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2019 Northeast Conference Men's Lacrosse Preseason Coaches Poll            1. Robert Morris (6)            2. Bryant            3. Sacred Heart            4. Hobart            5. Mount St. Mary's            6. Saint Joseph's            7. Wagner             First place votes in parentheses

 
   
Somerset, NJ -- On the heels of winning its first NEC title, Robert Morris was the unanimous pick by the league’s head coaches to repeat again in 2019.  

Expectations are high for an RMU team ranked No. 18 nationally in the Inside Lacrosse preseason poll after finishing the 2018 season with a 13-5 record that featured a win over Canisius in the NCAA Tournament.

Bryant also cracked the top-25 in the national poll, making it the first time in the NEC’s nine-year lax history that two teams were featured in the preseason rankings.  

The Bulldogs came in second in the conference poll, with Sacred Heart and Hobart rounding out the top four. Mount St. Mary’s was selected fifth after narrowly missing the NEC Tournament last season, while Saint Joseph’s and Wagner were tabbed sixth and seventh, respectively.  

Andrew McMinn’s RMU team went 4-2 in conference play a year ago before defeating Bryant in the semis and knocking off Saint Joseph’s, 9-8, in a memorable title game that went to overtime. After dispatching Canisius, 12-6, in the NCAA opening round, RMU gave top-seeded Maryland all it could handle in a 14-11 defeat.  

Reigning NEC Goalkeeper of the Year Alex Heger (Carmel, IN/Carmel) and fellow NEC first teamer Tyson Gibson (Maple, Ontario/St. Michaels College) highlight five players for the Colonials who will gear up again after appearing on first or second All-Conference teams last season.  

Heger, a 2019 preseason first team All-American, compiled a .603 save percentage and 7.50 goals against average last season to rank second in the nation in both categories.  The Carmel, IN product held down the fort alongside a stifling Colonial defense that rated top-5 nationally, and he will be joined by a pair of long stick defenders who are returning starters. Second team All-NEC honoree Jack Toomb (Cincinnati, OH/Archbishop Moeller) along with Will Ewing (Smithsburg, MD/Smithsburg) combined for 26 caused turnovers a year ago, while Toomb’s 53 ground balls were second on the team.  

Gibson, an All-NEC first teamer who netted the game-winning tally in the NEC Championship game, is also back for his senior campaign after racking up over 40 points in each of the last two seasons. RMU also brings back a pair of second team all-stars in redshirt senior attackman Matt Schmidt (Doylestown, PA/Central Bucks East) and junior midfielder Ryan Smith (Burlington, Ontario/Nelson), along with NEC All-Rookie honoree Corson Kealey (Ottawa, Ontario/Everest Academy). Schmidt has been a consistent option on the wing, scoring 32 goals in his sophomore campaign before totaling 36 goals and 51 points in ’18.  

Gibson, Smith and Kealey are three of 15 Canadians on the roster that bring a high-class degree of stick skill to the Colonial offense.  

Bryant and 13th year head coach Mike Pressler return three All-Conference award winners following a 5-1 effort in conference play that earned the Black & Gold a two seed in the NEC tournament. Bryant has won five out of the last seven NEC titles.

Standout returnee Marc O’Rourke (Hingham, MA/Hingham) is back for his sophomore campaign after ranking fifth on the circuit with 33 goals. The Hingham, MA native impressed in the Bryant’s semifinal matchup with Robert Morris, netting a hat trick and earning a spot on the NEC All-Tournament team.  

Bryant defender Zach Coffey (West Newbury, MA/The Governor’s Academy) recorded 12 caused turnovers and scooped up 19 ground balls to earn second team All-NEC honors a season ago. Fellow second teamer Trevor Weingarten (Allendale, NJ/Bergen Catholic) will seek a greater role in the Bulldog offense following a 2018 output of 17 goals and four assists.  

The Sacred Heart program has continued to grow under Jon Basti’s direction with two consecutive appearances in the postseason. The Pioneers fell just short in a 11-9 loss to top seeded Saint Joseph’s in the conference semis last spring.  

For the Pioneers, it all starts with reigning NEC Player of the Year Max Tuttle (Castle Rock, CO/Castle View) and returning graduate student Joe Saggese (Saint James, NY/Smithtown East (Drexel)), who achieved first team All-Conference status. Tuttle earned preseason third-team All-America honors after racking up a league-leading 64 points in 2018, the third-most points in a single season in NEC history. The fearsome duo both ranked in the top-10 in DI with 45 and 41 goals, respectively.  

Logan Liljeberg (Wrentham, MA/LaSalle Academy), an NEC All-Rookie team member, is back following a multi-goal performance in the Pioneers’ NEC Tournament loss while finishing third on the team with 30 points.

Hobart earned the coaches’ nod as the final team predicted to make this year’s NEC Tournament. The Statesmen return a pair of proven goal scorers in former NEC Rookie of the Year Chris Aslanian (Westfield, NJ/The Hun School of Princeton) and Ryan Archer (Syracuse, NY/Jamesville-DeWitt), who earned NEC All-Rookie and second team plaudits last season. Face-off specialist Matt Pedicine (Clark, NJ/Arthur L. Johnson) also looks to build on a junior campaign that saw him rank sixth nationally with a .659 percentage at the X.  

Mount St. Mary’s and Saint Joseph’s each return three NEC All-Rookie members from 2018, including the Hawks’ stellar goalkeeper Mike Adler (Fort Lauderdale, FL/Saint Thomas Aquinas). The redshirt sophomore turned aside 59.6 percent of the shots he faced, a mark that was good for third in the NCAA.  

Wagner is under new leadership with Bill McCutcheon, a former standout player at Towson, taking over the program. He spent the last five years as an assistant at Monmouth.

The 2019 regular season will begin on Saturday, February 2 and conference action starts up on Saturday, March 16. The 2019 NEC Men’s Lacrosse Championship will be held on May 2 & 4, hosted by the top seed.
 
About The Northeast Conference
Now entering its 38th year, the Northeast Conference is an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association consisting of 10 institutions of higher learning located throughout six states. Media coverage of the NEC extends to four of the largest markets in the United States - New York (#1), Pittsburgh (#23), Baltimore (#27), and Hartford/New Haven (#30).  Founded in 1981 as the basketball-only ECAC Metro Conference, the NEC has grown to sponsor 22 championship sports for men and women and now enjoys automatic access to 14 different NCAA Championships. NEC member institutions include Bryant, Central Connecticut, Fairleigh Dickinson, LIU Brooklyn, Mount St. Mary’s, Robert Morris, Sacred Heart, St. Francis Brooklyn, Saint Francis U and Wagner. Merrimack will join the NEC as a full-time member in July, 2019. For more information on the NEC, visit the league’s official website (www.northeastconference.org) and digital network (www.necfrontrow.com), or follow the league on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat, all @NECsports.