Fall Lacrosse 2009
The players and coaching staff are excited as they begin preparations for the 2010 season. Presently the team is coming off two and a half weeks of conditioning and lifting and the team has just completed their third week of fall lacrosse practice. Thirty five players return and the team is determined to get back to the success of 2007 and win the CAA Conference title, achieve an NCAA bid and return to M & T Bank Stadium for the 2010 Final Four.
New Coaching Changes
This past summer UD assistant coach Chris Collins accepted a coaching position at Drexel. This position is fully funded with benefits and was a position difficult for Chris to turn down. Chris has been a loyal Blue Hen for the past nine years. Chris was a three time captain and All American goalie at Delaware leading the 2005 team to the NCAA tournament. The past four seasons Chris did a tremendous job as an assistant coach and will be strongly missed. It is even more difficult having him go to an arch rival and CAA opponent such as Drexel. Our staff wishes Chris the best except for one day a year in the spring.
Ryan Glennon has been added to the staff in the second assistant position. Ryan attended Colby College and after graduation coached one season at Colby, one season at Bowdoin and two seasons at St Lawrence. Ryan has been working with the program for the past month and has been a great addition to the program. Ryan played midfield and was also a face off specialist in college. Ryan coached both ends of the field, worked with face off specialists and goalies during his previous tenure.
A major addition to the program for the fall has been UD alum Dave Metzbower. Everyone in the lacrosse world know “Metzy’s” background. Dave played three years at UD after playing one season at Navy, coached three years at Delaware before heading to Princeton in 1989. While at Princeton the past 20 years Dave was associated head coach and helped Princeton get to 10 NCAA Final Fours while winning 6 NCAA Division 1 titles and 12 Ivy League Titles. Dave plans to work with the program this fall and has been a tremendous help in all areas.
2009 Incoming Class
The coaching staff is excited about our new additions to the program for 2009. Below is a brief description on their backgrounds.
Brett Johnson, Face Off, Chatham High, N.J.
Brett had an outstanding senior year at Chatham High in Madison, New Jersey winning over 80% of his face offs and making high school All American. Brett was also selected as a 2008 Under Armour All American.
Joe Fragomele, Attack, Tatnall School, Wilmington, De.
Joey was a first team All State player and 2009 High School All American. Joe is an excellent athlete and has very good skills. This fall he is playing attack but also has some experience at midfield.
Kyle McNamara, Defense, Newtown High, Newtown, Ct.
Kyle is a 6’3” 190 defenseman with excellent stick skills and athletic ability. He plays great one on one defense and was also selected as a high school All American in 2009.
Beau Jones, Middie, Wilmington Charter High, De.
Beau is a two sport soccer-lacrosse athlete. Beau is a big strong midfielder at 6’2” 210 with a hard outside shot. Beau was a first team All State Selection in 2009.
William Wojciechowski, Long Stick Midfield, North Brunswick High, N.J.
The coaching staff is extremely excited about Will’s potential. A tall and rangy athlete at 6’2 190 Will scored 18 goals his senior year while playing long stick midfield. Will has the excellent potential and can create transition from the defensive end.
John Mills, Middie, Walt Whitman High, N.Y
John is an excellent two midfielder from Walt Whitman High and at 6’2” 190 fits the mold for recent Blue Hen middies. John’s dad is three time All American and 1974 UD Senior Athlete of the Year Rich Mills and his brother Dan is a red shirt junior defenseman on this year’s team.
Jarred Bowe, Defense. East Hampton High, N.Y
Jarred has unlimited potential at defense. Jarred is a very athletic 6’2” 200 player who was listed in Inside Lacrosse as one of the top 100 players in 2009.
James Connelly, Defense, Malvern Prep, Pa
James made first team All Inter-AC in 2009. James was also selected for the Under Armour All American Game in 2008.
Mitch Keefer, Middie, Corning East High, NY.
Mitch continues the pipe line from Corning High following in the foot steps of Taylor Bloor, Carter Bloor (UD junior on this year’s squad), and Adam Zuder-Haven. Mitch is an excellent two way midfielder.
Matt Tobia, Attack, Corning East High, N.Y
Matt is one of our toughest attackman and already has shown in practice that he has adapted to the physical play of Division 1 lacrosse. Matt is another player coming from one of the nation’s top high school program, Corning East High School. Matt is one of the few Corning players who started all four years in high school.
John Walker, Middie, Bergen Catholic High, N.J
John is an extremely quick midfielder from Bergen Catholic High in New Jersey. John is an excellent shooter on the run.
Dylan Koontz, Attack, Montclair High, N.J.
Dylan was originally set to attend Syracuse University but during his PG year at Brewster Academy visited the campus as fell in love with the school. Dylan is an extremely talented offensive player with excellent skills.
Transfers
Nick Elsmo, Midfield, Severn School, Md. and University of Virginia
Nick was an Under Armour High School All American from Severn and was the leading scorer on the Under 19 USA squad in 2008. Nick was one of the top recruits in 2007. Nick is a very talented two way midfielder with a high lacrosse knowledge. The coaching staff is excited to use his experience in 2010.
Eric Smith, Att/Mid, Boys Latin School and Ohio State University
Eric has great skills, quickness and lacrosse knowledge and can finish when given the opportunity. The coaching staff is experimenting with Eric both at attack and midfield and Eric’s skills and knowledge should also benefit the extra man unit. Eric’s brother, Alex was a three time All American, UD Senior Male Athlete of the Year in 2007, All MLL Pro Team and present member of the USA Squad.
World Teams benefit from UD players
This past summer UD players Matt Alrich and Alex Smith were invited to try out for the USA squad. Both had excellent tryouts and Alex was selected as a member of the 40 man roster to continue this year. Team USA will play in several events throughout the year and early summer with a final squad being selected in June. The Canadian National Team will begin their tryouts on October 9-11. John Grant, Jordan Hall, and Curtis Dickson are the UD players invited to tryout.
UDconnection
Check out the University of Delaware’s new alumni online community, Udconnection.com. Membership in the community is FREE and available exclusively to UD alumni. Udconnection.com is your gateway to everything that’s happening in the UD community: reunions, Homecoming, regional alumni club events, and more. Once registered, you can also search the alumni directory, update your contact information and see if there are any alumni events upcoming in your area. Soon UD Men’s Lacrosse will have a page on Udconnection.com where information and updates specific to the program will be posted. When combined with the current “Friends of UD Lacrosse” web page, a page on Udconnection.com will give UD Men’s Lacrosse a strong web presence from which we can continue to grow alumni connections.
So, whether you graduated in ‘07 or ‘67, you’ll find Udconnection.com to be a valuable resource for personal and professional networking as well as an easy way to keep up-to-date on fellow alumni and the men’s lacrosse program.
UD adds Johns Hopkins, Penn State, U.Mass to the 2010 schedule
Johns Hopkins has been added to the 2010 and 2011 schedule. This spring the Blue Hens travel to Hopkins on Tuesday, February 23 and Hopkins will return to Newark, Delaware in 2011. The CAA has added Penn State and U.Mass to the conference while Robert Morris and Sacred Heart move to the North East Conference and Villanova moves to the Big East. Villanova will remain on the schedule. The 2010 schedule may be one of the more difficult schedules in recent years with UMBC, Hopkins, Albany, Stony Brook, Georgetown, U.Mass, Penn State, Villanova, Hofstra, Towson, and Drexel
CAA to Add UMass and Penn State
The Colonial Athletic Association will add the University of Massachusetts and Penn State University as associate members in the sport of men’s lacrosse beginning with the 2010 season. UMass has been to the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championship 17 times in its history, including four appearances since 2002 under head coach Greg Cannella. The Minutemen reached the national championship game in 2006. Penn State participated in the 2003 and 2005 NCAA Tournaments and the Nittany Lions have won more than 200 games during the 31-year tenure of head coach Glenn Thiel. Both schools are currently members of the ECAC for lacrosse.
Three Games to be played in Delaware Stadium
The athletic department has made arrangements for the following games to be played in Delaware Stadium; March 20th Villanova, April 17 UMass and April 24th Drexel. Two of those games are tentatively schedule for Comcast Sports Network. The Johns Hopkins game should be played on ESPNU. The university is working hard to fund raise for Delaware Stadium to be field turf. Once Delaware Stadium has field turf men’s lacrosse will play all games in the stadium.