Men’s recruit: Downingtown East’s Poli will be part of new Division I program at Bryant

By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 3/5/09

Downingtown East senior defender Mason Poli has signed a letter of intent to play next year at Bryant University.

Poli, a second-team All-Ches-Mont League pick last year, went for the Bryant business program and a chance to play for a team apparently on the upswing.

“Really, I was looking at education first and they have a good business program,” said Poli of the Smithfield, R.I. university.” Plus, I really liked the coaches. It was a good fit.”

Bryant is in its first year as a Division I program after moving up from Division II. Its coach, Mike Pressler, was National Coach of the Year at Duke in 2005 and is the U.S. National Team coach.

“It’s an up-and-coming program,” Poli said. “This year they are doing really well (3-2 record). Coach Pressler is building a legacy; he wants to build one of the top programs in the country.”

Poli is a key member of a strong program already. Downingtown East has won the past two Ches-Mont (formerly Suburban League) crowns and in 2007 won the state championship.

This year the Cougars must replace a large number of key seniors, but Poli is confident his team will stay on top and make a run at a District 1 title.

“We are very positive again this year,” he said. “We have a lot of seniors to fill in a lot of spots. Hopefully, we’ll make the playoffs. We’ll need to communicate with everybody and be on the same page.”