Men’s Lacrosse: Preseason Wraps Up
By: Marisa Ingemi
The Boston University men’s lacrosse preseason has come to an end, and all eyes are on Providence for the opening game. Sweeping the preseason comes with plenty of positives, and on Saturday against Marist, it was as close as we are going to come to seeing the real thing before the regular season.
The Terriers came out with the win 17-10 and have scored at least 17 goals in each of their three preseason contests.
EDITORIAL NOTE: No official stats were tracked.
Notes and Observations:
* Cal Dearth looks healthier than he did at almost any point last season. He played on both sides of the field, rotated between midfield and attack, and he scored three goals.
* John MacLean can flat out play. The freshman out of Medfield, Massachusetts scored once but before he found the back of the net, he had two shots to the right of the Marist goaltender that were lasers just high of the crossbar. He has a shot that will allow him to be a serious player right away. Coach Ryan Polley used MacLean in several different ways, and one of the most intriguing was on an attack unit down low with James Burr and Ryan Hillburn. There was another set as well where he was used in the midfield with both Brendan Homire and Dearth on the field.
* Hayden Ruiz was expected to step up last season, and this year, the Terriers are looking for something big out of him once more. This was one of his most involved games in the past calendar year, and it seems in general, BU’s message is versatility between where they position their midfield and attack. Ruiz snuck down lower than he did most of last season, where he was mostly just on the midfield line. He scored twice for BU and had the first shot of the game that caught Marist off-guard despite making the save.
* Chad Bell is someone BU is also excited about, and the unit of him, Pat Myers (who also played attack more than once) and freshman Conor Muldoon was exciting. Muldoon is on the bubble for getting regular time, but he seemed to have chemistry with both of them. Bell also had a really nice caused turnover and assist on Wilson’s second goal.
* Jack Wilson is an upperclassman and he might be better than ever. He scored four times on Saturday afternoon to lead the Terriers, and as always, it’s amazing how much space he makes for himself around the crease.
* Craig Zebrowski created a lot of plays in the defense and was extremely aggressive as a short stick midfielder. He did a lot to cause Marist to pass the ball to the outside and caused a few turnovers.
* Sam Talkow didn’t play, but Joe Stucky looked solid taking the draws. He’ll be the guy with Elliott Burr graduated.
* The defensive unit used the most was Quintin Germian, Domick Calisto, Greg Wozniak, and Chase Levesque, which, given what we knew going into the game, isn’t surprising. Calisto looks as strong as ever and like the long pole they’re going to put on team’s top attackmen. Wozniak got involved with the offense with a goal himself, but the preseason all-Patriot League defender was good on the defensive side too. Levesque looks primed to play serious minutes as a freshman as well.
* Clearing, one of BU’s biggest issues last season, was somewhat shaky early as Marist was pressuring, but that changed quickly and the Terriers looked much sharper getting the ball out of their defensive end.