Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 2/5/21 – From Press Release
With the 2021 season set to begin this month, the Patriot League preseason poll and individual preseason honors were announced on Friday. The Lehigh men’s lacrosse team was predicted to finish third while four, graduate student Andrew Eichelberger, graduate student Conor Gaffney (Lenape-NJ) and senior Teddy Leggett and junior Tommy Schelling were named preseason All-Patriot League.
The Mountain Hawks finished with 104 points and one first-place vote, only behind Loyola with 125 (13 first-place votes) and Army West Point with 111 (four). Following Lehigh was Navy (77), Boston University (67), Bucknell (66), Holy Cross (40), Colgate (39) and Lafayette (19).
A two-time team captain Eichelberger started all six games during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, finishing fourth on the Mountain Hawks in goals (9) and fifth in points (13), tallying at least one point in five of the six contests. His final two games were a pair of career efforts, first scoring a career-high four goals in a win over Navy then tying a career-high four points (two goals, two assists) vs. Holy Cross. Eichelberger was named second team All-Patriot League following the 2019 season (no postseason honors were awarded in 2020).
Already the most accomplished faceoff specialist in program history and one of the nation’s top players at his position, Gaffney returns for a fifth year in 2021. A preseason USILA honorable mention All-American, Gaffney finished 2020 ninth nationally in faceoff percentage (65.7) to up his career winning percentage to 63.9 (669-of-1047). As a junior in 2019, Gaffney was fourth in the nation in faceoff percentage (69.7), a year that saw him break Patriot League and program records for faceoff wins (242) and groundballs (152). That year, he was named an honorable mention postseason All-American by the USILA and Inside Lacrosse. In the classroom, Gaffney is a three-time CoSIDA Academic All-American, being named to the second team last season. He is also a former Patriot League Faceoff Specialist of the Year and two-time Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Named a second-year captain, Leggett has enjoyed an impressive career to date at both long-stick midfield and close defense. He was named second team All-Patriot League following his freshman and sophomore seasons then finished 2020 with 26 groundballs and five caused turnovers – good for second and third on the Mountain Hawks, respectively. Prior to this season, he’s already been named an honorable mention All-American by the USILA and Inside Lacrosse, and enters 2021 with 166 career groundballs (already seventh in program history) and 48 caused turnovers. His 79 groundballs in 2019 were tied for sixth in program history for a season.
Schelling enjoyed a breakout sophomore campaign, leading the Mountain Hawks in goals (22), assists (11) and points (33) through just six games. Schelling opened the season with a nine-point effort against Utah (seven goals, two assists). In what proved to be his final game of the season, he had seven points vs. Holy Cross (four goals, three assists). In between, Schelling tallied four points at defending national champion Virginia, six vs. VMI, four at NJIT and three vs. Navy. Schelling finished 12th nationally in points per game, 15th in goals per contest and 42nd in assists per game.
The Mountain Hawks’ season is set to open on Saturday, Feb. 27 when they host NJIT. For the complete schedule, please click here.
Preseason Offensive Player of the Year – Brendan Nichtern, Army West Point, Jr., A
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year – Ryan McNulty (Bishop Shanahan), Loyola Maryland, Gr., D
Preseason All-Patriot League Team
Student-athletes are listed by position; then alphabetically by school
Attack: Brendan Nichtern, Army West Point, Jr.
Attack: Tommy Schelling, Lehigh, Jr.
Attack: Kevin Lindley, Loyola Maryland, Sr.
Attack: Aidan Olmstead, Loyola Maryland, Sr.
Midfielder: Bobby Abshire, Army West Point, Jr.
Midfielder: Harry Wellford, Bucknell, Jr.
Midfielder: Andrew Eichelberger, Lehigh, Gr.
Midfielder: Peter Swindell, Loyola Maryland, Gr.
Defense: Marcus Hudgins, Army West Point, Jr.
Defense: Bryant Boswell, Bucknell, Sr.
Defense: Chris Conlin, Holy Cross, Jr.
Defense: Teddy Leggett, Lehigh, Sr.
Defense: Cam Wyers, Loyola Maryland, Jr.
Goalie: Wyatt Schupler, Army West Point, Jr.
FaceOff Specialist: Conor Gaffney (Lenape-NJ) Lehigh, Gr.
Long-Stick Midfielder: Ryan McNulty (Bishop Shanahan), Loyola Maryland, Gr.
Short-Stick Defensive Midfielder: Matt Higgins, Loyola Maryland, Gr.
Preseason Poll
Loyola Maryland – 125 (13 first-place votes)
Army West Point – 111 (4)
Lehigh – 104 (1)
Navy – 77
Boston University – 67
Bucknell – 66
Holy Cross – 40
Colgate – 39
Lafayette – 19