The MAAC was not enough of a challenge for mens lacrosse, so in 2000 they moved on to the Great West Lacrosse League. But after winning the GWLL last season and being ranked as high as No. 15 in the nation, that wasn’t enough either, and the Stags will enter play this year in the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC), one of the best conferences in the country.
The Stags schedule, which was released last Thursday, features four ECAC home games. The Stags will host Penn State on March 25, Hobart on April 1, Georgetown on April 8, and Loyola on April 22.
The Stags will play their first ECAC game March 10 at Rutgers, and will travel to ACC powerhouse North Carolina on April 15.
Though the ECAC does not have a guaranteed NCAA bid until 2007, three of the teams (UMass, Georgetown and Penn State) all received at-large bids last year.
“We have put together a very strong, competitive schedule for the 2006 campaign,” said Head Coach and 2005 GWLL Coach of the Year Ted Spencer. “The coaches and players are looking forward to the challenges that this schedule will provide us, both with our move into the ECAC Lacrosse League and our non-conference opponents.”
Graduates with Honors
After five seasons with the Stags, former Co-Captain Tom Werney ’05 was awarded the team’s Most Valuable Player at their fall banquet on Oct. 14. Werney fought off an early season ACL injury to return six weeks later and participate in the Stags’ final five games as well as in the NCAA game against Duke, in which he scored two goals to finish with 12 for the season.
Werney ranked sixth all time in goals for the Stags with 67. Graduating with Werney was former Co-Captain Sean Flynn ’05, who received the team’s Unsung Hero Award. Flynn was noted for his successful defense against some of the top teams in the country. He started 13 games and played in 15 while recording 15 groundballs.
O’ Captains my Captains
The Stags named Trevor Kelly ’06 and Josh Thornton ’06 co-captains for the 2006 season. Kelly is a defenseman who had averaged two groundballs per game during the 2004 season, and has appeared in 13 contests during his career.
Thornton is a midfielder who has a knack for pressure.He scored goals against Notre Dame and Denver, in two of the most crucial games of the season. He has three career goals and two assists.
Hot When It’s Cold
Continuing off of last year’s success, the men recorded two victories at the Brown Fall Ball Tournament hosted by Brown University.
The Stags defeated Brown 12-5 and Quinnipiac 10-2 in their only two matches. Greg Downing ’07 led the Stags with seven goals and one assist, picking up where he left off from his career year last year, after which he was named an All-American honorable mention.
Kyle Herman ’06 also had a successful outing. He and Thornton both had multiple points in each game. Herman recorded four goals and an assist while Thornton tallied two goals and three assists.
The Stags were defensively successful as well. Charlie Keinath ’07 won 10 of 15 face-offs in the tournament. Goaltending duties were split between Mike Kruger ’07 who got the win over Brown and Tim Gazzini ’07, who beat Quinnipiac.
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