Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 2/25/09
The Cabrini men’s lacrosse team – ranked fifth in the nation in Division III in this week’s USILA poll – begins its quest for an eighth straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament Wednesday in a non-conference game at Fairleigh Dickinson University at 3:30 p.m.
Cavaliers coach Steve Colfer begins his ninth season at Cabrini. He owns a 108-30 career record, including a streak of 65 consecutive regular season wins against Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) opponents (formerly the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference).
The Cavaliers’ veteran-laden roster is anchored by the return of three USILA All-America selections from one year ago. Junior attackman Casey Grugan (Ridley) heads the group after earning third-team recognition in 2008. Grugan (70P, 45G, 25A) begins the season just 11 goals shy of 100 for his career.
Senior attackman Scott Reimer (Henderson) earned honorable mention accolades and powered the Cabrini offense last season, totaling 74 points on 68 goals and six assists. Senior defenseman Jeff Moore (Springfield-Delco) also received honorable mention distinction, tallying 58 groundballs and 33 caused turnovers as the Cavaliers’ leader on close defense.
Other key returnees for Cabrini include senior middies Matt Conaway (West Chester East; 17 goals, 11 assists), Pat Grenier (Ridley), B.J. Kletcheck (Roman Catholic; 13 goals, 13 assists) and Kevin Fahey (won 58 percent of face-offs), senior goalies Bobby Chambers (Henderson) and Kevin Chenoweth, senior attacker Rich Romanelli (27 goals), sophomore attacker Paul Skulski (Garnet Valley; 22 goals, 18 assists), senior defender Joe Monroe (Marple Newtown) senior face-off specialist Mike Dolente (Spring-Ford, 67 percent) and sophomore face-off specialist Mike Gurenlian (Springfield-Delco; 64 percent),
Haverford College – The Fords, under coach Mike Murphy, are ranked 12th in the nation and open Saturday with the stiffest of tests at Cabrini. Last year they qualified for the NCAA tourney for the first time and fell to Cabrini in the opening round, 13-10, in a hotly-contested game.
They return their top offensive threats in junior attacker Brian Fleishhacker (46 goals, tops in Centennial Conference) and sophomore attacker Max Hjelm (Conestoga; 42 goals, 21 assists).
The midfield is led by sophomore Jason Leeds and junior Andrew Kim while sophomore Kiley Norton and Peter Hannapel will share the face-off duties. The defense is paced by junior long stick midfielder Grant Firestone, sophomores Scott Kelley (Strath Haven) and Matt Dooley. Junior J.P. Cashiola is the probable goalie.
Widener – The Pride – which opened last weekend by dropping a tough 7-6 decision to No. 8 Stevenson – has won four straight Middle Atlantic Conference titles under coach Jamie Lockard and will be strong on defense. The key returnees include juniors Nick Politarhos (Ridley), Dave Simcox (Ridley) and Jim Forsythe (Henderson). The offense is paced by junior attack Cory Malampy (Ridley, 27 goals), sophomore middle Andrew Janusz (15 goals) and senior middie Justin Upp.
Eastern – The Eagles went 7-1 in the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference last year and return their entire starting lineup for first-year coach Brandon Childs. They hope to threaten Widener in their first year in the Middle Atlantic Conference with a unit led by senior attackers Nick Mandia (Souderton; 24 goals, 30 assists) and Michael Ryan (Souderton; 26 goals, 14 assists), senior middies Ben O’Donnell (34 goals) and Jimmy Caiola, senior LSM Evan Ridington (Great Valley), sophomore defender Matt Mandia (Souderton), senior defender Dan Sharbaugh and senior goalie Zach Rivest.
Ursinus – The Bears hope to improve upon a 7-9 season. They feature senior goalie Tony Aquilino (Archbishop Wood, 8.04 GAA), senior LSM Derrin Mangin (Archbishop Wood), junior attack Eric Farris (Pottsgrove, 29 goals) and senior attack Jason Orlando (Springfield-Delco).
Swarthmore – The Garnet was a solid 9-8 last year and reached the ECAC finals. The team returns its top three scorers in junior Gavin Musynske (22-19-41), senior Stelios Wilson (22-9-31) and Tyler Bradshaw (16-9-25). Seniors Jesse Handler and Jacob Metzger (LSM) lead the defense and senior Will Predun runs the midfield.
Neumann – Coach Roland D’Ortone has nine returning starters, including senior goalie Jake Boulay and top scorer Kyle Gardner (Perkiomen School, 21 goals), both all-PAC selections last year. the Knights look to improve after winning two of their final four games last year.
Immaculata – The Mighty Macs of coach Bob Bush went 3-10 (2-6 in PAC) in their second season last year, showing much improvement. Key returnees are junior attacker Tom Hartney (Interboro; 26 goals, 10 assists), sophomore midfielder Brendan Dinneen (Archbishop Wood; 28 goals, 8 assists), junior middie Zach Krytzer (6 goals, 18 assists), junior goalie Andrew Sim (Interboro; 233 saves) and junior defender Jim Baranello (Haverford High)
Gwynedd-Mercy College – Coach Dana Lindstrom leads the first-year Griffins, who dropped their first two games but looked stronger in their most recent defeat against Hood. The team has primarily freshmen on the roster and features defender Michael Henry on defense and Nicholas Coan (Garnet Valley) and Steven Miner (Garnet Valley) on attack.
Penn State Abington – Coach Kevin Brandon leads the first-year program, which has a mix of upperclassmen and freshmen. Captains are seniors James Delaney (La Salle, defense) and Peter Seweryn (La Salle, midfield) and sophomore Joe Staerk (Abington, midfield)
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