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 faired this season and what to look forward to in 2016.
Check out previous recaps: NJIT Highlanders, UMass Lowell River Hawks, VMI Keydets
COMPARING 2014 AND 2015 IN NUMBERS
| 2014 Record | 5-10 |
| 2014 Conference Record | 3-3 (6th in MAAC) |
| 2014 Scoring Offense | 7.13 Goals Per Game (62nd in DI) |
| 2014 Scoring Defense | 11.00 Goals Against Per Game (T43rd in DI) |
| 2014 Goals Leader | #28 Ryan Payton – Senior (24 Gs) |
| 2014 Assists Leader | #27 Patrick Hodapp – Senior (12 As) |
| 2014 Points Leader | #27 Patrick Hodapp – Senior (29 Pts) |
| 2014 Goaltending Leader | #22 Rich Akapnitis – Senior (.542 SV %) |
| 2014 Face-Off Leader | #34 Brett Johnson – Senior (.396 FO %) |
| 2014 Ground Balls Leader | #11 Sean McMahon – Senior (90 GBs) |
| 2014 Caused Turnovers Leader | #11 Sean McMahon – Senior (24 CTs) |
| 2014 Quality Wins | Marist (14-13), Detroit (6-5) |
| 2014 Bad Losses | Hartford (12-7), Delaware (10-5) |
| 2015 Record | 1-14 |
| 2015 Conference Record | 0-6 (Last in MAAC) |
| 2015 Scoring Offense | 4.93 Goals Per Game (68th in DI) |
| 2015 Scoring Defense | 14.53 Goals Against Per Game (67th in DI) |
| 2015 Goals Leader | #9 Marcel Godino – Senior (16 Gs) |
| 2015 Assists Leader | #16 Andrew Hurst – Senior (10 As) |
| 2015 Points Leader | #9 Marcel Godino – Senior (25 Pts) |
| 2015 Goaltending Leader | #19 Michael Zingaro – Freshman (.480 SV %) |
| 2015 Face-Off Leader | #18 Jack Fowler – Junior (.517 FO %) |
| 2015 Ground Balls Leader | #40 Frank Merrill – Freshman (48 GBs) |
| 2015 Caused Turnovers Leader | #40 Frank Merrill – Freshman (12 CTs) |
| 2015 Quality Wins | NJIT (7-5) |
| 2015 Bad Losses | Hofstra (18-0), UNC (26-6), Monmouth (14-5) |
YEAR IN REVIEW
After a five win season a year ago, the Jaspers only won once, which was against newbie NJIT in late March. The team leaders in many categories were all seniors in 2014, so it was time for the rest of the team to build chemistry with a new crop of kids on the field, which also saw some freshmen lead in categories such as groundballs and caused turnovers, as well as face-off win percentage. Defenseman Frank Merrill and attackman Andrew Gresham were the two Jaspers named to the All-MAAC Rookie Team.
The season started off with six very rough non-conference road games, four of which were ranked in the Top 20 somewhere during the season. They fell to Stony Brook, Princeton, and Fairfield, before getting shut out by Hofstra, followed by a loss to Hartford and a 26-6 blowout by North Carolina. They would lose four more games, including an 8-4 loss to Canisius in Manahattan’s home opener, before taking on first year program NJIT, which the Jaspers took a 5-2 lead en route to a 7-5 victory against the Highlanders, marking their highest point on the season. Then the team ended the season with four straight conference losses to finally end their horrendous season.
Just six seniors will leave this Jasper team, leaving Manhattan with a lot of returning players, 28 to be exact, looking to make an impact into next season, especially with the underclassmen that played to continue their presence in the MAAC. But similar to VMI, Manhattan will be looking for a new Head Coach, as Steve Manitta resigned in May after three seasons.
LOOKING AHEAD TO 2016
| NAME | POSITION | HIGH SCHOOL |
| Dylan DeMuro | Defense | Archbishop Stepinac (NY) |
| Troy Golding | Midfield | Arapahoe (CO) |
| Dan DelBene | Defense | Yorktown (NY) |
| Nick Gazzillo | Midfield | Christian Bros. Academy (NJ) |
| Cole Johnson | Attack | General Brown (NY) |
| Mac Carroll | Midfield/FO | Grosse Pointe South (MI) |
| Will Ratchford | Midfield | Mountain Lakes (NJ) |
| Christian Baldi | Midfield | Salesianum (DE) |
| Patrick Caufield | Defense | Chatham (NJ) |
Compared to recruiting classes already covered with NJIT, UMass Lowell, and VMI, Manhattan’s is pretty small, with just nine recruits. Last year’s class was a little larger than normal, with 13 sophomores returning to the team as of now for 2016. But the goal to improve from 2015 will be the same for everyone in Riverdale, including whoever the new Head Coach will be.
