Wheaton men's lacrosse prepares for third trip to ECAC Tournament

May 8, 2006

NORTON, MA- The Wheaton College men's lacrosse team is set to make its third appearance in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) New England Tournament in the last five years, as the second-seeded Lyons host number three University of Massachusetts at Boston in a Wednesday semifinal at Mirrione Stadium at 4:00 p.m. At 8-6-1, Wheaton has posted its best mark since its last ECAC Tournament appearance in 2004, while the Beacons are 9-5.

The Lyons competed in the 2002 and 2004 ECAC Tournaments, winning their opening round game each time before falling in the semifinals of the eight-team field. This season, Wheaton is among four teams competing for the tournament title. UMass-Boston is making its third appearance in the last six years, while top-seeded Keene State College hosts number four Lasell College in Wednesday's other semifinal. The semifinal winners will meet on Saturday in the championship game at the highest remaining seed at 1:00 p.m.

Thus far this postseason, Wheaton fell in the Pilgrim League Tournament semifinals to eventual champion Springfield College after qualifying for the tournament for the first time since 1998, while Pilgrim counterpart Lasell narrowly missed out on a tournament bid. Keene State knocked UMass-Boston out of the Little East Conference (LEC) Tournament before falling in the title contest. The Lyons square off with UMass-Boston for the first time since 2000, when both were Pilgrim League members.

By allowing 8.53 goals per game, the Blue and White enters the ECAC Tournament with the Pilgrim's third-best defense. The Lyons are tied for fourth in the conference by scoring 9.80 goals per contest thanks to a balanced offensive attack. After only one player recorded at least 25 points last spring, Wheaton has seven 20-plus point scorers and three with 34-plus points for the first time since 2002. The Blue and White also has a trio with 26-plus goals for the first time since 2002.

Three seniors are at the top of Wheaton's scoring chart, as attack Adam Cohen (Montpelier, VT/Montpelier) has team highs of 39 points and 13 assists, attack Ellis Reavey's (Longmeadow, MA/Longmeadow) squad-leading 29 goals comprises a large chunk of his 36 points, and midfielder Taylor Jackson (Middlesex, VT/Union 32) is next with 26 goals and 34 points. Juniors Markus Ricci (Wayland, MA/Wayland) and Andrew Rohan (South Hadley, MA/Avon Old Farms) have each contributed 15 goals, 10 assists and 25 points, while junior Trey Helms (Cockeysville, MD/Saint Paul's School) and sophomore Richie Rasamny (Redding, CT/Joel Barlow) are each exactly at 20 points.

Rasamny also has 44 ground balls and has won 54.2 percent (71-for-131) of his face-off attempts. Freshman Jeff Gomer (Duxbury, MA/Duxbury) leads Wheaton with 72 ground balls and has been the Lyons' top face-off specialist, leading the team with 100 wins and a 57.5 winning percentage.

Junior Chris Hade (Franklin Lakes, NJ/Dwight-Englewood School) and sophomore goalie Jeremy Beech (West Newbury, MA/Governor Dummer Academy) are the only two players in the defensive half of the field to have started all 15 games. Hade marks the opposition's top attacker each game and has 48 ground balls, while Beech has posted a 9.07 goals against average and .570 save percentage while playing all but 90 minutes during his first season as a college starter. Senior defender Karl Koenigsbauer (Deerfield, MA/Pomfret School) is second on the squad with 54 ground balls, while classmate Kris Koerber (Brunswick, ME/Brunswick) has 29 ground balls out of the backfield.

This page is maintained by Scott Dietz. Last updated on 1/30/07.
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