by Michelle Rabinovich
With lacrosse about to start for the 2023 season, let’s take a quick trip around Long Island for a quick refresher of what’s going on and what to expect.
Stony Brook University Seawolves Men’s Lacrosse
Switching over from America East into the Colonial Athletic Association, they were picked to finish fourth in the CAA preseason poll as released on Tuesday, Jan. 31. This comes after a 2022 campaign in which they finished 9-5 and 4-2 in conference play.
Key players for the Seawolves going into this season include senior Dylan Pallonetti, who led the team in goals with 34 across 14 games played on top of being selected to the All-America East First Team. Coming into this season, he earned preseason All-CAA honors award. Another player to keep on the radar is Matt Anderson, who made the All-America East Second Team last year and is teammates with Pallonetti on the preseason All-CAA Team. Lastly, like Pallonetti, senior defender Michael Sabella earned Preseason All-CAA honorable mention honors.
Returners Kevin Mack and Noah Armitage are not to be slept on either, as they both put up double digits on the offensive side of the field last season with 25 goals apiece.
Stonybrook will also have Anthony Palma return to the net this season. The senior from East Islip boasts a 0.510 save percentage from last season and looks to improve further.
The season opens on Saturday, Feb. 11 at Piscataway, New Jersey as the Seawolves take on the No. 10 Rutgers Scarlet Knights fresh off of their semi-final appearance in the NCAA tournament last season. After the season opener, Stonybrook will face another ranked opponent in the form of No. 12 Brown University on March 4.
The Seawolves will open conference play on the road against fresh faces to the CAA, the Hampton Pirates on March 18.
Stony Brook University Seawolves Women’s Lacrosse
The Stonybook University Seawolves have a smoking hot start to their season and it hasn’t even started yet. Ranked No. 4 in the nation according to the Nike preseason poll, they gained additional national recognition as they were voted the sixth-best team in the 2023 ILWomen/Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association Preseason Poll.
Stonybrook has an arsenal of players to fallback on for a successful 2023 season, starting with junior attacker Ellie Masera. The Eastport native led the team with 67 goals and 20 assists across 19 games, so it’s safe to say that she’s every coach’s nightmare with her 0.808 shooting percentage. Not far behind her is Kailyn Hart, who put up 64 goals and 14 assists throughout last season.
Stonybrook also added LIU graduate goalie Hailey Duchowski to this year’s roster.
“[Duchnowski] is a proven goalie that was a 2022 Defensive Player of the Year at her previous stop, and we are all excited that she is here and ready to compete,” said head coach Joe Spallina in a statement.
During her time with the Sharks, she started in all 38 games during her three-year tenure there. On top of that, she was named the NEC Defensive Player of the Year, All-NEC First Team, and NEC All-Tournament Team after her 2022 standout season. As for the numbers she put up, Duchnowski finished the regular season sitting fifth in the NCAA ranks in save percentage (.505), sixth in saves (196), and seventh in saves per game (10.89).
All of this comes after an immensely successful 2022 season, in which they went to the NCAA quartfinal and finished 16-3 overall.
Their season opens on Friday, Feb. 17, hosting the No. 18 University of Michigan in LaValle Stadium on Stonybrook’s campus. Draw control will be at 4 p.m.
Hofstra University Pride Men’s Lacrosse
To keep the CAA ball rolling, neighbors with the Seawolves is their Hempstead rival: the Hofstra Pride. Their 2022 season saw them finish 6-9 overall, 2-3 in conference play and miss the conference playoffs, so Hofstra was picked to finish fifth in the preseason poll prior to the start of the 2023 season.
Some key players to keep in mind as the season is right around the corner for Hofstra include Gerard Kane and Mac Gates.
In his sophomore year with the Pride, Kane is back after an incredibly star-studded season in which he landed on the CAA All-Rookie Team and esraned the CAA Rookie of the Week award twice. Not for nothing too, considering he led the offense with 23 goals and 15 assists across 15 games played. Hofstra also welcomes Mac Gates back to the net. Gates had a career high 0.528 save percentage last season, and looks to improve this upcoming season.
Two other players to keep tabs on are Rory Jones and Corey Kale, as Gates, Jones and Kale landed on the all-CAA Honorable Mention Team in this year’s preseason awards.
The season opens on Sunday Feb. 5 on the road against Merrimack University.
Hofstra University Pride Women’s Lacrosse
The Hofstra women’s lacrosse team had a balanced season until a CAA semifinal loss to the Drexel Dragons finished the season. With that, the team finished 9-8 overall and 3-3 in conference play.
Returners to be aware of include Jess Smith, Taylor Mennella, Jackie Gatti and Kerry Walser, as all four earned CAA accolades. Mennella landed a spot on the Preseason All-CAA Team, and the others earned Preseason All-CAA Honorable Mention Team honors.
Smith, in her fifth season with the Pride, has a 0.468 save percentage as the team’s trusty goalie. Also in her fifth season, Gatti has inked herself on the scoresheet repeatedly with 16 goals, 10 assists, 35 ground balls, 11 caused turnovers, and two draw controls over the span of 52 career games.
Senior attacker Mennella was an All-CAA Second Team honoree following the 2022 campaign where she put up 38 goals, 16 assists, 11 ground balls, and two caused turnovers in 17 games. Her offensive capabilities shone especially brightly when she scored a double hat trick over conference rival Elon Pheonix.
Rounding out the quartet of players is Kerry Walser, who had 22 goals, four assists, 12 ground balls, 11 draw controls, and three caused turnovers in 17 games last season.
With all this in mind, the season opens at home against Long Island rival LIU Sharks at home on Saturday, Feb. 11, with first draw control 11 a.m.
LIU Sharks Men’s Lacrosse
There’s a lot to talk about for the Long Island University Men’s lacrosse team.
First and foremost, LIU is going through some changes going from the Northeastern Conference (NEC) to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). This is something that should be kept in mind as last season the team finished with a 7-8 overall record and 4-3 in conference play. In the former, they faced teams like Wagner College, Merrimack University, Bryant University and Sacred Heart University. As members of the MAAC, LIU is going to be teted against Marist College and Mount St. Mary’s. Something to keep in mind for the season.
Back to the main story though – there are plenty of players ot keep an eye on for the duration of the season. Off the bat we have Blake Behlen and Richie LaCalandra. Behlen put up 36 goals and contributed 20 assists last season as the leading scorer for the Sharks, so his presence is sure to be felt this upcoming season. Next in line was LaCalandra, with 32 goals and 38 assists on the 2022 season. The goals alone are impressive, but the assists indicate that he’s a good playmaker, making it dangerous anytime he gets near the crease.
Rounding out the star-studded roster is none other than the starting man in-net, Will Mark. Mark posted a 0.557 save percentage, finishing last season with a 7-7 goaltending record.
With that, they have the 2023 season to prove themselves in the MAAC for the first time in program history.
The Sharks open their season on the road against Merrimack on Saturday, Feb. 11.
LIU Sharks Women’s Lacrosse
Unlike the men’s lacrosse team, the women Sharks are staying in the NEC. In the NEC, they saw a mixed bag of a 2022 season where they finished 6-12 overall and 5-3 in league matchups. The season ended abruptly when the Sharks were handed a brutal 20-6 loss against the No. 1 seed in the NEC tournament, the Bryant University Bulldogs.
Things are looking a little bleak for the Sharks because their top scorers, Whitney Moran and Amanda Masullo have since graduated from the program. The two combined for 61 goals across 18 games played, proving to be a deadly offensive duo.
With them gone, LIU is going to have to rely heavily on Francesca Vasile-Cozzo, who easily led the team in assists last season. With 30 assists spanning over 18 games, it’s safe to say that Vasile-Cozzo is the designated “feeder” to send the ball closer to the crease for whoever will step up to the scoring mantle.
The team is going to face some difficulties on the defensive end of the field because LIU goalie Hailey Duchowski has just transferred over east to Stonybrook, taking her 0.505 save percentage with her.
Long Island University is going to go through a rough year overall, kicking it off on the road against Hofstra University on Saturday, Feb. 11 at 11 a.m.
St. John’s University Red Storm Men’s Lacrosse
In the Big East conference and staying there are the St. John’s Red Storm. Last season they finished 2-12 overall, and lost all five matchups in conference play. As a result, the Red Storm did not qualify for the Big East Tournament last year.
This couldn’t look much worse as their lead scorer and facilitator, Jonathan Huber and Dylan Willis respectively, are not returning. Despite the team’s overall winning ability was practically nonexistent last year, Huber found the back of the net 40 times, and Willis helped stimulate those goals 22 times, leading the team in assists.
Their only hope lies in the hands of their goalie, Kaden Quirk, who is returning for the 2023 season. The sophomore goalkeeper posted a 0.415 goal percentages as he played in every game of the season.
Adelphi Panthers Men’s Lacrosse
Switching over to our Division II athletes on the Island are the Adelphi University Panthers. As members of the Northeast 10 conference, it’s safe to say that they were a threat every time they stepped on the pitch.
The Panthers finished their 2022 season 15-2 overall, going undefeated in conference play. After they won the conference tournament, they were handed a 9-4 upset at the hands of the Le Moyne College. Adelphi’s season came to a screeching halt at the hands of Le Moyne in a massive upset once the two teams entered the NCAA tournament, where Le Moyne came out on top 9-4.
With that stacked of a previous season in mind, it looks like Adelphi has a recipe for success in story for them considering that the top two scorers, Joseph Duchnowski and Kyle Steinbach are back with the Panthers for the 2023 season. Duchnowski contributed 38 goals along and dished out 14 assists, meanwhile Steinbach put in 33 goals and 11 assists, so it’s pretty safe to say that the Adelphi offense is in good hands this year.
On the other side of the pitch is Dylan Renner. The junior goaltender earned 15 wins and suffered just two losses on the season last year, earning a 0.584 save percentage in the meantime. With that record, it’s hard to complain.
The Panthers will escape New York’s frigid temperatures to open their season on Friday, Feb. 17 down in West Palm Beach, Florida against Palm Beach Atlantic University.
Adelphi Panthers Women’s Lacrosse
Adelphi seems to have the magic touch when it comes to lacrosse because their women’s team is just as powerful as their men’s if not more so. This team finished with a 18-3 overall season record, coupled with a 12-1 conference record. The Panthers had an incredible post-season run, winning the NE10 tournament and making it as far as the NCAA semifinals before the University of Indianapolis kicked them out.
Such fabulous results were due in part to contributions from lightning quick players like Christina McGabe and Izzy Grant, who found the back of the net a combined 92 times. Can’t forget the midfielders who help feed the offense, namely Emily Beier with a team-high 34 assists. McGabe fits this category herself because she also added 31 assists to the team so it’s safe to say that the Panthers were lethal on the pitch.
This season, however, the team might not see the same successes. Not a single one of those aforementioned players is returning to play. The closest that Adelphi will have is that Beier is returning to the program as an assistant coach, so there are hopes that she will teach her ball-sharing and winning-ways with players to come.
The Panthers open their season on Tuesday, Feb. 21 on the road against the University of Tampa. Draw control is at 1 p.m.
