Season Preview: 2019 Michigan Men's Lacrosse
1/31/2019 7:36:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
» In preseason rankings, U-M checks in at No. 21 in the USILA Coaches Poll, No. 20 in the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll and No. 19 in the Face-Off Yearbook by Inside Lacrosse.
» Brent Noseworthy was named a second-team preseason All-American by Inside Lacrosse and earned a spot on the publication's preseason All-Big Ten team.
» Michigan returns nine regular starters from last year, its top-five point scorers and 87 percent of the offense.
» U-M's 13-game schedule features six home and six away contests, as well as a neutral matchup, coupled with dates against four 2018 NCAA Tournament teams.
Head coach Kevin Conry enters his second season at the helm of the University of Michigan men's lacrosse program. Last season, U-M equaled the program standard for wins in a season (8) and set marks for highest rankings in both national polls, checking in as high as No. 15 in the Maverik Media Poll and 17th in the USILA Poll. Signature wins came at No. 4 Notre Dame and No. 14 Penn State, while Brent Noseworthy was named the first USILA All-American in program history.
Wolverine Bites
• Conry welcomes new offensive coordinator Justin Turri to the staff. Turri joins the Wolverine staff after spending the past season as the offensive coordinator at Harvard. Turri was a four-year starter at Duke and was twice named a USILA All-American. He led the Blue Devils to the 2010 national championship, as well as ACC titles in 2009 and 2012, with the Blue Devils making the NCAA semifinals in all four years during his time in Durham. He continues to craft his trade in the newly formed Premier Lacrosse League. Former Marist assistant Chris Harren also joined the program as a volunteer assistant coach in the offseason.
• Senior Brent Noseworthy enters the campaign coming off arguably the greatest individual season in U-M history. U-M's first USILA All-American and All-Big Ten honoree, he set the program's single-season record for points (48) and goals (41), while also leading the team in shots (102) and man-up goals (four). He finished the regular season leading the Big Ten and ranked fifth nationally in goals per game (2.93), and he ranked fourth in the league in points per game (3.43). His .410 shooting percentage checked in at No. 4 in the conference, while his man-up scores were third in the league. Noseworthy finished third among midfielders in the NCAA in goals and is the only player in the NCAA to take at least 15 faceoffs and score 40 goals. He enters 2019 as the top returning goal scorer in the Big Ten and the No. 2 goals-per-game scorer in the country behind Sacred Heart's Max Tuttle.
• Michigan returns nine regular starters from last year, its top-five point scorers, as well as 87 percent of the offense -- including all three attackmen and three close defenders.
• Senior Nick DeCaprio, junior JM Priddy and sophomore Kevin Mack were named Michigan's Big Ten Players to Watch. U-M, which earned its highest preseason national rankings in the USILA Coaches Poll (No. 21) and Inside Lacrosse Media Poll (No. 20), was picked sixth in the B1G Coaches Preseason Poll. Johns Hopkins, Maryland and Penn State topped the conference poll, with Ohio State and Rutgers tied for fourth.
• The attack unit boasts a pair of returning sophomores in Mack and Alex Buckanavage. Mack ended his freshman campaign third on the team in goals (21), first in assists (21) and second in points (42). The second player in U-M history to register a 20-20 season, he tied the U-M single-season assist record and ranked No. 6 in the Big Ten and 39th nationally in points per game (3.00). The number also put him No. 6 in the NCAA in points scored for a freshman. Buckanavage had 31 points on the campaign (19 goals, 12 assists), marking the third-best offensive output for a freshman in program annals. Buckanavage is poised to grow from a lefty finisher to more of a well-rounded player, while Mack, the quarterback of the unit, will look to grow his presence on a conference and national level.
• Four-year starter Decker Curran will anchor the midfield unit and will add more two-way responsibilities on his plate. Last season, he finished second on the team in goals with 22 and led the conference with a .450 shooting percentage, finding the back of the net on 22 of 49 shots. Noseworthy and attackman/midfielder Rocco Sutherland will round out the first midfield line. Sutherland, a two-year starter on attack, enters his senior season ranked No. 2 in the program record books for assists in a career with 34.
• Juniors Avery Myers (5g, 3a) and Christian Ford will be counted on as two-way midfielders as well, while athletic freshman Andrew Russell could also factor in. Top offensive midfielder options include a pair of seniors that have excelled in the fall in Justin Gibbons and Brandon Shima.
• The defensive midfield will see a slew of players take the field, headlined by senior MJ Melillo and Hunter Batesko.
• U-M's longpole unit is led by DeCaprio, who led the Big Ten in caused turnovers with 23 (1.64/game) and the team in ground balls with 46 a year ago. Conry's defensive concepts gave freedom to the mainstay at pole, and DeCaprio is joined by fellow senior Michael Borda (28 gb, 9 caused turnovers) as a starter. Junior Finn Goonan and sophomore Jackson Zaugg also saw significant time and will look for increased roles in 2019.
• Priddy, who has missed the past two seasons due to injury, is a potential game-changer on the defensive end and has the versatility to fill roles as either a close defender or in a longstick midfield role. Freshman Andrew Darby will also figure into the group, as he has brought strong fundamentals to the table and has assimilated well as a true freshman.
• In goal, incumbent starter Tommy Heidt returns to anchor the U-M defense. Heidt, who earned a medical hardship waiver due to missing the 2015 season due to injury, will play the 2019 campaign as a graduate student. Last season, he set the U-M record for goals-against average in a season at 10.11 after missing the first six games of the season due to injury. He eclipsed the 10-save plateau in seven contests and marked a trio of 15-save games. Heidt ranks second all-time for saves in a career (246) as well as goals-against average (10.63) and is the program's all-time leader in wins (13). Known as an explosive goalkeeper who excels at clearing the ball, Heidt looks to excel under the new shot clock rules.
• Junior Matt Trowbridge started the first six contests last season in Heidt's stead, leading the team to a 4-2 record with a save percentage of 50% and a 9.82 goals-against average. Senior Gunner Garn could also see time in cage.
• The faceoff unit holds a mix of talent, led by sophomore FOGO Connor Cronin, who returns after being the main option at the dot as a true freshman and is the technician of the group. Overall, he won 114-of-216 draws (53 percent), which was good enough for the third-best mark in U-M history. The more athletic and transition option is junior Matt Dellacroce, who enters the season healthy after missing the majority of last season due to injury.
Newcomers
• U-M's 14 member recruiting class, ranked No. 19 in the country by Inside Lacrosse, features a pair of Inside Lacrosse Power 100 recruits in No. 39 Bryce Clay, the top attackman recruit in the state of Michigan, as well as faceoff man Nick Rowlett (No. 44). Clay also ranks as the No. 11 attackman, while Rowlett checks in as the No. 4 FOGO nationally.
• Goalkeeper John Kiracofe checks in as the No. 11 goalkeeper in the class. The group also includes a pair of transfers in JUCO longstick Austin Robinson, who won an NJCAA national title last season at Onondaga Community College (N.Y.), and MCLA All-American Peter Hollen, who played four seasons of club lacrosse at USC prior to joining the Wolverine program. Robinson is the first junior college transfer in the history of the program, while Hollen is the first graduate transfer that arrives from a four-year MCLA program.
• The Wolverines also welcome a pair of mid-year transfers in Steven Schneider (North Carolina) and Ben Keller (UMBC), both midfielders that hold sophomore eligibility. Schneider played in four games as a true freshman for the Tar Heels, scoring one goal on two shots. He is a former high school teammate of Mack and Cronin at Manhasset (N.Y.) High School from 2013-17.
• Keller is a product of East Grand Rapids (Mich.) High School and led the team to the 2017 state championship. Known for his huge outside shot, he played in 12 games with six starts for the Retrievers as a true freshmen, scoring six goals to go along with eight ground balls. In UMBC's 9-6 loss to the Wolverines on March 24, he started and scored a goal on three shots and had one ground ball.
Schedule
• U-M's 13-game schedule features six home contests, six away contests and one neutral-site matchup, as well as dates with four 2018 NCAA Tournament teams. In all, Michigan will square off with eight teams that finished in the top 25 of the NCAA RPI a season ago. Eight opponents also rank in the top 30 nationally entering the season.
• Non-conference play is highlighted by a contest against defending national champion Yale. U-M will take on the Bulldogs on March 10 at Grady Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, and will follow a week later with a contest at Marquette on March 16. The Wolverines also host Notre Dame (March 20).
• U-M will begin conference play on March 30, hosting Johns Hopkins, before traveling to play Maryland on April 6 in College Park. The following week Penn State visits Ann Arbor on April 13. U-M will then travel to Piscataway, New Jersey, for the second straight season for a matchup with the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on April 20 before finishing regular-season action vs. Ohio State on Friday, April 26. The Big Ten Tournament, hosted by Rutgers, will take place May 2-4.
