2015 Seahawk Roster I 2015 Schedule

Staten Island, NY – The Wagner men's lacrosse program welcomes 18 newcomers into the fold for the 2015 season, a group that has been blending with the Seahawk returnees throughout the early morning fall practice sessions under the direction of head coach Matt Poskay, who enters his fourth season on Grymes Hill.
 
This season's crop of first-year players is comprised of 17 freshmen and one sophomore transfer and includes six midfielders, six defensemen, five attackmen and one goalie. Poskay and his staff attracted student-athletes from five different states, headed by eight who hail from Maryland, five from New Jersey, three from New York and one each from California and Virginia.
 
"I believe the recruiting class that we brought in, addition to being high on quantity, is also extremely high in quality," said Poskay. "This is a very balanced class in every way and deep in all three areas of the field. We addressed many of our needs and the new guys are doing a tremendous job of melding with our veterans, pushing each other, each day here during the fall.
 
'This is far and away the deepest and most talented roster that we've assembled, and I'm excited and expecting that this group will do big thing this coming spring," Poskay added.
 
 The 2015 Seahawks will feature a 43-man roster which is the largest unit in recent memory. From a class breakdown standpoint, the roster is comprised of eight seniors, six juniors and 12 sophomores, in addition to the 17 freshmen. Included in the 12-member sophomore class are twin brothers Patrick and William McMenamin from Longport, NJ (St. Augustine Prep), who are a pair of redshirt sophomores.
 
In 2015, the Seahawks will return four of their top five returning scorers, headed by Patrick McMenamin, who led the Seahawks in scoring last season with 29 points en route to being named to the 2014 NEC All-Rookie Team.  His 16 goals tied for the team lead while his 13 assists made him the outright team leader in this category. Meanwhile, William McMenamin was off to a fast start to his season as well, winning 56 faceoffs while leading the team with 43 groundballs, before suffering a season-ending injury during in the seventh game, a 7-6 win at VMI (3/18).
 
Other key returnees for the Seahawks are junior midfielder Paul DeVita (Westfield, NJ/Westfield), who tallied 16 goals, highlighted by a game-winner in the wild four-overtime win over Monmouth, along with four assists to finish as Wagner's third-leading scorer with 20 points. Senior midfielder Cory Santor (Glastonbury, CT / Glastonbury) was fifth on the 2014 Seahawks in scoring (12g, 2a, 14 pts) while junior attack Billy Battaglia (Madison, NJ/Madison) closed the season with an offensive flourish to finish fifth in points with 13 (5g, 3a).
 
Wagner will also return a pair of defensive stalwarts in junior Daniel Valencia (Gaithersburg, MD / Gaithersburg) and senior Matt Bunting (Wyckoff, NJ/Ramapo) who were credited last season with 21 and 19 causes turnovers, respectively. In goal, the Green & White will be looking to replace four-year started Nicholas Gibaldi. In competition for the starting spot between the pipes in 2015 will be junior Anthony Peruso (Warwick, NY/John S. Burke Catholic), who posted solid numbers in 2014 with an 8.25 goals against average with a .636 save percentage in six games, and sophomore David Hwang (Happauge, NY/Happague), who saw action in two games last season as a freshman at LIU Post before transferring to Wagner.
 
Last season, the Seahawks were a more competitive team than their final 2-11 record would suggest, having dropped consecutive heart-breakers. On March 8, Wagner was edged by a 9-8 count at home to Detroit as the Titans sank a long-range shot in the waning seconds. A week later, on March 15, the Seahawks came up short in an 11-10, two-overtime home contest vs. Vermont.
 
With a combination of key veterans and an influx of first-year talent, the Seahawks will be looking to come out on top in their share of games in 2015.

In addition to making a big splash on the recruiting front, Poskay bolstered the Seahawk coaching staff with two new hires. In July, Will Manny, a former All-American and Tewaaraton Trophy candidate at UMass and current professional standout with the Boston Cannons Major League Lacrosse, came on board as an assistant coach and will head up the Seahawks' recruiting efforts. Also joining the coaching staff is Gary DiClementi, a former standout long-stick midfielder at Drew University who arrives on Grymes Hill following assistant coaching stints at Kenyon, Frostburg State, and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.
 
  
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