Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 1/30/14
From Press Release
Loyola will enter its first season in Patriot League men’s lacrosse as the favorite after the Greyhounds were picked for the top spot in the sport’s preseason poll announced on Wednesday’s media teleconference.
The Greyhounds picked up 123 points and 13 first-place votes to finish ahead of the participants in last year’s Patriot League title game, Bucknell and Lehigh. The runner-up Bison had three first-place votes and 109 points to edge the two-time defending champion Mountain Hawks with two first-place votes and 108 points. The rest of the poll order featured Army (86), Colgate (73), Navy (56), Holy Cross (42), Lafayette (35) and Boston University (16).
Individual honors were also handed out as Army junior attacker John Glesener was named Patriot League Preseason Offensive Player of the Year and Loyola senior defender Joe Fletcher took home the Patriot League Preseason Defensive Player of the Year award. Both players highlighted the Preseason All-Patriot League Team which also included Bucknell junior David Dickson and Loyola senior Justin Ward at attack, Bucknell sophomore Thomas Flibotte,
Holy Cross junior Terry McKenna and Colgate senior Jimmy Ryan in the midfield, Bucknell senior Jackson Place (Episcopal Academy) and Lehigh senior Ty Souders (Emmaus) joining Fletcher on defense, Army sophomore Alex Daly as the face-off specialist, Navy senior Pat Kiernan as the defensive midfield specialist and Lehigh junior Matt Poillon at goalkeeper.
Seven of the preseason All-League selections were named preseason All-Americans by Inside Lacrosse in December. Fletcher made the first team, Glesener, Ward and Souders were on the second team and Kiernan, Place and Poillon earned a spot on the third team. Dickson received honorable mention preseason All-America status.
Seven of the preseason selections also earned first-team All-Patriot League status last year, with Glesener named the Offensive Player of the Year. Two others were second-team selections, while Fletcher was named the Defensive Player of the Year and a first-team selection in the ECAC with Ward earning second-team honors from the Greyhounds’ former conference.
Voting for the preseason poll and individual awards was conducted by Patriot League men’s lacrosse head coaches and sports information directors, who could not vote for their own teams or student-athletes.
Despite being picked second in the preseason poll, the Bison were ahead of Loyola in the Inside Lacrosse Face-Off Yearbook at No. 15. Bucknell backed up that ranking by placing a League-high three players on the Preseason All-Patriot League Team in Dickson, Flibotte and Place. Dickson led the Patriot League with 48 assists and finished second with 56 points while Flibotte had 29 goals in his freshman season as both earned first-team All-Patriot League honors last year. Place earned second-team All-League status last year while scooping up 43 ground balls. Bucknell has all but one player who scored more than 10 points last season back in the lineup in 2014, as Sean Doyle and Todd Heritage return on attack while Brock Ghelfi and Peter Burke are back in the midfield.
Lehigh has some holes to fill to three-peat as Patriot League champion after losing four All-League selections to graduation. The cupboard is far from bare, however, especially with Poillon back in goal after a dominant season where he led the League with a .596 save percentage and was named Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Year. Souders (35 ground balls) and Patrick Corbett (23 goals) were second-team All-Patriot League picks last year, while the Mountain Hawks also return second-leading scorer Dan Taylor (29 G, 21 A) and a handful of key defensive players to the lineup.
Lafayette boasts a pair of solid juniors on attack in Sonny Round (27 G, 13 A) and Brian Bock (24 G, 15 A; Spring-Ford), who finished as the top two scorers on the team last season. Morgan Westby (Episcopal Academy) and John Floyd are key midfielders back for Lafayette, while Matt Evans returns to the defense.
Boston University is the unknown quantity in Patriot League men’s lacrosse in 2014 as the Terriers compete in their inaugural collegiate season. The Terriers have an eye on the future with a roster composed primarily of freshmen.
Lehigh is the first Patriot League team to step on the field in 2014 as the Mountain Hawks visit Furman on Saturday, while six more squads open up the following weekend. Patriot League play, which now features an eight-game schedule for all teams, gets started on Feb. 22. The Patriot League Men’s Lacrosse Tournament features six teams, with quarterfinal games at home sites on April 22 followed by the semifinals and League championship at the site of the No. 1 seed on April 25 and 27.
2014 Patriot League Men’s Lacrosse Preseason Poll
1. Loyola, 123 points (13 first-place votes)
2. Bucknell, 109 (3)
3. Lehigh, 108 (2)
4. Army, 86
5. Colgate, 73
6. Navy, 56
7. Holy Cross, 42
8. Lafayette, 35
9. Boston University, 16
Patriot League Men’s Lacrosse Preseason Offensive Player of the Year: John Glesener, Army (Jr., A)
Patriot League Men’s Lacrosse Preseason Defensive Player of the Year: Joe Fletcher, Loyola (Sr., D)
Men’s Lacrosse Preseason All-Patriot League Team
Attack: David Dickson, Bucknell (Jr.)
Attack: John Glesener, Army (Jr.)
Attack: Justin Ward, Loyola (Sr.)
Midfield: Thomas Flibotte, Bucknell (So.)
Midfield: Terry McKenna, Holy Cross (Jr.)
Midfield: Jimmy Ryan, Colgate (Sr.)
Defense: Joe Fletcher, Loyola (Sr.)
Defense: Jackson Place (Episcopal Academy), Bucknell (Sr.)
Defense: Ty Souders (Emmaus), Lehigh (Sr.)
Face-Off Specialist: Alex Daly, Army (So.)
Defensive Midfield Specialist: Pat Kiernan, Navy (Sr.)
Goalkeeper: Matt Poillon, Lehigh (Jr.)
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