Men’s Lacrosse Returns Four out of Five Top Scorers, Looking For Strong Season
Photo Credit: Cardinals' Athletic Site
Senior Chris Fuccillo is one of the leading scorers returning from last season. He already has seven goals and one assist combining for eight points on the 2012 season.
Sean Robinson, Staff
February 29, 2012
Filed under Sports
CUA Men’s Lacrosse finished last season 11-6, 3-2 in the Landmark, and lost in the first round of the playoffs to league champion University of Scranton 12-9. So far this season the Cardinals are 2-1with wins against Frostburg State University, and Hood College.
The Cardinals were a young team last year and will return four of their top five point scorers including sophomore attack Brendan Englert who finished with 38 goals and 23 assists to lead Catholic with 61 points and Chris Fuccillo, a preseason All-American who scored 37 goals with seven assists. The Cardinals were voted to place third overall in the Landmark Preseason Poll behind Goucher College, and Scranton.
The Cardinals graduated 15 seniors, four of which were key contributors, including midfielders Jimmy Sinnot who scored 41 goals, Sean Fitzpatrick, and David Fronduti who played in 32 combined games, and defensemen Rob Ryan who had 15 starts and collected 54 groundballs.
While losing their top goal scorer, the Cardinals return attackers Englert, Camden Feldmen who scored 17 goals and had nine assists in 16 games with eight starts, and Justin Schaufler who had 10 points in eight starts and 16 games.
Midfielders Fuccillo, Tyler Catalani who scored 19 goals and had 20 assists in 17 games off the bench, Sean Cummings who had 12 points in 17 games off the bench, Tom Scotto who started 16 of 17 games and led the Cardinals with 112 groundballs and won 219 of 355 face offs, and long stick midfielders Denver Connolly and Mike Frey who played in a combined 31 games also return.
Defensemen returning include Jack Drexel who started 17 games, Ryan Doyle, and Ryan McDonough who were also key contributors to the Cardinal defense that was strong last year.
The Cardinals lost starting goalie Sean McKenna and replaced him with Junior Patrick Pfaff who was named Landmark Defensive Player of the week following a 7-3 victory over Drew University last season. The Florida native made 14 saves in his first start and collected five groundballs in the season opener this past Saturday on February 18th.
Catholic averaged just over 11 goals per game while allowing only 8.4 to opponents. They also outshot opponents 41 to 30 per game and had 95 assists compared to opponents 63. The Cardinals collected 576 groundballs as well, 88 more than opponents and caused 118 of the 262 turnovers that opponents suffered. The Cardinals need to improve on the 302 turnovers they committed, 114 which were caused.
The Cardinals look to improve on last year after many young players gained experience on their successful season and playoff game. They have won ten or more games in the past two seasons and have expectations to continue that streak. Catholic has also added 15 freshmen that are looking to compete for playing time.
Key games this year will be the Cardinals final three games; first on April 14th at the top projected Landmark team, Goucher College, who finished 11-6, home on April 21st versus Susquehanna University, who also went 11-6 last year, and their final game on April 28th at Landmark Champions University of Scranton who finished 9-8 and lost in the first round of the NCAA playoffs versus Gettysburg. These three games could place the Cardinals a top or at the bottom of the Landmark standings, and will be essential in their playoff hopes as all three teams are expected to have good seasons.
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