Virginia men’s lacrosse head coach Dom Starsiais pleased to announce the signing of 10 student-athletes to national letters of intent for the 2013-14 academic year.
Matt Emery is a 6-foot-3, 200-pound midfielder from San Francisco, Calif., and younger brother of current UVa All-American Rob Emery. He is Inside Lacrosse’s No. 19 rising senior in the class, attending St. Ignatius Prep. Emery was a member of the West team for the 2012 Under Armour Underclass All-Star tournament in Towson. Emery is also a starting safety on the St. Ignatius football team.
Joining the Cavaliers next fall are: Matt Barrett (Glenmoore, Pa.), Jacob Dean (Medford Lakes, N.J.), Matt Emery (San Francisco, Calif.), AJ Fish (Grayslake, Ill.), Jeff Kratky (Darien, Conn.), Ryan Lukacovic (Syosset, N.Y.), Andrew Mullen (Toronto, Ont.), Michael Rhoads (McLean, Va.), Alec Webster (Greenwich, Conn.) and Zed Williams (Irving, N.Y.).
“It gives me great pleasure to introduce the Virginia Men’s Lacrosse Class of 2017,” said Starsia. “I am confident that fans of Virginia Lacrosse and those of our sport in general will enjoy getting to know these young men.”
Barrett is a 6-foot, 220-pound goalie from Glenmoore, Pa. Entering his final year at Malvern Prep, Barrett is listed by Inside Lacrosse as the top rising senior goalie in the nation and No. 17 rising senior overall. He is an Under Armour all-star and helped the Friars (14-6) finish No. 25 in the nation in 2011. Barrett also is a member of the Malvern Prep football team.
Dean is a 6-foot, 190-pound midfielder from Medford Lakes, N.J., and hails from Shawnee High School, the same school as current UVa captain and All-American, Chris LaPierre. He is an Under Armour All-American and team midfielder of the year at Shawnee. Dean also plays football and basketball at Shawnee.
Fishis is a 6-foot-3, 175-pound attackman from Grayslake, Ill. He led Grayslake North to a state championship title in 2012. The high school All-American had 74 goals and 49 assists in 2012, while also earning all-state and all-conference honors. He also is a quarterback on the football team and an all-star in basketball.
Kratky is a 6-foot, 180-pound attackman from Darien, Conn. The 2012 Under Armour All-Star is a faceoff specialist and the No. 44 rising senior by Inside Lacrosse. He owns two letters in lacrosse, where he has a career winning percentage over 60 percent. Kratky also has lettered in wrestling at the Taft School.
Lukacovic is a 5-foot-10, 170-pound attackman from Syosset, N.Y. He was a member of Newsday’s 2012 All-Long Island first team after a stellar season at Chaminade High School. Ranked No. 15 rising senior by Inside Lacrosse. The 2012 Under Armour All-Star helped Chaminade to a 16-1 record behind 34 goals and 35 assists in 2012. He became the first sophomore on offense to make Chaminade’s varsity team in over 20 years, while leading team in assists and second in points. Lukacovic is a starting cornerback on the Chaminade football team.
Mullen is a 6-foot 2-inch, 205-pound defenseman from Toronto, Ontario. He attends St. Michael’s and was a member of Canada’s U19 team that lost the gold medal game to the United States and four current Cavaliers (Greg Danseglio, Matt Florence, Tanner Ottenbreit and Ryan Tucker) at the 2012 FIL World Lacrosse Championship in Turku, Finland. He helped lead St. Michael’s to the 2011 OFSAA Lacrosse Championship and was also drafted into the Ontario Hockey League. He is listed as the No. 12 player in Inside Lacrosse’s Canadian Class of 2013 junior rankings.
Rhoads is a 6-foot-3, 200-pound defenseman from McLean, Va. A three-year letterwinner at the Landon School, Rhoads hails from the same school as former UVa All-Americans Ryan Curtis and Matt Ward; the latter is one of UVa’s three Tewaaraton Trophy winners. The Landon team captain helped lead the Bears to the 2012 I.A.C. championship. Rhoads also plays football at Landon.
Webster is a 6-foot-2, 195-pound defenseman from Greenwich, Conn. Webster attends Deerfield Academy after transferring from Greenwich High School. Webster was a member of the New England squad that won the championship at the 2011 Under Armour Underclass tournament.
Williams is a 6-foot-2, 185-pound midfielder from Irving, N.Y. Already the state of New York’s all-time leading scorer out of Silver Creek High School, Williams is a member of the Seneca tribe and lives on the Cattaraugus Reservation. Williams has already amassed 554 career points, surpassing the mark held by Casey Powell, the former All-American from Syracuse. He is listed as Inside Lacrosse’s No. 5 Young Gun Senior after leading Silver Creek to the state semifinals, finishing the season with 72 goals and 54 assists — bringing his career numbers to 346 goals and 208 assists. Playing for the Six Nations Rebels of the Ontario Lacrosse Association, Williams helped guide the Rebels to their second consecutive Founder Cup title — the Canadian Lacrosse Association’s Junior B national championship. He registered 30 goals and 37 assists in the regular season, 55 points in the OLA playoffs, and then put up 23 points in the Founders Cup tourney. He is also a standout football and basketball player.
“While they are excellent students and multi-sport athletes, there are some particularly intriguing stories to tell among the group,” said Starsia. “ You will find a powerful middie from the West Coast who is the younger brother (Emery) of one of our leading players, an all-star QB from the midwest (Fish) who rushed for 1651 yards and 29 touchdowns this past fall, a goalie from Philadelphia (Barrett) who returned to the gridiron for his senior year only to tear his ACL, a late addition to the U-19 Canadian World team who gave up his pursuit of a career in professional hockey (Mullen) to play lacrosse at Virginia and, a Native American (Williams) of the Seneca tribe, Wolf clan from the Cattaraugus reservation in Western New York who also holds the all-time scholastic scoring record in New York State with a full season to go. These are the stories that capture our attention and speak to the diversity and growth of the game. We will have an additional announcement to make in the spring.”
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