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
COMPARING 2014 AND 2015 IN NUMBERS
| 2014 Record | 4-9 |
| 2014 Conference Record | 3-2 (3rd in Atlantic Sun) |
| 2014 Scoring Offense | 9.54 Goals Per Game (38th in DI) |
| 2014 Scoring Defense | 11.77 Goals Against Per Game (57th in DI) |
| 2014 Goals Leader | #10 Tom Moore – Sophomore (27 Gs) |
| 2014 Assists Leader | #11 Duncan Clancy – Senior (18 As) |
| 2014 Points Leader | #10 Tom Moore – Sophomore (39 Pts) |
| 2014 Goaltending Leader | #28 Pete Deluca – Senior (.503 SV %) |
| 2014 Face-Off Leader | #27 Sam Rosengarden – Freshman (.429 FO %) |
| 2014 Ground Balls Leader | #35 Tyler Black – Senior (42 GBs) |
| 2014 Caused Turnovers Leader | #48 Austin Curtis – Junior (15 CTs) |
| 2014 Quality Wins | Marquette (9-8), Mercer (14-12) |
| 2014 Bad Losses | Bellarmine (8-4), Robert Morris (13-9) |
| 2015 Record | 4-8 |
| 2015 Conference Record | 1-5 (6th in SoCon) |
| 2015 Scoring Offense | 9.08 Goals Per Game (49th in DI) |
| 2015 Scoring Defense | 12.33 Goals Against Per Game (63rd in DI) |
| 2015 Goals Leaders | #23 Quint Miller – Senior (19 Gs) #29 Chase McIntyre – Sophomore (19 Gs) |
| 2015 Assists Leader | #10 Tom Moore – Junior (20 As) |
| 2015 Points Leader | #10 Tom Moore – Junior (35 Pts) |
| 2015 Goaltending Leader | #6 Bass Barfield – Junior (.477 SV %) |
| 2015 Face-Off Leader | #33 Sam Rosengarden – Sophomore (.548 FO %) |
| 2015 Ground Balls Leader | #48 Austin Curtis – Senior (41 GBs) |
| 2015 Caused Turnovers Leader | #48 Austin Curtis – Senior (22 CTs) |
| 2015 Quality Wins | St. John’s (12-11 OT), Michigan (14-8) |
| 2015 Bad Losses | Air Force (18-5), Mercer (9-8 2OT) |
YEAR IN REVIEW
A slight change in conferences from the Atlantic Sun to the Southern Conference proved to have no positive change for the nation’s only Division I lacrosse team in Florida. The numbers dipped a little from 2014 to 2015, but the Dolphins could record only one SoCon league win, which came against VMI.
The season began at home against an Army team that already had two games under their belt and coming off of a 24-3 shellacking of VMI a few days before. Army recorded 20 goals to defeat the Dolphins 20-4. But Jacksonville rebounded the following week with a 12-11 overtime victory over St. John’s. The team was up 6-1 at half before the Red Storm scored seven goals in the 3rd quarter to make it a game. A win against Michigan followed, but the team took a step backward against a hot Marquette team. The Dolphins followed that by two straight wins against Robert Morris and VMI in their conference opener, which would be their last win of the season. They lost their final six games, five of them SoCon league matchups, to finish at 4-8 on the season, the same record they had before the Atlantic Sun Tournament.
The Dolphins lose seven players to graduation, including top defenseman Austin Curtis who led the team in caused turnovers the past two seasons and in groundballs in 2015. The team hopes to bounce back in 2016 with many key players, such as Tom Moore and Bass Barfield, back in the picture for the Dolphins.
LOOKING AHEAD TO 2016
| NAME | POSITION | HIGH SCHOOL |
| Brady Moore | Midfield | Hopewell Valley Central (NJ) |
| Eric Applegate | Midfield | Ponte Vedra (FL) |
| Colin Wharton | Defense/LSM | Camden Catholic (NJ) |
| Aaron Jollow | Attack | Providence School (FL) |
| Jake Adams | Goalie | McCallie School (TN) |
| Justin Moran | Midfield | Albemarle (VA) |
| Will Cogan | Defense/LSM | W.T. Woodson (VA) |
| Hayden La Vangie | Attack/Midfield | Fleming Island (FL) |
| Evan Tyler | Midfield | Douglas Freeman (VA) |
| Cody Ford | Attack | Howard (MD) |
Unlike some schools, nothing on this list pops out for me, which includes schools of where these kids are coming from. Jake Adams is one possible name to look for in the future. Adams comes from McCallie School, which is one of the top lacrosse schools in rising Tennessee, and helped them to a state championship in 2015. Although the names may not pop out like bigger named schools, that doesn’t mean that the Dolphins won’t be able to compete in the SoCon in the next few seasons.
