Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 1/26/19
From Press Release
The defending Southern Conference champion University of Richmond men’s lacrosse program was picked to repeat as preseason favorites by the league’s head coaches in the preseason poll announced Thursday. The Spiders also led the league with four named to the preseason All-Conference team, including two Philly grads, sophomore defender Jason Reynolds (Chester Springs, Pa.) and redshirt sophomore short-stick midfield Tate Gallagher (Ardmore, Pa.), as well as senior attack Teddy Hatfield (Summit, N.J.), sophomore midfield Mitch Savoca (Newtown, Conn.).
The Spiders picked up six of the eight first place votes to finish with 48 total votes, while High Point was second with 39 votes and Air Force was third with 37. Jacksonville was fourth with 36 votes, followed by Furman (24), Bellarmine (17), Mercer (16) and VMI (7).
Richmond finished the 2018 season ranked No. 19 in the nation after finishing the year with an 11-6 overall record and a 6-1 mark in SoCon play. The Spiders are defending Southern Conference regular season and tournament champions, advancing to their second NCAA Tournament in the short five-year history of the program last year.
Reynolds picks up his first preseason honor of his career after earning All-Conference and All-Freshman Team accolades last season. He anchored the Spider defense that was overhauled after losing its entire first unit to graduation at the end of the 2017 campaign. Reynolds collected 33 ground balls to go with 17 caused turnovers while starting all 17 games on the year.
Gallagher rounds out the Spiders on the preseason All-SoCon team, earning his first conference accolade of his career. He played in all 17 games for the Spiders last season as a redshirt freshman, scoring two goals and adding four assists. He posted 19 ground balls on the year and caused a pair of turnovers.
The 2019 regular season starts with a bang February 9 as the Spiders travel to College Park, Md., for a meeting against Maryland. The Terrapins appeared in the NCAA Final Four last year, finishing with a 14-4 overall record and ranked No. 3 in the final poll of the season. It marks the first-ever meeting between the Spiders and Maryland.
Preseason All-Southern Conference
Team (1st-place votes)
- Richmond (6) – 48
- High Point (1) – 39
- Air Force – 7
- Jacksonville (1) – 36
- Furman – 24
- Bellarmine – 17
- Mercer – 16
- VMI – 7
2019 Preseason All-Southern Conference team
A Asher Nolting, High Point
A Eric Applegate, Jacksonville
A Teddy Hatfield, Richmond
M Cameron Carter, Air Force
M William Holcomb, Furman
M Mitch Savoca, Richmond
D Brandon Jones, Air Force
D Dixon Smith, Jacksonville
D Jason Reynolds (Downingtown East), Richmond
D Kyle Walsh, VMI
GK Tim Troutner Jr., High Point
FO Trent Harper, Air Force
SSM Tate Gallagher (Shipley School), Richmond
LSM Michael O’Brien, Mercer
