Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 2/2/23
From Press Release
Richmond has been voted as the favorite in the 2023 Atlantic 10 Men’s Lacrosse Preseason Poll. The league, which will hold its inaugural season in the sport this spring, also honored 12 players as Preseason All-Conference.
Richmond received 33 points in the poll and four first place votes. The Spiders are led by Attacked Dalton Young (39 goals, 23 assists, 62 points), midfielder Lance Madonna (25 goals, 12 assists, 37 points) and defender Jake Saunders (33 ground balls, 23 caused turnovers), all of whom were named to the Preseason All-Conference team. Following an 11-5 campaign in 2022 that included an NCAA bid, UR is ranked 20th in the preseason by Inside Lacrosse, and Saunders was drafted into the National Lacrosse League by the Las Vegas Desert Dogs, which he will join following the 2023 season.
Saint Joseph’s was second in the poll with 29 points and two first-place votes. The Hawks also reached the NCAA Tournament in 2022, finishing with a 14-4 overall record. SJU placed five players on the Preseason All-Conference Team, the most of any program, led by Zach Cole (Lenape-NJ), who also was named Preseason All-America by USA Lacrosse. Cole serves as SJU’s face-off specialist, winning 68.1 precent of his faceoffs, which also collecting 191 ground balls. Midfielder Tucker Brown (43 goals, 11 assists, 54 points) and defender Patrick Clemens (Springfield-Delco, 34 ground balls, 22 caused turnovers) joined Cole on the Preseason All-Conference Team. Hawks scoring leaders Levi Anderson (33 goals, 31 assists, 64 points) and Matt Bohmers (43 goals, 19 assists, 62 points) also earned A-10 preseason honors.
Massachusetts was picked third in the poll with 20 points. The Minutemen finished 8-6 last season and have both defensive transfer Chris Campbell (31 ground balls, 19 caused turnovers at LIU) and goalkeeper Matt Knote (11.07 goals against average, 173 saves) on the Preseason All-Conference Team.
New Atlantic 10 affiliate members, High Point and Hobart finished fourth and fifth in the preseason poll. HPU tallied 19 points in the poll with attacker, Brayden Mayea (40 goals, 9 assists, 49 points, 35 ground balls) on the Preseason All-Conference team. The Panthers finished 2022 with a 7-8 record.
Hobart, which finished 7-6 last season, had 18 points in the poll with defender Michael Christiansen (15 ground balls, 11 caused turnovers) earning preseason A-10 honors.
St. Bonaventure rounded out the A-10 Preseason Poll and enter 2023 with an 11-4 record, the best mark in the five-year history of the Bonnies program.
The 2023 Atlantic 10 Men’s Lacrosse Championship will be a four-team bracket played at Richmond’s Robins Stadium in Richmond, Va. May 4-6.
2023 A-10 Men’s Lacrosse Preseason Poll
Richmond – 33 (4)
Saint Joseph’s – 29 (2)
Massachusetts – 20
High Point – 19
Hobart – 18
St. Bonaventure – 7
Number in parenthesis denotes first-place votes
2023 A-10 Men’s Lacrosse Preseason All-Conference
ATTACK
Levi Anderson, Saint Joseph’s
Matt Bohmer, Saint Joseph’s
Dalton Young, Richmond
Brayden Mayea, High Point
MIDFIELD
Zach Cole (Lenape-NJ), Saint Joseph’s
Tucker Brown, Saint Joseph’s
Lance Madonna, Richmond
DEFENSE
Patrick Clemens (Springfield-Delco), Saint Joseph’s
Chris Campbell, Massachusetts
Michael Christiansen, Hobart
Jake Saunders, Richmond
GOALKEEPER
Matt Knote, Massachusetts
