most saves in a first career start. The freshman goalie also broke the record for most saves by a goalie in the Class of 1952 Stadium, Princeton’s home field. He also put himself amongst the best as Burkinshaw has the the national single-game save record for the 2019 season.
After just one start as a college freshman Burkinshaw is already garnering attention across the country, and looks like he may be starting a few more games for Virginia, at the least.
The Syracuse Orange are set to welcome the Colgate Raiders into the Carrier Dome on Friday night at 7PM to open up the 2019 season. The Orange look to get their season off to a hot start with a win over in-state foe Colgate.
Coming into this game it will be the beginning of a new chapter for Colgate lacrosse as Matt Karweck takes the field for the first time as a head coach. Karweck came over from Notre Dame where he was the offensive coordinator. The raiders look to open the Karweck era on a positive note on Friday.
Syracuse is a heavy favorite in this game, as expected. The Orange bring back a young core from last year on both sides of the ball. This young core really shined at times last season, but didn’t live up to “Syracuse” standards, as many Orange fans would argue. This will be our first real look at the Orange and see how they have progressed over the summer and fall.
The Orange will rely heavily on attackman Stephen Rehfuss in this game and throughout this season. Rehfuss did not play in Syracuse’s scrimmage against Yale last weekend, but twill be playing on Friday according to head coach John Desko. Also, Tucker Dordevic will be out in this game and could miss additional time as well with a foot injury.
Nate Soloman, Bradley Voight, and Jamie Trimboli will also be guys the Orange will hang their hats on this year offensively. If Dordevic does miss some more time this season David Lipka has been reported to run with that first midfield unit in his absence.
While the Syracuse offense is pretty solid the defense may be more of a question mark and something to watch in the Orange’s opener. Nick Mellen will lead the trio of long poles again this season. While Mellen will most likely be their strongest defender Austin Fusco and Tyson Bomberry are back as well and look to get things off to a solid start on Friday. The Orange have a new goalie as junior Drake Porter will get the start.
Colgate comes into this game with a new head coach and a pretty young squad as well. We will get to see how this team gels within these new systems on offense and defense, as well as see how some new energy can potentially help this program get back to competing for Patriot League titles.
On offense the Raiders will lean pretty heavily on senior attackman Sam Cleveland who led them last season. Sophomore attackman Mike Hawkins and junior midfielder Griffin brown will also be two guys to watch for in this game as they were crucial pieces of the Raiders offense last season as well.
The biggest thing, from my perspective, to watch is what kind of system they play and how they use the shot clock, the dive, and the shortened sub box. With a new staff the players may work right in or it may take some time. You never really know until you get to see them play.
Defensively the Raiders will be anchored in net by senior Connor Mullen. The Texas native looks to get his senior campaign off and running on a good foot come Friday’s game. Out in front of Mullen the Raiders have a lot of younger guys returning from last season. Junior Parker Baddley will be one of the leaders on this defense that is fairly young and will be growing quite a bit this season.
To many this may be a lopsided matchup, aka cupcake game for Syracuse, to start the season but it is an interesting one with both teams looking for ways to improve and see how things work.
You can watch this game on ACC Network Extra (ESPN 3). faceoff is set for 7:00pm ET.
The High Point Panthers marched into Durham, NC on Wednesday night and took down the number 2 ranked Duke Blue Devils by a score of 13-9. After a very tight first three quarter the Panthers pulled away early in the fourth and held their course to pull out their biggest win in program history.
High Point was led by redshirt senior attackman Chris Young who tallied 5 points (4G,1A). Ben Baker put up 3 goals while Asher Nolting had 5 points (3G,2A). Senior Tim Trouter stood on his head as he racked up 19 saves with a .679 save percentage.
Duke saw Brad Smith back on the field after sitting out over the weekend with a foot injury, but it was Joey Manown that led that offense. Manown had 5 points (4G,1A) while Jake Seau tallied 3 points (2G,1A) as well. Turner Uppgren made 10 saves in goal. Jt Giles-Harris and Cade Van Raphorst also helped carry the defense.
High Point got off to a very hot start with two goals coming from Chris Young and Ben Baker to go up 2-0 with 6:52 in the first. Joey Manown was able to finally get Duke o the board and make it 2-1 with 4:03 in the first. Ton end the first both defenses would hold their own, especially the goalies, and prevent the opposing offense to get any kind of energy.
Early in the second Joey Manown would score his second of the day to tie up at 2-2. High Point answered almost immediately with a Ricky Koehler bouncer on the inside to go back up 3-2. After multiple defensive stops Duke was able to finally find some energy as they got two straight goals coming from Joey Manown and Nakeie Montgomery. That Montgomery goal from the outside gave Duke their first lead of the game at 4-3.
Late in the second quarter High Point would catch fire as they chewed the Duke defense to end the half. The Panther got two goals from Dalton Sulver and Asher Nolting to give them a 5-4 lead heading into the half.
After a defensive heavy first half where both goalies seemed to be writing the script the offense would come alive in the second half, especially late in the third and in the fourth quarter.
It was a slow start for both offenses in the third as the defense on both sides were playing stellar. There were a ton of turnovers as well as stops and saves in transition that really made it fun to watch. Duke found their offense first as CJ Carpenter scored to tie it up at 5-5 with 3:43 in the third. Right off the faceoff High Point would answer with a Ben Baker goal to make it a 6-5 Panther lead. Jake Seau ended the third with a goal to make it a 6-6 tie heading into the fourth.
The fourth and final quarter of play was a ton of fun as both offenses got off to a fast start and the way it ended pretty much the same way. Reilly Walsh got the fourth started with a goal to give Duke a 7-6 lead, and their last lead of the game.
High Point went on a total tear on offense and defense as they outplayed Duke in every facet down the stretch. A six goal run would petty much seal the deal as High Point held a 12-7 lead with 9:03 in the fourth. During that run the Panthers just shredded the Duke defense inside and out.
Chris Young and Koby Russell had two goals while Asher Nolting and Ben Baker had one a piece during that huge run for the Panthers.
Duke was able to find some late energy with goals coming from Jake Seau and Joey Manown to make it a 12-9 game. However, Chris Young put the icing on the cake with an empty netter at the 2:12 mark to put this one in the bag and give High Point the win.
Duke will be in action on Saturday at Jacksonville and High Point will have their next game on February 16th at Drexel.
The Duke Blue Devils will welcome the High Point Panthers to Durham on Wednesday as these two teams faceoff in the first mid-week game of the 2019 season. Both Duke and High Point are coming off of pretty dominating wins over the weekend.
High Point defeated St. Bonaventure on Saturday morning at home by a score of 13-0. Duke faced Furman on the road Saturday night where they took down the Paladins 17-9 to open the season. That win also made John Danowski the first DI head coach to reach 400 wins.
The Blue Devils relied on sophomore attackman Joe Robertson who tallied 5 points (4G,1A) in Saturday’s win. Senior midfielder Jake Seau and sophomore midfielder Cameron Badour also played very well in Saturday’s win. The Blue Devils will be looking to lean on those guys again on Wednesday for offensive production. Reilly Walsh, Joey Manown, and Kevin Quigley should also be factors as well.
Duke’s defense was very effective on Saturday, as expected, and they look to ride that wave into Wednesday’s home opener as well. The three-headed monster of JT Giles-Harris, Cade Van Raphorst, and Jack Fowler looks to come alive again in game two of the season. In game one it was Fowler that led the way, but really it could be anyone’s game on any given day.
Turner Uppgren will be holding down the fort in cage on Wednesday after a good start against Furman on Saturday. Uppgren tallied 7 saves on Saturday to start off his senior campaign. Uppgren looks to improve here early on a the Blue Devils head into game two.
Note: There has been no update on the status of Duke senior midfielder Brad Smith who missed Saturday’s game with a foot injury.
High Point is led by star-studded sophomore attackman Asher Nolting as he got his season off to a hot start with a hat trick against St. Bonaventure. In addition to Nolting the Panthers relied heavily on senior attackman Chris Young as the Ontario native tallied 4 goals in the Panthers opener against St. Bonaventure. Junior attackman Ben Baker also looks to make an impact against the Blue Devils as well.
Defensively High Point leans on junior Luke Cappetto and senior Griffin Caligiuri as two of their leaders on that end of the field. They both played very well on Saturday disrupting that St. Bonaventure defense and helping to hold them scoreless.
In cage Tim Trouter will face his first “real” test of the season, and a pretty big one, against the Blue Devils. The senior had a 100% save percentage on Saturday, obviously. He looks to step it up a notch against Duke.
The number 2 ranked Blue Devils are huge favorites in this game, but Duke has been beaten by a SoCon team in February in the past, and High Point has beaten an ACC team as well.
In the last meeting between these two schools, in 2018, the Blue Devils dominated as they took the game 18-6. Duke has actually beaten High Point every year since 2015. The closet High Point has come to knocking off the Blue Devils was in 2016 when they only lost 16-13.
You can watch this game via ESPN + with Faceoff is set at 7:00pm ET.
As the 2019 NCAA season is set to get underway on Friday night one of the biggest storylines this season will be that of Yale faceoff man TD Ierlan. Ierlan transferred to Yale from Albany over the summer. With a .791 faceoff win percentage Ierlan led the country last season as he helped the Danes reach the NCAA semifinals for the first time in program history. Ierlan will now try to repeat that with the Yale Bulldogs this spring.
Ierlan’s move from Albany to Yale has been called by many the biggest transfer in college lacrosse history because of how much of an immediate impact his decision had on both Yale and Albany. That got me thinking about what have been some of the other biggest transfers in recent years if Ierlan’s was possibly the biggest to date.
In 2014 Connor Cannizzaro was tearing up the ACC as a freshman with Maryland. He would help lead Maryland to Championship Weekend where they would lose to Notre Dame. Cannizzaro tallied 34 points (26G,8A) and was named 2014 ACC freshman of the year. That would be the end of his career at Maryland as he headed west to Denver where he shined for three seasons, and got to play one year with his older brother Sean. During his three years at Denver Cannizzaro helped the Pioneers win the 2015 national championship, against Maryland, and would rack up a good amount of awards and honors, including being named a Tewaaraton Finalist in 2016. Cannizzaro’s career ended at Denver in 2017 with a career total of 225 points (145G,80A).
That 2017 Maryland national championship team was headlined by the “Run DMC” attack unit of Dylan Maltz, Matt Rambo, and Colin Heacock. That D in “Run DMC” arrived in College Park via transfer. Dylan Maltz followed the footsteps of his father and brother and headed to Syracuse where he played his freshman season with the Orange. Maltz only played in six games and tallied 4 points (3G, 1A). After his freshman season Maltz would head to College Park and joined the Maryland Terrapins. While at Maryland Maltz would help lead the Terrapins to three national championship games, including a national championship victory over Ohio State in 2017. As part of that historic attack unit at Maryland Maltz tallied a total of 89 points (69G, 20A).
After spending two seasons at UMass in 2014 and 2015 Mariano transferred to Syracuse where he continued to dominate. While at UMass Mariano led the Minutemen in scoring as both a freshman and sophomore, while also being named to the All-CAA 2nd team. and being named CAA Rookie of The Year as a freshman. Mariano was a key contributor at Syracuse as he helped lead the Orange to an ACC Championship in 2016 and to the NCAA quarterfinals in 2016 and 2017. Mariano ended his career at Syracuse with 96 points (69G, 27A).
In 2011 Galasso led the Tar Heels offense as a freshman and was named ACC Freshman of the year, among other honors. North Carolina fell to Maryland in the first round of the NCAA tournament that year. As a sophomore in 2012 Galasso was battling a foot injury but still played in 13 games, but his production decreased as he only had 9 points (6G,3A). After that 2012 season at North Carolina Galasso would ship up to Syracuse where he took a medical redshirt in 2013. The midfielder’s comeback was slow as he only had 17 points (13G, 4A) in 2014. As a senior at Syracuse Galasso led the team as he tallied 45 points (36G, 9A). The Orange were upset by Bryant in the NCAA tournament first round, but Galasso ended the year with multiple honors.
Shanks transferred to Ohio State after two seasons at Bellarmine. Shanks was one of the key pieces of that offense that helped lead Ohio State to the NCAA Championship game in 2017. Shanks ended his career at Ohio State with 50 points.
After two seasons playing and a redshirt year at Princeton Jake Fraccaro transferred to Villanova where he teamed up with his younger brother Joey who was an incoming freshman at the time. Froccaro tallied 104 points (74G, 30A) during his two seasons at Villanova.
Midfielder Pat Young transferred to Maryland after three seasons at UMBC. Young was a key piece for Maryland as he helped lead them to the 2016 NCAA Championship game. Young ended his college career at Maryland with 21 points (15G, 6A) as a senior for the Terps.
