St. John Fisher Men’s Lacrosse Ranked in USILA Preseason Poll
The St. John Fisher College men’s lacrosse team will start the 2011 season ranked 19th in the USILA Division III Preseason Poll.
Last year, the Cardinals got off to their best start in program history, winning their first 12 games. The team eventually set a new record for wins in a season, finishing 16-2 overall. After only losing one regular season game, Fisher finished in first place in the Empire 8 Conference.
The Cardinals return their top two leading scorers from last season, junior midfielder Kyle Denhoff and senior midfielder Ryan Schmidt. Denhoff, who recorded 58 points on 46 goals and 12 assists, was named to the Empire 8 First Team and became Fisher’s second All-American in men’s lacrosse. Schmidt, returning for his final season, tallied 42 goals and 12 assists last year.
Also returning for Fisher are junior attackers Mitch Ritchie and Connor Henderson, who combined for 59 points last spring. Senior faceoff specialist Erich Rassow will look to continue his success from a breakout season last year after he went 272-for-388 from the X and scooped up a team-best 135 ground balls. The defense, which held opponents to less than eight goals a game last season, returns starters Alex Bopp, Andrew Knoblauch and Mitch Bailey, who combined to start in 51 out of a possible 54 games.
The Cardinals will play three preseason nationally-ranked teams during the season – No. 9 R.I.T., No. 13 Geneseo, and No. 17 Nazareth.
Fisher will open its season in Ashland, Virginia on March 1st at Randolph-Macon College at 3 p.m. and have its first home game on March 8th against SUNY Oswego at 4 p.m.