For the better part of four months, many of us watched some exciting college lacrosse, whether it was on TV, online, or in person. There were good games, which included all of Championship Weekend, and there were bad games, such as low scoring affairs and of course, the horrendous winter weather. I take a look back at all 69 Division I teams and how they fared this season and what to look forward to in 2016.
I now move on to the season’s top 25 teams, which were decided by the final media poll of the season. If you missed any of my previous recaps, you can read all of them here!
COMPARING 2014 AND 2015 IN NUMBERS
| 2014 Record | 9-7 |
| 2014 Conference Record | 4-1 (2nd in Atlantic Sun) |
| 2014 Scoring Offense | 9.63 Goals Per Game (36th in DI) |
| 2014 Scoring Defense | 9.44 Goals Against Per Game (22nd in DI) |
| 2014 Goals Leader | #4 Dan Lomas – Sophomore (42 Gs) |
| 2014 Assists Leader | #8 Matt Thistle – Sophomore (36 As) |
| 2014 Points Leader | #8 Matt Thistle – Sophomore (53 Pts) |
| 2014 Goaltending Leader | #15 Austin Geisler – R-Junior (.592 SV %) |
| 2014 Faceoff Leader | #25 Jamie Piluso – Sophomore (.594 FO %) |
| 2014 Ground Balls Leader | #25 Jamie Piluso – Sophomore (95 GBs) |
| 2014 Caused Turnover Leaders | #32 Harris Levine – R-Sophomore (16 CTs) #16 Pat Farrell – Junior (16 CTs) |
| 2014 Quality Wins | St. Joseph’s (9-7), Jacksonville (8-7, 12-11 – Atlantic Sun Semifinal), Michigan (9-7) |
| 2014 Bad Losses | Towson (11-8), Bellarmine (10-9), Richmond (8-7 – Atlantic Sun Championship) |
| 2015 Record | 10-7 |
| 2015 Conference Record | 4-2 (3rd in Southern) |
| 2015 Scoring Offense | 10.82 Goals Per Game (21st in DI) |
| 2015 Scoring Defense | 9.76 Goals Against Per Game (24th in DI) |
| 2015 Goals Leader | #4 Dan Lomas – Junior (43 Gs) |
| 2015 Assists Leader | #19 Michael LeClair – Sophomore (26 As) |
| 2015 Points Leader | #19 Michael LeClair – Sophomore (53 Pts) |
| 2015 Goaltending Leader | #15 Austin Geisler – R-Senior (.550 SV %) |
| 2015 Faceoff Leader | #25 Jamie Piluso – Junior (.554 FO %) |
| 2015 Ground Balls Leader | #25 Jamie Piluso – Junior (95 GBs) |
| 2015 Caused Turnovers Leader | #16 Pat Farrell – Senior (27 CTs) |
| 2015 Quality Wins | Delaware (15-10), Air Force (10-9), Mercer (7-6 – SoCon Semifinal), Richmond (9-8 2 OT – SoCon Championship) |
| 2015 Bad Losses | Duke (16-13), St. Joe’s (12-11), Marist (10-9), Towson (10-8 – NCAA Play-In) |
YEAR IN REVIEW
The second of our conference tournament winners comes in at #22 with the High Point Panthers, who are one of the best teams from the smaller conferences in Division I. Some picked the Panthers as SoCon favorites, but they were going to make a run at the SoCon title no doubt. They lost to Richmond in last year’s Atlantic Sun Championship by a goal, and the team wanted to get revenge again, which they would get in the SoCon Championship. In only their third year of play, High Point went 10-7, one more win than last season, and earned their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament, which was a tough 10-8 loss to CAA champion Towson. With players like Honorable Mention All-American Dan Lomas, Matt Thistle, Michael LeClair, and all-name freshman T Moyer, High Point had one of the most surprising offenses in 2015.
The Panthers kicked off the 2015 season with a 15-10 win against Delaware on Super Bowl Sunday. The following week would be a huge test against defending back-to-back National Champion Duke. Some thought that Duke would pummel High Point and watched other games, such as Virginia-Loyola. High Point had an explosive second quarter that sent the game tied at seven entering halftime, a complete shock to the entire lacrosse world. Duke would get the lead back, but the Panthers tied the game up yet again in the 4th quarter thanks to Cole Carns’ 4th goal on the day. But Duke finished the game like they started it, with three unanswered goals to beat the Panthers 16-13.
After another loss to another North Carolina-based team, this time the Tar Heels, the Panthers took on St. Joe’s in a game that High Point controlled for the most part, until the final quarter, where the two teams traded the lead, before Ryan McGee gave the Hawks the win with only two seconds left in the game. It was a tough game to move on from, but the Panthers were resilient and won their next two games against Sacred Heart and Robert Morris before falling to eventual MAAC champion Marist by a goal, after a 4th quarter comeback fell short. They fell to Mercer the following week in Georgia in their SoCon opener in overtime after Michael LeClair tied the game at 11. The Bears won the game on a Scott Baird overtime goal with 1:47 left.
But the Panthers would end the regular season winning their five of their final six games, with their only loss coming against Richmond 20-9. High Point was the #3 seed in the SoCon Tournament as they took on Mercer in the semifinals, defeating the Bears 7-6 to face off against top seed Richmond. Down 8-5 with 9:15 left to play, the Panthers managed to score three goals to tie the game up at eight, including a Cole Carns goal with 46 seconds left. The game would take two overtime periods, when Sean Harrison gave the Panthers their first ever SoCon Championship and their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance. They’d face Towson in a Play-In game, which the Panthers started out with a 5-0 run, before Towson struck back with an 8-0 run and took the game 10-8.
I really like the Panthers to take the SoCon title yet again in 2016, although Richmond and newcomer Air Force are also good teams in that conference. Lomas, Thistle, Leclair, and plenty of this year’s squad will return, but the team will have to find a way to replace defenseman Pat Farrell and goaltender Austin Geisler. Plus, the team will have to prove themselves in non-conference play early in the season, since we know how they can do inside the SoCon.
LOOKING AHEAD TO 2016
| NAME | POSITION | HIGH SCHOOL |
| Michael Fraser | Defense/LSM | Bishop O’Connell (VA) |
| Mitchel Snyder | Midfield/Attack | Needham-Broughton (NC) |
| Brandon Savoie | Midfield/FO | Mill Creek (GA) |
| Charlie Taylor | Midfield/FO | Calverton (MD) |
| John Skinner | Midfield/FO | Loudoun Valley (VA) |
| Hayden Lovett | Defense/LSM | Needham-Broughton (NC) |
| Keegan O’Connor | Midfield | Boys’ Latin/Maryland (MD) |
| Ryan McLaughlin | Attack/Midfield | Herndon (VA) |
| Joel Schwarz | Defense/LSM | Lakeridge (OR) |
| Alex Woodall | Midfield/FO | St. Mary’s (MD) |
| Matt Burton | Midfield | Sunset (OR) |
| Griff Caligiuri | Defense | Lake Highland Prep (FL) |
| Michael Cropper | Defense | Ridley (PA) |
| Quinton Eissler | Attack | Coronado (NV) |
| Griffin Vanderbeek | Attack | Immaculata (NJ) |
| Jack Schleppy | Midfield | J. Serra Catholic (CA) |
| Jimmy Wyrick | Defense | St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes (VA)/Syracuse (NY) |
| Billy Sledge | Midfield | St. Anthony’s (NY) |
High Point will have to replace five departing players with 18 incoming recruits, two of them transfers from top schools. Let’s start with the transfers, first with Keegan O’Connor. O’Connor was Inside Lacrosse’s 26th top freshman in the class of 2014, but did no appear in any games this season. Defenseman Jimmy Wyrick was a first-team all-state defenseman in Virginia, and was redshirted in 2014 and did not play at all in 2015. As for current players, there are three that stand out. The first is Michael Fraser, who was named to the Washington Post 1st Team All-Met. The second player is Coronado attackman Quinton Eissler. Eissler is on Ty Xanders’ watchlist of top players in the 2015 recruiting class. The final player is FOGO Alex Woodall of St. Mary’s. The MVP of the MIAA “A” title game is #14 on Ty Xanders’ top 75 seniors list.
