Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 7/9/16
From Press Release
The Marist men’s lacrosse program and head coach Keegan Wilkinson (St. Joseph’s University grad) have announced the addition of 11 incoming freshmen for the 2017 season. The newcomers hail from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and as far south as North Carolina. Two already call the Hudson Valley home.
“We are excited to welcome an excellent group of student athletes to the Marist Lacrosse family,” Wilkinson said. “Our staff was committed to putting together another stellar recruiting class and we are confident that we have succeeded. This effort was spearheaded by our outstanding recruiting coordinator, Mike Gongas, who has done a tremendous job of attracting some of the nation’s best players to Marist College. These 11 players will arrive on campus with high expectations and are joining a great group of returners for the 2017 season.”
Stephen Viola | Defense – 6’2 – 195 – Broomall, PA – Maple Newtown
Viola was a captain for three seasons and earned team MVP his junior year. One of Philadelphia’s top defenseman, Viola unfortunately missed his entire senior season due to injury. As a junior, he received All-Central League Honorable Mention and All-Delco honors and appeared on the Under Armour All-American Top 88 Team. Academically, he was named to the Honor Roll.
Sam Ahlgrim | Defense – 6’2 – 175 – Westport, CT – Staples
Ahlgrim played three seasons on the varsity squad at Staples High School, collecting 80 ground balls. During his senior year he led the program to its first appearance in the FCIAC semifinals and a Western Division title. His team was ranked no. 19 in the USA Today Sports Poll. Ahlgrim was named Second Team All-FCIAC and was invited to the Connecticut Senior All-Star Game. Academically, he achieved second honors for all four years of high school.
Wyatt Colangelo | Midfield – 5’10 – 165 – Skillman, NJ – Montgomery
Colangelo was a First Team All-Conference selection and earned All-State Honorable Mention. After scoring 49 goals and assisting on 26 others from the midfield during his senior season, he[KRW1] [KRW2] led his team to a New Jersey South Group IV Sectional Championship and was named Second Team All-State. Colangelo was invited to the Inside Lacrosse Recruiting Invitational for two seasons, twice being named to the All- Star team. A two-sport standout, he played four years of varsity football in addition to his four seasons on the lacrosse team.
Jon Constant | Attack/Midfield – 5’11 – 165 – Wading River, NY – Shoreham-Wading River
A member of Long Island Championship lacrosse teams as a freshman and senior, Constant amassed 131 points in his high school career, including 64 points in his senior year as a team captain and starting midfielder. He was an All-Division and All-County selection twice and led the Wildcats to a pair of league and county titles in Suffolk County. Constant was also a two-time Long Island Champion in football, earning All-Division recognition as a wide receiver following his senior season. A three-sport standout, he also received Academic All-County recognition in basketball as a senior and made the Honor Roll at Shoreham-Wading River.
Brandon Croteau | Defense – 6’1 – 195 – Bayport, NY – Bayport-Blue Point
Croteau earned All-County and All-Division honors his senior year after leading Bayport-Blue Point to an undefeated mark of 16-0 in the regular season. His team finished as the runner up in Suffolk County in 2013 and 2014. Croteau was a Blue Chip 225 and FCG 120 Camp All-Star and a recipient of the 2016 Suffolk County Zone Award. He was an All-County selection and League Champion in wrestling in the 182-pound weight class as a junior.
Jake MacGregor | Goalie – 6’0 – 210 – Port Jefferson Station, NY – Comsewogue
The 2013 Suffolk County Rookie of the Year, MacGregor became the first goalie at Comsewogue to start every game in his four-year career. He led the Warriors to appearances in the Suffolk County semifinals three out of his four seasons in the cage and was a team captain as a junior and senior. MacGregor was a three-time All-Division and a two-time All-County honoree. He was named Suffolk County Goalie of the Year the last two seasons and a member of the All-Long Island Team as a senior. A U.S. Lacrosse All-American, MacGregor also performed well in the classroom. He was inducted into the Spanish and National Honor Societies and received Outstanding Academic Excellence as a senior.
Jake Weinman | Attack – 5’11 – 182 – Blue Point, NY – Bayport-Blue Point
Weinman became just the third player in Bayport-Blue Point history to reach 200 or more career points. This past season he was a Top 10 point scorer in Suffolk County finishing the year with 40 goals and 34 assists while leading his team to an undefeated regular season and winning a division title. He is a two-time All-Division winner and captured 2016 All-County honors. A fantastic goal scorer, Weinman netted hat tricks in more than half of his games as a junior and senior. As a senior he was presented with the Crosse Award for exceeding team expectations. Weinman has played on a number of excellent Box Lacrosse Tournament teams and earned a spot on the Merit Roll five times at Bayport.
Christopher Schlappich | Midfield/Attack – 5’4 – 160 – Marlboro, NY – Highland
Two time All-American Chris Schlappich comes to Poughkeepsie as a local product who has earned All-Division III status the last four seasons. Highland has won two Section IX Class B Championships and captured last year’s Section IX Division III title with the help of his offense. Schlappich was a U.S. Lacrosse All-American in 2015 and 2016 and an All-Section IX honoree the last three seasons. He is the reigning Poughkeepsie Journal Player of the Year and has been a Poughkeepsie Journal All-Star the last two years. The Times-Herald Record named him to the First Team the last two seasons and the Hudson Valley Sports Report selected him to their 2015 Dream Team. Academically, Schlappich finished third in a class of 185 and graduated as an AP Scholar with Honors. He was a Mid-Hudson Athletic League Senior Scholar-Athlete and earned a New York State Academic Excellence and Greystone Technology award.
Michael Smith | Midfield – 5’10 – 180 – Cortlandt Manor, NY – Hendrick Hudson
Michael Smith was called up to the varsity squad for sectional playoffs as an eighth grader before earning All-League Honorable Mention in his first full high school season. He finished his high school career with 252 points on 189 goals and 63 assists. For the last three years Smith has been an All-League and All-Section honoree as well as Hendrick Hudson’s Offensive Player of the Year. After his senior year he won the Con Edison and Peekskill Rotary Club Athlete of the Year awards before he was selected to the Northern Westchester/Putnam All-Lacrosse and MSG Varsity All-Hudson Valley Boys Lacrosse Second Teams. His athletic career included three years of basketball and football. Off the field Smith was recognized as a Scholar-Athlete and made the Honor Roll each semester of high school. He was a member of the National Society of High School Scholars and received the 2016 Office of the New York Comptroller Achievement Award.
Peyton Smith | FO/Midfield – 6’0 – 175 – Raleigh, NC – Athens Drive High
One of the nation’s top faceoff prospects, Peyton Smith won 79 percent of the faceoffs he took as a senior. Smith was crowned the national champion at the 2015 Faceoff Academy National Showcase and placed in the Elite 8 at the same event in 2016. He led his team in ground balls each year of his high school career before finishing with a total of 590. A team MVP his junior and senior seasons, he was a three-time All-Conference, two-time Second Team All-Region, and two-time Second Team All-State selection. Smith is the fourth Marist player in the last three years to be selected to North Carolina’s Great 38 All-Star Game. Smith earned Academic All-Conference for four years and was a junior marshal. He was involved in the community in the Cary Youth Leadership Club and Athens Drive Health Science Academy.
Joe Tierney | Attack/Midfield – 5’10 – 162 – Bethpage, NY – Bethpage
Tierney was Nassau County’s assists leader as just a sophomore in 2014 and finished second in the county in points this past year as a senior. One of Long Island’s premiere players, Tierney amassed 97 points this past spring which placed him fourth on all of Long Island. In four years of varsity lacrosse he was named All-County three times and selected as All-American Honorable Mention twice. Tierney ended his career with 253 points and collected 110 ground balls. He received one of the nation’s highest honors in 2016 when he was named to the prestigious 2016 All-Long Island First Team by Newsday. Tierney excelled in three sports at Bethpage as a three-year starter at point guard of the basketball team and two-year member of the varsity soccer team. He was also an excellent student and Student Council President at Bethpage.
The Red Foxes competed in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship game for the third straight season in 2016. Marist defeated eighth ranked Stony Brook in overtime on April 12, 2016, which marked the highest ranked opponent to be defeated by a Marist team in program history.
Marist finished with the most efficient man up unit in the nation this past season, going 17 for 28. Their .607 conversion rate is second highest all time in NCAA Division I history.
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