BearLaxTraxFax by John Nichols

BLTF 012119-v2

D-I

NCAA Division I men’s lacrosse kicks off this weekend.  Don’t let those remnants of snow and single digit temperatures fool you, its Spring! The first of the games we will be tracking this year will be played on Saturday, February 2^nd.  We are covering five games that day, including two Bears vs. Bears matches: Maryland (Justin Shockey, John Geppert) hosts Bucknell (Jarett Witzal, Colin O’Brien, and Drew Wellington) and Duke (Jack Falk) visits Furman (Michael Abizaid).

The 2019 season sees a big up-tick in Bears playing at the next level with 20 teams tracked, up from 14 last year, and 23 Landon alums playing (up from 20 in 2018).  More teams mean more games, particularly more Bears vs. Bears matches.  All in, we will report on 230 games (40% more than last year) of which 43 are Bears vs. Bears contests (up 126% from last year!).   The Crown Lacrosse Classic at the Matthews Sportsplex in Charlotte, NC on March 8 and March 10 will be comprised entirely of Bears vs. Bears clashes featuring Cornell (Colton Rupp), Penn State (Nate Buller), Jacksonville (Andrew Mitchell, Hunter Sells) and Towson (Mo Sillah).

Specials congratulations go out to Justin Shockey of Maryland for garnering a pre-season All-American honorable mention from Inside Lacrosse.

If you want to go see Landon alums play in person, but stay close to home, in addition to the home schedules of Johns Hopkins, Navy, Loyola, Towson, and Maryland, the following games will be in the area:

February 23: Towson at Georgetown

March 5: Furman at Georgetown

March 17: Cleveland State vs. North Carolina at the US Lacrosse site in Sparks, Maryland

Here’s who we are following this year (new players bolded):

Army: Drennan Green

Bucknell: Jarett Witzal, Colin O’Brien, Drew Wellington

Cleveland State: Justin Conner

Colgate: Griffin Brown

Cornell: Colton Rupp

Dartmouth: Landon McKenzie

Duke: Jack Falk (grad transfer from Virginia)

Fairfield: Alex Hagerup

Furman: Michael Abizaid

Hobart: Koko Avedisian

Jacksonville: Andrew Mitchell, Hunter Sells

Johns Hopkins: Joey Epstein

Loyola: Cam James

Maryland: Justin Shockey, John Geppert

Michigan: Zach Johnson

Navy: Thomas Evans, Shane Corcoran

Penn State: Nate Buller

St. Joseph’s: Thomas Halm

Towson: Mo Sillah

Virginia: Ryan Pride

Preseason Polls:

D-III

D-III Men’s Lacrosse also gets going the first weekend in February as Salisbury (Brian Menendez, Jace Menendez) faces Berry College on February 3.  Unlike D-I, our D-III coverage shrinks a bit this season but we will be following 6 teams with Landon alums—7 players and one assistant coach.  Our D-III schedule has 91 regular season games, including three Bears vs. Bears contests.

Here’s who we are following this year (new players bolded):

Catholic University of America: Assistant Coach Tom Minkler, Sean Feldman

Ohio Wesleyan: Tyler McTague

Salisbury: Brian Menendez, Jace Menendez

Trinity: Spud Dunn

Tufts: Luke Kurtz

Washington College: Will Oliver

Three teams are ranked in Inside Lacrosse’s D-III preseason poll: #2 Salisbury, #5 Tufts, and #11 Ohio Wesleyan.