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West Point, NY - The 2012 Wagner College men's lacrosse team ushers in a new era at 3:00 pm today under first-year head coach Matt Poskay when the Seahawks meet the Black Knights of Army at historic and venerable Michie Stadium.
 
2012 SEASON OUTLOOK
The 28-year old New Jersey born and bred Poskay, an All-American midfielder who played on two National Championship teams at the University of Virginia following a storied high school career, and the 2010 MVP of the Major Lacrosse League, was named Head Men's Lacrosse Coach at Wagner College on June 9, 2011. Shortly after his hiring, he helped lead the Boston Cannons to the 2011 Major Lacrosse League Championship.

For the past two seasons, Poskay served as an assistant coach at Drew University in his native New Jersey where he helped the Rangers to a pair of winning seasons.  Prior to his stint at Drew, Poskay  served as an assistant coach at his alma mater, A.L. Johnson Regional High School in Clark, New Jersey.

Poskay, who is excited to take over a Seahawk program that is located in a fertile recruiting area and entering its second season in the six-team Northeast Conference, has three capable assistants at his disposal to help him direct the program. Casey Martin is in his second season at Wagner and was a standout player at Fairfield before embarking on a coaching stint in Manchester, England. Anthony Iannello is no stranger to NEC lacrosse as he starred at Bryant before graduating in 2011. Rounding out the Seahawk coaching staff is volunteer assistant Jonathan Rodak, who has a wealth of lacrosse coaching experience at the club level.

The Captains
In 2012, the Seahawks will be led by tri-captains in Mike Hurley (Billerica, MA/ Billerica), a senior attackman, senior midfielder John Rushton (West Islip, NY/ West Islip) and prolific junior midfielder Colin O'Rourke (Worcester, Ma/ St. John's Shrewsbury), an All-NEC selection a year ago. All three of these young men are strong, vocal leaders who have earned the respect of their teammates and the trust of their coaching staff.

The Attack
Heading into the season, the attack unit is expected to be led by the trio of sophomore Sam Morrissey (Long Valley, NJ/ West Morris Central), the aforementioned Hurley, as well as junior Brian Faughnan (New Canaan, New Canaan, CT) Morrissey is fresh off an eye-opening freshman campaign that saw him tally 20 points on the strength of 15 goals and five assists, production that allowed him to be named to the NEC's All-Rookie Team. Morrissey recorded hat tricks vs. Providence (2/26) and Bryant (4/9) while posting two-goal games vs. Lafayette (3/1) and Quinnipiac (4/30).

Hurley also made his presence felt in 2011 with 16 points on 12 goals and four assists. The heady Hurley had two-goals vs. Hartford (3/26), Sacred Heart (4/2), Bryant (4/9) and Quinnipiac (4/30).  Faughnan, meanwhile, added added four goals and three assists on the season after finding the net six times as a freshman. Supplying depth front for the Seahawks will be crafty freshman David DeCirce (Clarence, NY/ Clarence), who has caught the coaches' attention in the preseason, along with classmate Spencer Macquarrie (Doylestown, PA/ Central Bucks West). Poskay is counting on all five of his attackmen to step up and make contributions this season.

“Sam (Morrissey) is coming off a big, strong freshman year which he hopes to build on this year to avoid the so-called sophomore slump,” said Poskay. “Hurley's a good leader, one of our captains, who has been through it all. Faughnan's just a year behind him as a junior and is a good-sized kid who goes hard to the cage. Then there's a guy like Dave DeCirce, who's only a freshman, but who will see some time. He's a great off-ball player, he gets open and finds the seams. And then Spencer Macquarrie who has put the time in, is getting better every day and trying to push our older guys and you always need a guy who can do that.”

The Midfield
Depth will not be an issue in the all-important midfield position as the Seahawks boast a roster that includes a total of 14 middies but youth might be as six of those 14 are underclassmen are freshmen. O'Rourke figures to again be a mainstay with his multi-faceted skill set matched only by his grit and determination. O'Rourke was solid in all phases in 2011, finishing with 18 goals and seven assists to go with 23 ground balls and 11 caused turnovers. He exploded for a career-high four goals while adding an assist vs. Robert Morris (4/23) and enjoyed a hat trick vs. Bryant (4/9). He also scored two goals in a game on three different occasions.

Expected to join O'Rourke on a majority of runs in the midfield is junior Nick DePhillips (Glen Ridge, NJ/ Glen Ridge/Ohio St.), a productive player at Ohio St. before transferring to Wagner. Seniors Cory Perkins (Chatsworth, CA/ Chaminade College Prep), William Hedges (Shoreham, NY/ Longwood), Krey Keller (Colorado Springs, CO/ Cheyenne Mountain) and John Rushton (West Islip, NY/ West Islip) will provide leadership while freshmen Corey Santor (Glastonbury, CT/ Glastonbury) , Kendall Strahl (Carlsbad, CA/ Carlsbad), Geoff Bradley (Brookfield, CT/ Canterbury School), Dakota Lenzi (Gurnee, IL/ Warren Township), Steven Kreuscher (Bayport, NY/ Bayport Blue-Point High School) have shown promise in the early-going.

Poskay is high on his defensive midfield crew, headed by speedy senior James Cuzzupe (Radnor, PA/ Archbishop John Carroll), fellow senior John Andrejack (Jamesport, NY/ Riverhead) and freshman Bobby Spano (West Springfield, MA/ West Springfield). Leading the way in the critical face-off position will be Keller although Poskay plans on using several people each game in this role, including DePhillips, Rushton and freshman defenseman Adam Geiger (Colts Neck, NJ/ Colts Neck).

“I like the different mix of guys that we have in the midfield,” said Poskay. “O'Rourke and DePhillips are guys that opposing teams will have to account for and I'm excited about a lot of the other people that we have. It's a good blend of older guys and puppies and it's just a matter of the veterans showing leadership and the younger guys figuring it out.”
 
The Defense
Heading the defensive unit are a pair of converted midfielders who will look to infuse the back line with added athleticism and versatility. Athletic sophomore Matthew Shute (Suffield, CT/ (Suffield) appears primed for a big season after seeing action in 12 games as a frosh a year ago. The other former middie, who actually specialized as a long-stick midfielder, is taking well to his new role on defense and that's junior Dustin Doty (Sherman Oaks, CA/ Crespi Carmelite). An aggressive athlete, Doty is adept at getting out on the break and is not afraid to mix it up as his 24 ground balls and 13 caused turnovers in 2011 would suggest. Joining Shute and Doty on the back line is another battle-tested veteran is junior David Szilezy (Apex, NC/ Cardinal Gibbons), who brings a high lacrosse I.Q. to the playing field.

Also very much in the mix on the defense will be a tandem of freshmen poles in Mark Beyer (Carlsbad, CA/ Carlsbad) and Geiger. Getting a long look is sturdy 6-0, 245-pound Patrick Gibbons (Carthage, NY/ Milford Academy), who started at fullback on the Wagner football team last fall. Providing quality depth will be junior #R.J. DeRosa# (Glastonbury, Glastonbury), freshman Matt Savoia (West Springfield, MA/ West Springfield) and sophomore Anthony Ferrono (Robbinsville, NJ/ Robbinsville), a transfer from Wheeling Jesuit University, along with freshman Matt Bunting (Wyckoff, NJ/ Ramapo), who has been slowed by injury in the preseason.

“I like the versatility that we have on defense,” said Poskay. “We have two guys who can give us a burst of speed in Shute and Doty. And then you have a guy like David Szilezy, who's probably one of our smartest guys on the team, so it's great to have a guy like that down there who can kind of orchestrate what's going on. And then we have two freshmen at the poles who will probably play a little down too in Beyer and Geiger. They'll make some freshmen mistakes but they're great athletes who will get it figured out.”

The Goalies
Wagner is blessed with having a pair of experienced goalies in sophomore Nicholas Gibaldi (Rocky Point, NY/ Rocky Point) and senior Peter Rubin (East Rockaway, NY/ East Rockaway). Gibaldi got the lion's share of playing time last season, starting 10 of Wagner's 12 games while logging more than 612 minutes between the pipes. An excellent vocal leader who commands the Seahawk defense, Gibaldi benefits from having Rubin constantly pressuring for his share of playing time. Gibaldi came up with 143 saves last season and Poskay is hopeful that the experience he gained a year ago will pay dividends in 2012.Rubin is a senior leader who played more than 107 minutes in parts of eight games last season, stopping 12 shots while posting an 11.17 goals against average. For his career, Rubin has seen action in 29 games and accrued nearly 1,200 minutes in goal, while saving 207 shots.

“Nick and Peter are constantly pushing each other back there every day in practice. It's a good battle in the crease and I feel really good about both of them,” said Poskay.