Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 8/27/15
From Press Release
The Boston University men’s lacrosse team will welcome 16 newcomers as part of the Class of 2019, head coach Ryan Polley (Malvern Prep) announced on Wednesday.
“We’re extremely excited about the Class of 2019,” Polley said. “When we first started three years ago, we identified this class as an extremely important one to help with the continued growth of our young program. This was the first class with which we were on an equal timeline with other universities in the recruitment process. We identified some terrific players early in the process that were great fits for BU and they did not disappoint, having stellar high school careers. Late in the process we found a few guys that were a little under-recruited and have a bit of a chip on their shoulder. We love the balance, depth and versatility of this class and we’re excited to welcome them to our program.”
Fifteen of the 16 newcomers are freshmen, with Brandon Bowman joining the Terriers as a transfer from Air Force. Three of the 16 players have been chosen as US Lacrosse All-Americans while one was a US Lacrosse Academic All-American. The Class of 2019 hails from six states, with five incoming athletes originally from Massachusetts.
Six of the newcomers won a state championship in 2015, and two more played for a state title last season. A pair of brothers will share the BU sideline for the first time in program history, as James Burr joins his brother Elliott on the 2015-16 roster.
Sean McGovern (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks East)
BEFORE BOSTON UNIVERSITY
Played four seasons of varsity lacrosse for Central Bucks East High School … Captained the squad as a senior, earning first team all-state honors and leading the team to a league championship … Was a 2015 US Lacrosse Academic All-American … Helped lead team to league title as a junior, earning first team all-league accolades … Selected to All-Suburban One League second team as a sophomore … Won league championship as a freshman.
Polley on McGovern: “Sean had a tremendous senior year and helped his high school to their best season ever. He made all-state in Pennsylvania, which is one of the best lacrosse states in the country for goalie play. He also received recognition as an Academic All-American. We expect Sean to compete for playing time at the goalie position.”
Brandon Bowman (Foxboro, Mass./Air Force)
BEFORE BOSTON UNIVERSITY
Transfer from Air Force … Appeared in 14 games for the Falcons in 2014, collecting seven ground balls and causing two turnovers … Played four seasons of varsity lacrosse at Roxbury Latin prior to his stint at Air Force … Was a two-time all-league honoree … Was an honorable mention All-American … Also lettered in football three years.
Polley on Bowman: “We’re excited to add Brandon to our program. He had a stellar year at Air Force in 2014 and we expect him to compete for time at either LSM or close defense.”
James Burr (Hamilton, Mass./Middlesex School)
BEFORE BOSTON UNIVERSITY
Played four seasons of varsity lacrosse at Middlesex School … Was a 2015 US Lacrosse All-American … Named to 2015 USA Today All-New England team … Earned All-ISL honors as both a junior and a senior … Selected as a Boston Lax All-American in 2014 and 2015 … Also played four years of varsity football.
Polley on Burr: “We’re really excited about James. He was one of only three All-Americans in a very good lacrosse conference. What we like about James is his versatility. He’s a great feeder and a goal scorer. He’s a really refined offensive player and we’re hopeful that he’ll come in and compete for one of the spots in our top nine. We could see him getting some time at attack and also as a high-wing midfield dodger.”
Matt DeMarche (Longmeadow, Mass./Longmeadow) DeMarche Highlights
BEFORE BOSTON UNIVERSITY
Played varsity lacrosse at Longmeadow High School … Captained the squad as a senior en route to earning all-league honors … Named to All-Western Mass. First Team by MassLive.com … Helped lead Longmeadow to 25-0 season and state title as a sophomore … Scored 22 goals and 18 assists in his senior season … Also competed for indoor track & field team, advancing to the state championships for the long jump, 55m dash and 4x200m relay.
Polley on DeMarche: “Matt played on one of the best high school teams in Massachusetts. He’s a two-way middie who we think is going to help us in a lot of areas. He has extraordinary speed and we’re going to look to him to help us in the transition game. We really like his versatility.”
Quintin Germain (Huntington, N.Y./Chaminade)
BEFORE BOSTON UNIVERSITY
Played varsity lacrosse at Chaminade High School … Was an all-league honoree as a senior and as a junior … Helped lead Chaminade to a Catholic League championship in 2014 and 2015.
Polley on Germain: “Quintin comes from one of the best high schools on Long Island. He’s your old-school, big, physical defenseman with great feet and great stick work. We’re really excited about Quintin coming in and we expect him to compete for a starting job.”
Grant Gregory (Sherborn, Mass./Dover-Sherborn) Gregory Highlights
BEFORE BOSTON UNIVERSITY
Played four seasons of varsity lacrosse at Dover-Sherborn High School … Captained team as a senior … Helped lead team to three state championships, including 2015 title … Also helped Dover-Sherborn reach 2014 state title game … Was named the 2015 Division 3 Player of the Year by the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald … Back-to-back All-Scholastic honoree in 2015 and 2014 from both the Globe and the Herald … Leaves Dover-Sherborn as the school’s all-time leading scorer with 267 career points (149g, 118a) … Named a Baltimore Kickoff Classic All-Star and was also a two-time Philly Showcase Fab Forty All-Star … Also played two seasons of varsity soccer and was the team captain in 2014.
Polley on Gregory: “Grant is a local product from Dover-Sherborn and was one our first commits in this class. He’s a highly-touted recruit out of Massachusetts and this year was named the Division 3 Player of the Year. We’re looking for great things from Grant. He’s an explosive dodger with great vision and a knack for scoring goals. We’re very hopefully that he can come in and compete for some playing time as a freshman.”
Jack Grossman (Chappaqua, N.Y./Deerfield Academy (Mass.))
BEFORE BOSTON UNIVERSITY
Played four seasons of varsity lacrosse at Horace Greely High School before completing a post-graduate year at Deerfield Academy … Was an all-league honoree in his last season at Horace Greely.
Polley on Grossman: “Jack is a very productive offensive player. He’s left-handed and a good dodger and feeder. We expect Jack to come in and compete for some playing time and give us some depth on the offensive end.”
Brendan Homire (Huntington, N.Y./St. Anthony’s) Homire Highlights
BEFORE BOSTON UNIVERSITY
Played varsity lacrosse at St. Anthony’s … Earned all-league honors as a junior and a senior … Helped lead St. Anthony’s to 2015 league title game Also played soccer at St. Anthony’s.
Polley on Homire: “Brendan is an initiator from the midfield. We’re very excited about his ability to create offense. We’re going to look to Brendan to be a primary dodger in our offense. He’s got a great first step and a great change of direction, and he has improved his shooting dramatically. He’s going to help our offense draw some slides and create offense for some other players.”
Eamon Hunter (Sudbury, Mass./Lincoln-Sudbury)
BEFORE BOSTON UNIVERSITY
Played four seasons of varsity lacrosse at Lincoln-Sudbury High School … Captained team to undefeated season and state title during his senior season … Was a first-team league all-star as a senior and as a sophomore.
Polley on Hunter: “Eamon is another local product from Lincoln-Sudbury. He has great ball skills and is a very versatile defenseman who can play both up top and down low. He has improved in the three years that he’s been on our radar and we expect him to continue that pattern at BU.”
Christopher Lappin (Raleigh, N.C./Cardinal Gibbons)
BEFORE BOSTON UNIVERSITY
Played four seasons of varsity lacrosse at Cardinal Gibbons … Captained squad as a senior … Led team to back-to-back state titles in 2014 and 2015 … Named a 2015 and a 2014 US Lacrosse All-American … Was the Big Eight Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year as a senior and as a junior … Earned all-state, all-region and all-conference honors in each of his final three seasons.
Polley on Lappin: “Christopher is an on-ball defenseman who has a lot of attributes of a hockey player. He’s got great hands, he’s great on the ground and he’s extremely tough. We’re looking forward to Chris bringing a hard-nosed attitude to our defense and we expect him to have a great freshman year for us.”
Michael Laviano (Upper Brookville, N.Y./St. Anthony’s) Laviano Highlights
BEFORE BOSTON UNIVERSITY
Played three seasons of varsity lacrosse at St. Anthony’s … Earned All-CHSAA honors in three of his four seasons … Served as team captain as a senior … Named Second-Team All-Long Island by Newsday in 2015 … Finished second on the team in points as a junior … Missed majority of sophomore season due to ACL injury … Played freshman year at Holy Trinity High School, where he scored 21 goals and added 36 assists.
Polley on Laviano: “Mike was a highly-touted recruit out of Long Island. He was the quarterback for two years of one of the best teams in the country and we’re looking for him to come in and compete for a starting attack job. He is a very unselfish player who makes his teammates better players and we hope that trend continues.”
Drew Lukacs (Davidson, N.C./McCallie School (Tenn.)) Lukacs Highlights
BEFORE BOSTON UNIVERSITY
Played varsity lacrosse at McCallie School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 2014 and 2015 … Helped lead McCallie to the 2015 state title, earning all-state and all-region honors … Earned 2015 “X-Factor” award … Was an all-region selection in 2014 … Played first two years of varsity lacrosse at Davidson Day School … Was named Team MVP as a sophomore.
Polley on Lukacs: “Drew is a tremendous athlete. When we first started recruiting Drew he was a short stick midfielder, and we asked him to consider moving to LSM. Since the change of position he’s turned into an extremely dynamic player. We fully expect Drew to help us in our transition game. Our hope is to continue to be a high-tempo lacrosse team and we really think Drew can help us in our clearing and transition games.”
Cal Pearce (Atlanta, Ga./The Lovett School)
BEFORE BOSTON UNIVERSITY
Played four seasons of varsity lacrosse at the Lovett School … Captained the team to the state title game as a senior en route to earning first team all-state honors … Named a Top 205 All-Star and a Nike Blue Chip selection in his sophomore and junior seasons … Selected to Under Armour Underclass All-America South Team as a junior after he helped Lovett reach state championship game … Named to National High School Lacrosse Showcase All-Tournament Team in 2014 … Selected as a Hotbeds All-Star in 2014 … Also played varsity football, winning a state championship as a junior.
Polley on Pearce: “Cal is a very dynamic long stick middie. He has great ball skills and a tremendous stick. We’re excited to see how he competes at this level and we expect him to be a great player between the lines who can create some turnovers on the defensive end.”
Andrew Pugliese (Darien, Conn./Darien)
BEFORE BOSTON UNIVERSITY
Played four seasons of varsity lacrosse at Darien High School … Won 74.8 percent of his faceoffs in 2015 to help lead his team to second straight state championship … Was MVP of 2015 conference title game and was also an all-conference selection … Started all 23 games during undefeated (23-0) junior season, helping lead Darien to state title and number four ranking in the nation … Won 72 percent of his draws in 2014 en route to all-state honors … Named to 2014 New England Under Armour Underclass team … Was team’s top-scoring midfielder as a freshman.
Polley on Pugliese: “Andrew just had a tremendous senior year at the faceoff X. He was close to 75 percent as a senior. We first saw him at the Under Armour Underclass games where he had a great summer tournament. He is one of the best faceoff guys in the country and we’re excited to add him to an already-strong position. We are also excited to see how his game translates to the college game with the help and tutelage of some established players in Sam Talkow and Elliott Burr.”
Thomas Schmidt (Durham, N.C./Trinity-Pawling (N.Y.)
BEFORE BOSTON UNIVERSITY
Played post-grad year at Trinity-Pawling in 2015 after four seasons of varsity lacrosse at C.E. Jordan High School … At Trinity-Pawling, was named to All-Western New England First Team and was a first-line offensive midfielder … Captained C.E. Jordan in his final two years there but missed his senior season due to injury … Named a 2013 US Lacrosse All-American … Earned first team all-state, all-conference and all-region honors in 2013 and was named both the team and the conference MVP … Selected for 2013 Under Armour Underclass South Team … Named to all-conference first team as a freshman and a sophomore …. Was member of King of the Hill All-Star and STX Carolina Summer Shootout All-Star teams … Won gold medal in 2012 FLG in 3d tournament … Also played JV football at C.E. Jordan.
Polley on Schmidt: “Thomas is a PG from North Carolina. He was an All-American in his junior year in North Carolina before he hurt his knee, but he had a great recovery year in 2015 and was a top offensive threat for a good team. We’re looking for Thomas to be a versatile player for us and play a little offense as well as some defense.”
Jack Seminara (Buffalo, N.Y./Canisius H.S.) Seminara Highlights
BEFORE BOSTON UNIVERSITY
Played for seasons of varsity lacrosse at Canisius High School … Captained the team as a senior, scoring 39 goals and adding 34 assists … Led Canisius to a league title and was the league’s offensive player of the year in 2015 … Earned First-Team All-Western New York honors in 2015 and 2014 … Scored 27 goals and had 19 assists as a junior, earning first-team all-league accolades … Selected to Under Armour Upstate New York All-Star squad … Scored 12 goals and had seven assists as a sophomore starter … Also played football at Canisius, leading squad to undefeated 2015 season.
Polley on Seminara: “Jack is a tough, old-school lacrosse player that does so many things well. He can score, he can feed, he’s tough on ground balls and he’s good in transition. We see him playing some D-middie for us and we’re excited to get Jack on our team and see where he can help us. He’s a little undersized but he makes up for that in his toughness and has a chip on his shoulder.”
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