In a vote conducted by conference coaches, the Denver Pioneers have been selected to defend their Eastern College Athletic Conference Lacrosse League Championship in 2012 as the top team in the ECAC pre-season coaches’ poll.

 Led by pre-season ECAC Offensive Player of the Year Mark Matthews, Denver opens the season at Everbank Field in Jacksonville, Fla., against Ohio State in the Moe’s Southwest Grill Lacrosse Classic on Feb. 19.

Denver placed four players on the ECAC pre-season team, sweeping the top awards.  Matthews, a senior who scored 45 goals and 24 assists during the 2011 campaign, was joined by sophomore goalkeeper Jamie Faus, who was voted the pre-season defensive player of the year.  Faus saw action in 17 games last season for the Pioneers, making 179 saves while amassing a 14-3-0 record.  Freshman Wes Berg, a 6-foot-1 midfielder from New Westminster, British Columbia, was chosen as the pre-season rookie of the year.  Juniors Cam Flint and Chase Carraro were also voted onto the pre-season squad, as Carraro was chosen as the pre-season specialist of the year. 

The Pioneers finished 2011 with a 15-3-0 record, winning the inaugural ECAC Tournament title.  Led by legendary head coach Bill Tierney, the Pioneers hosted the first NCAA Tournament game west of the Mississippi River, defeating Villanova 13-10, advancing to the national semifinals for the first time in program history before falling to eventual national champion Virginia.  Denver has high hopes as the Pioneers enter the season as the No. 5 team in the nation according to the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) and Nike/Inside Lacrosse pre-season polls.

For more:  http://www.ecaclacrosse.com/2012/news/2012_preseason_poll

The San Diego State lacrosse team has picked four captains for its first season in school history. Sophomore Isabelle Pickett (Adelaide, Australia), and freshmen Bailey Ewing (Reistertown, Md.), Lauren Paul (Grasonville, Md.) and Madison Wallace (Chantilly, Va.) have each been selected by their teammates and coaching staff.

“We are thrilled that these four student-athletes will be representing our team as the first captains in program history,” head coach Kylee White said. “They demonstrate all of the characteristics of our team-first mentality, both on and off the field. They’ll embrace their leadership role and help us continue to improve each and every day.”

The Aztecs are coming off a 17-4 victory over the San Diego Lacrosse Club in an exhibition game on Saturday.

SDSU, which was picked seventh in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) poll released on Jan. 24, kicks off its regular season this Saturday (Feb. 11) with a neutral game against Ohio State in Palo Alto, Calif., at noon PT. The following Friday (Feb. 17), San Diego State welcomes Cincinnati in the program’s first-ever home game, beginning at 7 p.m. PT.

The Aztecs will play a 15-game regular season home schedule with seven consecutive matches at home from Feb. 17-March 20. Included in the schedule are MPSF games at home against UC Davis (Feb. 19), California (March 10), Oregon (March 18) and Fresno State (March 20), and road league contests at Denver (April 9), Saint Mary’s (April 13) and Stanford (April 15).

For more:  http://goaztecs.cstv.com/sports/w-lacros/spec-rel/020712aaa.html

Week 1- Freshman attackman Cameron Cole of the Cal State Fullerton Titans had an impressive showing at the Debut SLC Game of the Week.
Cole had 5 out of the Titans 6 total goals in the game

The National Lacrosse League has announced the starting lineups for the 2012 NLL All-Star Game, at First Niagara Center in Buffalo on Saturday, February 25. The East & West All-Star Team starting lineups were selected by a vote of NLL fans, the league’s General Managers & Head Coaches, as well as members of the media.

Starting Lineup, West All-Stars:

Forward – John Grant Jr. (Colorado Mammoth)

Forward – Adam Jones (Colorado Mammoth)

Transition – Andrew Suitor (Minnesota Swarm)

Defenseman – Rory Smith (Colorado Mammoth)

Defenseman – Kyle Rubisch (Edmonton Rush)

Goaltender – Chris Levis (Colorado Mammoth)

The Colorado Mammoth dominated the West vote, landing four of the six spots in the starting lineup. January Player of the Month John Grant Jr. and Rookie of the Month Adam Jones were selected as the starting forwards.  This will be the 8^th career All-Star selection for Grant, and the second for goaltender Chris Levis.  Rounding out the Mammoth quartet is defenseman Rory Smith, earning his first All-Star selection.

Edmonton Rush defenseman Kyle Rubisch has now made the All-Star team in both of his first two seasons in the league.  Minnesota Swarm transition player and Swarm team captain Andrew Suitor makes his first All-Star team.

Freshman attackman Matt Murphy (St. Mark’s School – Dallas, TX) opened the game with his first collegiate goal and paced the Mustangs on the afternoon with 6 goals and 2 assists. Fellow freshman attackmen Rob Garvey (Ridgewood High School – Ridgewood, NJ) and Alex Prince (Bolles School – Jacksonville, FL) also had successful debuts with 2 goals and 2 assists of their own.

Contributing to the Mustangs fast start was the face-off play of both John Sabo (Culver Academy – Plymouth, IN) who won 7 of 9 face-offs and Trey Williams (The Westminster Schools – Atlanta, GA) who won 6 of 8. Chad Kehoe (Bolles School – Jacksonville, FL) was ferocious defensively at LSM and collected 6 ground balls in addition to the first goal of his career on a fast break.

Defensively, close defenseman Niko Lundeen (Gulliver Preparatory – Miami, FL) and goalie Cary Nelson (Gilman School – Cockeysville, MD) led the way in limiting the Red Raiders scoring opportunities.

For more:  http://mcla.us/news/2012/02/smu-frosh-score-13/

A preview of the 2012 Mercyhurst men’s lacrosse season. Cam Edminston and Brian Scheetz discuss the upcoming campaign.

MCLA Launches Video Campaign

The MCLA has launched a video campaign called “We’re Everywhere”. Plans are to release videos on the site throughout the season leading up to the 2012 National Championships in Greenville, SC.