Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 1/29/20
From Press Release
Virginia is the preseason favorite in the 2020 ACC Men’s Lacrosse Preseason Coaches Poll, led by Pre-Season All-ACC picks Dox Aitken (Haverford School) and Matt Moore (Garnet Valley).
The reigning NCAA and ACC champions, the Cavaliers garnered 21 points in balloting among the ACC’s five head coaches. Notre Dame was No. 2 with 18 points, followed by Syracuse (15), Duke (11) and North Carolina (10).
The Preseason All-ACC Team features 15 student-athletes representing all five conference teams, with four selections each from Syracuse and Virginia, three from North Carolina and Notre Dame and one from Duke. The team includes each of the three major ACC award winners from 2019: Notre Dame midfielder Bryan Costabile (Offensive Player of the Year), Duke defenseman JT Giles-Harris (Defensive Player of the Year) and North Carolina goalkeeper Caton Johnson (Manheim Township, Freshman of the Year).
The Preseason All-ACC Team includes nine players who earned All-America honors from the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) following the 2019 season. Thirteen of the 15 players on the Preseason All-ACC Team also are represented on Inside Lacrosse Face-Off Yearbook’s 2020 Preseason All-America Team.
All five ACC men’s lacrosse teams are ranked in the Inside Lacrosse Face-off Yearbook Preseason Poll, led by top-ranked Virginia. The Cavaliers are followed by No. 6 Duke, No. 7 Notre Dame, No. 8 Syracuse and No. 11 North Carolina. The ACC has the most teams in the top 20 among all conferences.
In all, 19 ACC men’s lacrosse players have been named to the Inside Lacrosse Face-Off Yearbook Preseason All-America Team, including six first-team selections – Costabile, Giles-Harris, North Carolina attacker Chris Gray, Virginia midfielder Aitken, Virginia long-stick midfielder Jared Conners, and Syracuse defenseman Nick Mellen. The ACC’s 19 Face-off Yearbook Preseason All-Americans are the most of any league.
The 2020 men’s lacrosse season gets underway Saturday as North Carolina plays host to Colgate at noon and Duke welcomes Air Force for a 2 p.m. game. The ACC doubleheader marks the first lacrosse games on ACC Network.
2020 ACC Preseason Coaches Poll
- Virginia, 21
- Notre Dame, 18
- Syracuse, 15
- Duke, 11
- North Carolina, 10
2020 Preseason All-ACC Team
Attack: Chris Gray, Jr., North Carolina
Attack: Michael Kraus, Sr. Virginia
Attack: Matt Moore (Garnet Valley), Jr., Virginia
Midfield: Dox Aitken (Haverford School), Sr., Virginia
Midfield: Bryan Costabile, Sr., Notre Dame
Midfield: Brendan Curry, Jr., Syracuse
Defense: JT Giles-Harris, Sr., Duke
Defense: Nick Mellen, Sr., Syracuse
Defense: Jack Kielty, Sr., Notre Dame
Goalkeeper: Drake Porter, Sr., Syracuse
Goalkeeper: Caton Johnson (Manheim Township), So., North Carolina
Face-Off: Charlie Leonard, Sr., Notre Dame
Long-Stick Midfielder: Jared Conners, Sr., Virginia
Short-Stick Midfielder: Peter Dearth, Sr., Syracuse
Short-Stick Midfielder: Connor Maher, So., North Carolina