The NCAA season concluded about a week ago (SCHMONEY DANCE), but that doesn’t mean teams sit around doing nothing for the summer. Coaches are moving, and so are players. In this first edition of College Check-Up, we’re already having moves and transfers in Division I. Until Fall practices start up in late August and early September, I’ll be giving you the latest updates in the world of College Lacrosse on a weekly basis.
Ben DeLuca Joins Harvard Staff As Associate Head Coach
It’s very good to hear that DeLuca is back in a non-voluntary position. We still don’t know why Cornell let him go as Head Coach about two-and-a-half years ago, and we may not know for a long time. The Big Red has done well with Matt Kerwick at the helm, but DeLuca got the last laugh in 2014 with winning a National Championship with Duke. He’ll be filling one of coach Chris Wojcik’s vacancies as Ben Smith and Adam Ghitelman left at the end of this season. At Duke, he helped manage an experienced defense that let up only 9.7 goals per game. Joining the Crimson, they allowed 12.29 goals a game, which ranked 62nd out of 69 teams. I’m going to assume that he will be working with the defense, and if that will be the case, let’s see what he does with improving the Crimson defense.
Froccaro Brothers, Jake And Joey, Heading To Villanova
The first transfers of the offseason, and it involves a pair of midfielders, one that was at Princeton and another that was planning on going to Princeton. Jake played for the Tigers for parts of three seasons. In 2013 and 2014, Jake recorded 51 goals and 24 assists, but played in only two games (Manhattan and Maryland) and recorded a goal and three assists before injury forced him to miss the rest of the season. Joey is a senior at Port Washington in New York and was recently named an Under Armour All-American. Due to Ivy League rules, the younger Froccaro never signed a National Letter of Intent, which meant that he was allowed to look at other schools without putting a slight delay to the beginning of his collegiate career. The brothers will be on the same campus as their sister, Jackie. The elder of the Froccaro athletes just wrapped up her senior season on the women’s lacrosse team, but has one more year remaining after missing the 2014 season. The brothers are also very close to many of the players on the team, and wanted to look at schools together once Jake decided to leave school, according to Inside Lacrosse. Wishing the best for the two players and their adventures in the gorgeous Main Line, part of the immediate Philadelphia suburbs.
Nova Attackman Horning Heading To Fairfield
As the Wildcats gained two players, they also lost one of their own. Freshman Charlie Horning will continue his career near the Connecticut beaches at Fairfield University as a Stag. The Georgetown Prep graduate appeared in 14 games, starting in only one of them. During his rookie campaign, he notched four goals and five assists on 19 shots. Similar to the Froccaros, he will be met in three years by his brother John, a current sophomore defenseman at the IAC power. Horning’s arrival comes at a great time as the Stags graduate Tristan Sperry, Colin McLinden, and Drew Federico, who recorded a total of 98 points in the 2015 campaign.
What I’m Watching: Women’s Lacrosse Rules Committee Meeting
I’m not sure what will come out of these meetings, but some things that could be changed are stick checks after goals and a shot clock. Regarding the latter issue, I did not watch the Women’s Final Four games, but against Syracuse in the semifinal, Maryland held the ball for the remaining seven-plus minutes to hold on to a 10-8 victory. In the championship game against North Carolina, leading by just a goal, the Terrapins did the same thing for the last 3:02 of the game. Ridiculous to think that there may not be a shot clock next season, but to keep the game exciting and growing, a shot clock is definitely necessary. We’ll see what happens with that.
