Preseason Interview with head Coach
Matt Poskay
2017 Schedule I 2017 Quick Facts I 2017 NEC Preseason Poll
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Staten Island, NY – As the Wagner men's lacrosse team finalizes its preparations for Saturday's 1:00 p.m. season opener at Manhattan College in Riverdale, NY, sixth-year head coach
Matt Poskay is excited about his team and has high expectations for the 2017 season.
The Green & White hosted Manhattan in last season's season opener, with the
Seahawks coming away with a 15-8 victory behind a career-high six-goal outing from
Patrick McMenamin.
The Seahawks return their top three scorers from a 2016 team that posted a competitive 6-9 record, setting a program record for most wins in a season. Explosive junior attacker
Andrew Streilein (Mt. Laurel, NJ / Lenape), paced the Seahawks in scoring with 33 points (21g, 22a) and is expected to build on his two previous collegiate season. Streliein was followed closely in scoring a year ago by the fifth-year senior midfielder twin combination of the aforemention
Patrick McMenamin (33 pts – 6g, 17a), along with
William McMenamin (31 pts, 28g, 3a).
The McMenamins, who were joined the last several season by older brother Michael,
made Division I lacrosse history on March 8, 2016 in becoming the first set of three brothers to score a goal in a single game. The brothers, who hail from Longport, NJ and starred at South Jersey power, St. Augustine Prep, each notched a goal in the Green & White's 7-6 triumph over Virginia Military Institute. The trio then accomplished the feat again on March 26, accounting for seven of the Seahawks' 10 goals, in a 10-8 victory over NJIT.
Wagner also returns sophomore goalie
Matt Sefcik (Towaco, NJ / Morristown-Beard) , a member of the 2016 All-NEC Rookie Team, while welcoming back a pair of productive and experienced fifth-year seniors who red-shirted last season due to injury, in midfielder
Paul DeVita (Westfield, NJ / Westfield) who notched 22 points (14g, 8a) in 2015, and defenseman Daniel Valenica (Gaithersburg, MD / Gaithersburg), a 2015 All-NEC Second-Team Selection.
In the faceoff circle, the Seahawks return a pair of good ones in senior Anthony LaBetti, Moorestown, NJ / Moorestown), who ranked ninth in the NEC with a .461 winnng percentage (82-of-178) , as well as
William McMenamin, who ranked 10th in the league at .441 percent (64-of-146).
"Our captains (
William McMenamin, DeVita, Streliein and Valencis), and all our other older guys are definitely veterans," said Poskay. "They've all played multiple years here. We've played some young guys over the past couple of years who have matured and now they are the older guys and we expect a lot out of them. Those are our leaders, the guys I'm going to lean on a little harder than most.
"I think they want that ownership, and they want that to happen," Poskay continued. "At the same time, they're going to have to guide and lead these young guys."
Competition throughout fall ball and into preseason camp as Wagner's 29 returning lettermen mix with a talented 10-man freshman class, headed by attackmen
Nic Ancona (Warrenton, PA / Paul VI),
Dominic Branda (Ringwood, NJ / Don Bosco Prep), and
Dylan Kaminski (At. Albert, Canada / Heritage Woods).
"We only graduated a couple of players and the fact that we bring back so much talent and at the same time so much depth, we feel that we can add things rather than starting over," says Poskay. "We're excited about the freshmen. A couple of them will probably get some early time and we'll see how they do. Understandably, they may make some more mistakes than the older guys but that's why they're freshmen, and we'll live with that. At the same time, we expect them to grow and mature at a fast pace but yes, we expect them to be out there."
In 2017, the
Seahawks will play nine non-conference games, in addition to the all-important six-team NEC slate with the conference champion gaining an automatic berth in the NCAA Championships. Following tomorow's lid-lifter at Manhattan, the Green & White meet Lafayette in the home opener on February 17. Road games vs. Monmouth (Feb. 21) and Rutgers (Feb. 28), are followed by four consecutive home tests, Dartmouth (March 4), VMI (March 7), Hampton (March 10) and Mercer (March 12).
After opening the NEC schedule at Hobart (March 18), the Seahawks play their final non-conference contest at NJIT (March 25). The month of April will then feature the final five regular season NEC games, vs. Bryant (4/1), at Robert Morris (4/8), Mount St. Mary's (4/15), at Saint Joseph's (April 22) and home vs. Sacred Heart (4/29).
"I think our schedule sets up well for us," Poskay said. "In lacrosse, you kind of have to overload the beginning of the year with some mid-week games and weekends back to back so that you're set up for the conference games. Obviously those games mean a lot, every game means a lot to us ,but the conference means a little more. By then, we should be clicking hopefully and the early season experience hopefully helps that."
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