Freshman 15 (Men) WHERE INCOMING TALENT MEETS NEED
DOX AITKEN // VIRGINIA
No shortage of opportunities for the No. 1 prospect, according to Recruiting Rundown, to contribute in Lars Tiffany’s up-tempo offense.
GERARD ARCERI // PENN STATE Smithtown East (N.Y.) faceoff man will bolster unit that ranked just 45th in Division I (45 percent).
JARED BERNHARDT // MARYLAND Coming off of MVP performance for U.S. U19 team, the midfielder will add to the Bernhardt legacy in College Park.
BEAU BOTKISS // HARVARD The Crimson graduated their entire starting defense and long-stick midfielder.
OWEN COLWELL // JOHNS HOPKINS The 6-2, 195-pound defenseman from Westfield (N.J.) could help fill void left by Craig Madaras.
BRYAN COSTABILE // NOTRE DAME The Mount St. Joseph (Md.) product and U.S. U19 midfielder could slide in nicely next to Sergio Perkovic and Brendan Collins.
MARK EVANCHICK // PENN
The Quakers’ defense was uncharacteristically porous in 2015. Evanchick was a lockdown defender for Darien (Conn.).
MATT FEDORJAKA // FAIRFIELD Son of Bucknell coach Frank Fedorjaka is top scorer (303 goals) in Pennsylvania high school history.
PHILIP GOSS // BROWN
No other Bears goalie boasts the pedigree to replace Jack Kelly like Goss, who went 15-1 as a senior at Deerfield (Mass.).
RYAN MCNULTY // LOYOLA
McNulty is agile and has the high field IQ and skills to excel early in college, and Loyola loves versatile long-stick midfielders.
VIPER SCHEELE // BRYANT
It wasn’t until a preseason scrimmage at Fairfield, though, that Molloy had a sense of what the Bears could accomplish with their new look. “We absolutely crushed them,” Molloy said, “and we were like, ‘Wow!’” Brown would make the NCAA tournament in 2015, and then make a deeper push in 2016. By the time the Bears met Virginia in late April, they had effectively locked up a postseason bid while the Cavaliers were trying to extend their year. Virginia fell 19-11 to seal a 7-8 season. Longtime coach Dom Starsia was ousted three weeks later. But the Cavaliers inadvertently received a possible preview of their own future. “Whether it was the last guy on the
laxmagazine.com
bench or their starting attack, you could tell those guys were extremely excited to play, and it translated,” Lukacovic said. “Watch them even when they’re making mistakes, which they don’t do frequently, and they’re very crisp in the middle of the field.” Molloy had three goals and four assists that night and went on to claim the Tewaaraton Award. He acknowledged the system fit the existing roster perfectly. Brown possessed exceptional offensive talent, but also a dominant faceoff man (Will Gural), a ground-ball magnet at long pole (Larken Kemp) and arguably the nation’s best goalie (Jack Kelly). Brown wasn’t the only Division I program to elevate itself in the last
Likely replacement for four-year starter Gunnar
Waldt played for former Mike Pressler acolyte, Dan Loftus, at Jupiter (Fla.).
FORRY SMITH // JOHNS HOPKINS Ryan Brown graduated and took his 118 career goals (seventh in school history) with him. There’s room for a new scorer. Smith could be that guy.
MICHAEL SOWERS // PRINCETON Sowers had more than 400 assists at Upper Dublin (Pa.). He could do wonders feeding U.S. U19 teammate Austin Sims and Gavin McBride.
JEFF TEAT // CORNELL
Big Red coach Matt Kerwick won’t hesitate to lean on freshmen, and The Hill Academy (Ontario) product is one of the slickest scorers in this class.
ETHAN WALKER // DENVER Two-time Nike/LM Midwest Player of the Year,
Walker can flat-out score — with more than 400 points in just three seasons at Culver (Ind.).
September/october 2016 » LACROSSE MAGAZINE 29
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