Stevens Favored Atop the Empire 8 Men’s Lacrosse Poll
ROCHESTER, NY -- The more things change in the Empire 8, the more things stay the same. At least that is what it appears with this year’s men’s lacrosse season. While a handful of teams are looking to break into the playoff picture this season, according to the preseason coaches’ poll, it might be more of the same by the time the postseason gets into full swing.
Twenty-three all-Conference selections are back and a new member joins the league as the field is ready to engage in a two and half month battle for the Empire 8 title.
Ready to repeat?
With four all-conference First Team selections returning and its 6-1 conference record a year ago as supporting evidence, the league coaches tabbed Stevens (17-3 overall – the best record in the programs history) as the favorite in the preseason coaches’ poll. The Ducks received seven first-place votes and 49 points to claim the top spot.
Two points separate the second and third ranked teams with Ithaca College tallying 41 points and Nazareth College racking up 39 points. St. John Fisher takes the fourth spot with 29 points and it appears those for teams will again be the top contenders for a playoff berth.
Hartwick and Utica College tied for fifth with 22 points, while Alfred University and Elmira completed the poll.
Who’s Back?
Though some of the conference’s teams will have to replace some scoring, veteran savvy and leadership due to graduation, there is a ton of talent back this year in the form of six all-conference first-team selections, 13 second-team honorees and four honorable mention picks. Headlining the list is the reigning Empire 8 Player of the Year, Stevens’ Rich Dupras.
Dupras paced Stevens to a school-record 17 victories and a trip to the second round of the NCAA Championship. Dupras led Stevens in all three offensive categories as he totaled 84 points on 52 goals and 32 assists. He also earned USILA First-Team All-America recognition for his play in 2012, the first Duck to earn this honor in the program's 127-year history.
LaxAllStars.com tabbed sophomore goalkeeper Matthew Deiner as one of the NCAA Division III student-athletes to watch in 2013. He saw action in 15 of Stevens' 20 games last year with seven starts en route to an Empire 8 Conference honorable mention selection. He made 81 saves in over 490 minutes in cage for a 7.46 goals against average and a .570 save percentage.
Ithaca (12-6, 6-1) is looking to make its tenth straight appearance in the Empire 8 tournament in 2013 and add to its pair of conference titles (2002 and 2008). The Bombers welcome back leading scorer and second team All-conference attack man Pat Slawta, who finished the 2012 campaign with 45 points on 28 goals and 17 assist.
The strength of Nazareth’s (8-9, 5-2 Empire 8) squad begins the 2012 Rookie of the Year, Drew Simoneau. He took more than half of the Golden Flyers' faceoffs last season and had an overall success rate of 56 percent (162-for-288). He also scored nine goals and added three assists and had a team-best 107 ground balls. Simoneau will team up five returning second-team All-Conference selections and one honorable mention pick.
Fisher had seven student-athletes honored by the E8 last season but short-stick defensive midfielder Scott Campbell is the only returning All-Conference selection. Campbell was named to the Second Team after playing in all 16 games and gathering a team second-best 43 ground balls and causing 16 turnovers.
Hartwick (7-8, 2-5 Empire 8) returns Harry Hughes to the attack line. Hughes led the Hawks this season in goals (48) and points (56).
Attack Ben Winkler had a breakout year in 2012 for Utica (8-8, 3-4 Empire 8) as he set new single-season marks for points in a season (67) and goals (53). He finished the regular season ranked sixth in the country with an average of 3.31 goals per contest and he also ranked 25th in all of Division III men's lacrosse with 4.19 points per game.
Alfred (4-11, 1-6) has defensemen Jack Spadoni returning for the 2013 season. Spadoni started all 15 games for the Saxons, leading the team in caused turnovers with 35 and finishing second on the team with 48 groundballs.
Elmira (3-10, 0-7) is looking to make strides towards an Empire 8 postseason berth. Four of the top six goal scorers return for the Soaring Eagles who combined to net 78 of the 140 on the season.
What’s New?
Houghton College will begin its inaugural season in 2013. The Highlanders are not playing a full league schedule; therefore games against Houghton will not impact conference records/standings. Head Coach Josiah Snelgrove is committed to building the program and laying the groundwork.
Dates to remember
Conference play begins on March 27 with Nazareth hosting Utica, and this year's playoff schedule features two semifinal matches on Friday, May 3, and the championship on Sunday, May 5 with the higher seed hosting each contest.
Follow Online
If you can’t make it out to the game be sure to check if Live Stats are available or better yet the game may be web streamed courtesy of EzStream. Be sure to check out the schedule of streamed events by visiting
empire8.tv.
A closer look
For more information, visit any of the participating schools' websites or go to the Empire 8 home on the Internet at
www.empire8.com. Don't forget to become a fan of the Empire 8 on
Facebook and follow
@Empire8 on Twitter.
2013 Empire 8 Men's Lacrosse Preseason Poll
|
Stevens |
49 (7 first place votes) |
|
Ithaca |
41 (1) |
|
Nazareth |
39 |
|
St. John Fisher |
29 |
|
Hartwick |
22 |
|
Utica |
22 |
|
Alfred University |
13 |
|
Elmira |
9 |