Preseason Captain's Interviews
HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College men's lacrosse team came just moments away from a return to postseason play as the team continued its upward trend in 2016. The Fords, who have increased their win total in each of the past two seasons, will look for a young but experienced team to take the next step under first-year head coach Brendan Dawson.
Dawson, formerly a two-time MAC Commonwealth Coach of the Year at Widener, comes to the Haverford after making the postseason in five straight years with the Pride. He inherits a team that returns eight of its 10 starters and 18 total players who played in at least 10 of the team's 15 games last spring.
Attack
Four different players saw regular time on the first attack line for the Fords last season and all four return in 2017. In total, nine of Haverford's top 11 goal scorers and point producers return to the team between the attack and midfield. Junior captain Isaac Krier headlines that group as he led the Fords in both goals (21) and points (29) a season ago. One of three seniors on this year's team, Chase Williams ranked second on the team with 20 goals after he started 10 games. Williams has 39 career goals after setting a new season high last year.
Garrett Trucksess and Stephen DeLeo split time on the first attack line during their freshman campaigns. DeLeo ranked fourth on the team with 11 goals in his collegiate season, while Trucksess scored seven goals and ranked second on the team with 11 assists during his 12 games. Zach Cole was very efficient with his shooting last year, scoring five times on 10 shots – including two goals against Gettysburg. Now juniors James Forse, Noah Quinn, and Jack Sollee will look for increased roles as part of the team's upperclassmen. All three have scored during their careers with Sollee tallying six goals as a freshman.
Newcomers on attack: Connor Braun, Noah Hollander
Midfield
The Fords also return all three of their starting midfielders in Zack Cohen, Max Ellis, and Mitch Hagan. Cohen was the Fords' primary faceoff man, winning 53 percent of his draws as a freshman. That was the highest percentage for a regular faceoff man at Haverford since Peter Hannapel '09. Hannapel holds the top four faceoff percentages for a single season in program history as he helped the Fords to their first two NCAA Tournament appearances. Cohen's prowess at faceoff helped him to lead the team with 62 ground balls. One of three long-stick middies on this year's team, Ellis led the Fords in caused turnovers (35) and was second on the team in ground balls (52) a season ago. Jake Ephron is the other returning LSM as he picked up seven ground balls and caused four turnovers last season.
The Fords will have to replace graduated seniors Tav Hafner '16 (second-team All-CC) and Andrew Dalke '16. However. Each of the other six returning players in the midfield played in at least 10 games last year with four of those players entering all 15 games. Rob McLallen was the team leader in assists with 15 a season ago as he also tallied seven goals. Team captain Patrick Girard ranked fourth on the team in goals with 11 last year and has started games in each of his first two seasons. Juniors Justin Brendel and Kevin Goshorn also appeared in every game last season. Ben Frost and Jack Russ were also integral parts of the middies a year ago, while Ryan Tetro makes the move from attack and will look to contribute as well during his sophomore season.
Newcomers in midfield: Jeremy Akin (LSM), Charlie Russ, Justin Telleria
Defense
Team captain PJ Jackson (honorable mention All-Centennial Conference) and Chandler Todd (second-team All-CC) headline the returning defenders. Todd was second on the team with 20 caused turnovers and scooped up 42 ground balls. Jackson was third in the team in forcing the opponents into giveaways with 17 caused turnovers and picked up an additional 30 ground balls.
Junior Rob Carpenter also saw significant time in the defensive with seven ground balls and two caused turnovers in his 11 games after transferring from Vassar. Ben Forde, Quinn Glabicki, and Dylan Silverman was also be called on to help fill the defensive losses due to the graduation. Defense is also where four of the team's 10 incoming freshman will be slotted for their rookie seasons.
Newcomers on defense: Griffin Brooks, Patrick Janas, Gabe Moon, Brendan Narko
Goalie
Looking to replace the team's first All-American goalkeeper since 2012 will be no small feat as the Fords search for a replacement to four-year starter Eric Caliendo '16. Dylan Slack served as the backup to the two-time All-CC goalie last year. Now a sophomore, Slack allowed just 3.32 goals per game in 18:03 of playing time last season. Classmates Han Mahle and Will Fox did not see any playing time with the All-American in goal last year. Freshman Kyle Buseck provides Haverford with four different options in goal.
Newcomers in goal: Kyle Buseck
Schedule
The Fords open the season at No. 8 Cabrini on Saturday, February 18 and have another top 10 opponent in non-conference action as they travel to No. 7 York (Pa.). Haverford went 7-8 a year ago with three wins in the Centennial Conference. The Fords were edged out by rival Swarthmore for the final spot in the Centennial Conference playoffs during the regular season finale in 2016. Haverford will play at home six times during the upcoming season. The home opener is set for Sunday, February 25 against Eastern.