By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 4/1/09
St. Joseph’s Prep senior midfielder Ian Correia has signed a letter of intent to play next year at Bryant University
Correia, a first-team All-Catholic League pick last year, is excited to go to a program that in
its first year of Division I play has stamped itself as a potential power under former Duke coach Mike Pressler.
Correia, who plans to study business, also is happy to join three other Philly recruits headed to Bryant: Downingtown East’s Mason Poli, Penn Charter’s Mike Rauchet and Malvern Prep’s JK Poirier.
“My family is up there, both of my parents were born there,” said Correia, of the Smithfield, R.I. campus. “It’s pretty much like going home. I loved the campus; it’s small, like 3,500 students.
“When I met coach Pressler it sealed the deal for me. He is a great coach and a really great guy. I’m real excited to be one of those guys that help the program become one of the top programs in the country.”
Correia, right now, is interested in helping the Hawks become one of the best teams in the state. St. Joe’s is expected to give defending sate champion La Salle a fight for the Catholic League (District 12) title.
St. Joe’s today will become the last Philly boys’ team to make its 2009 debut when the Hawks play at Penn Charter.
“We’re pretty much going to play one game at a time,” Correia said. “But La Salle is definitely in the back of our minds. We never get away from knowing that we’re going to have to face them.
“We’re pretty excited to get started. We’ve got a lot of talent this year and we just want to shock the world. We want to let everyone know we’re a force to be reckoned with.”
