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.
Check out previous recaps: NJIT Highlanders, UMass Lowell River Hawks, VMI Keydets, Manhattan Jaspers, Canisius Golden Griffins, Robert Morris Colonials, St. John’s Red Storm, Wagner Seahawks, Binghamton Bearcats, Bellarmine Knights, Jacksonville Dolphins, Furman Paladins, Lafayette Leopards, Rutgers Scarlet Knights, Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers, Siena Saints, Delaware Blue Hens, UMBC Retrievers, Dartmouth Big Green, Providence Friars, Mercer Bears, Penn State Nittany Lions, Hofstra Pride, Michigan Wolverines, UMass Minutemen, Monmouth Hawks, Vermont Catamounts, Sacred Heart Pioneers, Holy Cross Crusaders, Penn Quakers, Villanova Wildcats, Boston Terriers, Quinnipiac Bobcats, Hartford Hawks, Hobart Statesmen, Lehigh Mountain Hawks, Drexel Dragons, Harvard Crimson, Loyola Greyhounds
COMPARING 2014 AND 2015 IN NUMBERS
| 2014 Record | 11-6 |
| 2014 Conference Record | 3-1 (3rd in ECAC) |
| 2014 Scoring Offense | 11.71 Goals Per Game (14th in DI) |
| 2014 Scoring Defense | 9.41 Goals Per Game (21st in DI) |
| 2014 Goals Leader | #12 Mike Crampton – Senior (48 Gs) |
| 2014 Assists Leader | #21 Keith Dreyer – Junior (31 As) |
| 2014 Points Leader | #12 Mike Crampton – Senior (66 Pts) |
| 2014 Goaltending Leader | #45 Doug Gouchoe – Sophomore (.487 SV %) |
| 2014 Face-Off Leader | #25 Erik Smith – Senior (.579 FO %) |
| 2014 Ground Balls Leader | #25 Erik Smith – Senior (61 GBs) |
| 2014 Caused Turnovers Leaders | #1 Kyle O’Brien – Junior (16 CTs) #20 Alex Warden – Sophomore (16 CTs) |
| 2014 Quality Wins | Fairfield (16-8, 9-8 – ECAC Championship), Richmond (13-5 – NCAA Play-In Game) |
| 2014 Bad Losses | VMI (6-4), Quinnipiac (15-10) |
| 2015 Record | 8-7 |
| 2015 Conference Record | NA |
| 2015 Scoring Offense | 9.67 Goals Per Game (40th in DI) |
| 2015 Scoring Defense | 8.73 Goals Against Per Game (15th in DI) |
| 2015 Goals Leader | #12 Chris Walsch – Freshman (37 Gs) |
| 2015 Assists Leader | #21 Keith Dreyer – Senior (21 As) |
| 2015 Points Leader | #12 Chris Walsch – Freshman (55 Pts) |
| 2015 Goaltending Leader | #6 Doug Gouchoe – Junior (.528 SV %) |
| 2015 Face-Off Leader | #44 Luke Toscano – Sophomore (.525 FO %) |
| 2015 Ground Balls Leader | #1 Kyle O’Brien – Senior (43 GBs) |
| 2015 Caused Turnovers Leader | #1 Kyle O’Brien – Senior (23 CTs) |
| 2015 Quality Wins | Detroit (9-6), Mercer (10-7) |
| 2015 Bad Losses | Vermont (11-10 3 OT), Navy (9-8) |
YEAR IN REVIEW
The Falcons went independent in 2015 after the ECAC dissolved when the Big Ten made lacrosse an official sport, while Bellarmine and Fairfield went to different conferences. Against their future SoCon opponents (except Richmond), Air Force went 5-1, with their lone loss to High Point by a goal. Because of the non-conference affiliation, the Falcons could not qualify for an AQ, so their 8-7 record was nowhere enough for an at-large bid. Doug Gouchoe improved in net for his junior year, while freshman Chris Walsch led the team in scoring with 55 points.
The Falcons started the season with a 13-7 loss to the back-to-back National Champion Blue Devils, although the Falcons were in the game for the entire first half. Air Force lost the following week to Marist by a goal, and would follow that with a 16-6 loss to eventual National Champion Denver. Their first win came a day later against Canisius 13-6, where Walsch tallied four goals, followed six days later by a 6-4 victory against Furman. They’d play two more games in back-to-back days again, starting with a tough 11-10 loss to Vermont in triple overtime on a man-up goal by Cam Milligan. The following day, the Falcons would beat VMI 12-8, thanks to a five-goal affair by Walsch. Next would be a 9-6 win over Detroit before heading down to North Carolina to face High Point, which would be a 10-9 loss to the Panthers. They’d go on a four game winning streak, with victories against Jacksonville, Bellarmine, Mercer, and Robert Morris, before losing their final two games. First, they gave up three straight in a 12-10 loss to Quinnipiac, followed by a tough loss to Navy. Tied at eight, Navy’s Colin Flounlacker scored the game-winner with 39 seconds left in the game to give the Midshipmen a 9-8 win over their rival military branch.
The Falcons have a great scorer in Walsch for three more seasons, and also have Gouchoe for his senior season. But the team will need to find a way to replace the production Kyle O’Brien on defense, which helped the Falcons rank 15th in the nation in goals against.
LOOKING AHEAD TO 2016
| NAME | POSITION | HIGH SCHOOL |
| Matthew Hahn | Attack | Avon Old Farms (CT) |
| Chet Dunstan | Attack | Regis Jesuit (CO) |
| Timothy Baker | Midfield | St. Ignatius (CA) |
| Kyle Pless | Defense/LSM | Mountain Vista (CO) |
| Cole Haverty | Midfield | Westminster (GA) |
| Malik Ekpenyong | Midfield | Jefferson (MN) |
| Isaac Swartzman | Defense | McQuaid Jesuit (NY) |
| Jeremiah Hemme | LSM/Defense | Trinity (KY) |
| Trent Harper | Midfield/FO | Spain Park (AL) |
| Char Morse | Attack | St. Paul’s (NH) |
| Roman Rohrbach | Attack | Lakeville North (MN) |
| Stephen Parker | Defense/LSM | South Side (NY) |
| Logan Taucher | Midfield | Ponte Vedra (FL) |
| Paxon Boyer | Goalie | Mountain Vista (CO) |
| Hayden Hunt | Attack | Memphis University School (TN) |
| Adam Kratt | Defense/LSM | Regis Jesuit (CO) |
| Jordan Vicente | Midfield | Eastlake (CA) |
| Mike Sztorc | Goalie | Burr & Burton Academy (VT) |
| Cameron Carter | Attack | Dulaney (MD) |
| Joey Redfearn | Defense/LSM | Deerfield Academy (MA) |
| Ernie Alvino | Goalie | St. Augustine (NJ) |
| Ryan Lynch | Midfield/FO | Good Counsel (MD) |
| Christian Pung | LSM/Defense | Immaculata (NJ) |
The Falcons will replace nine departing players with a whopping 23 recruits for 2016, stacking their roster with talent from multiple areas. There’s plenty of talent from plenty of areas, including from their backyard with Regis Jesuit and Mountain Vista. Another interesting note, the Falcons bring in players from Georgia, Minnesota, Kentucky, and even Alabama in this year’s class. It’ll be interesting to see how they play in future years as well as how they are in the fall.
