CU Men's Lacrosse Preview - vs. Bard College (4/16)

The math is certainly against them and a Liberty League playoff spot is the longest of shots at this point, but the Clarkson University Men's Lacrosse team will press on this weekend and try to get in the win column this weekend when its hosts Bard College at Hantz Turf Field.

The Golden Knights are 2-9 overall and 0-4 in the Liberty League after a loss to St. Lawrence and would need to win out, get a lot of help and also hope that all the tiebreakers fell their way to get into the Liberty League Tournament. The Raptors are 4-7 overall and 0-3 in conference games, and Bard will be seeking just its second win in the Liberty League since picking up a 9-8 win over Skidmore last season.

Junior midfielder Ryan St. Croix needs just one more point to join the 25 other former Clarkson players in the 100-point club as he has 30 points this season and 99 in his career of 40 games. He leads the team in goals with 25 and is second with 30 points, trailing classmate Ryan DaRin, who has 22 goals and 10 assists for 32 points. The offense is also buoyed by sophomore Sam Groves (19 points), Scott Dosser (18 points) and J.R. Campbell (17 points), with each having scored at least one goal against the Saints on Wednesday.

The Golden Knights' defense is led by goalkeeper Nick Strandholm, who is posting an 11.53 goals against average and .513 save percentage. Helping decrease Standholm's load in the creases are top defenders Keith Mierzwa, Austin Case and Marc Simmons. Mierzwa leads the team with 20 caused turnovers, which is tied for fourth most in the Liberty League, and he has also added in 26 groundballs. Simmons is second on the team in both groundballs (28) and caused turnovers (9), while Case is the busiest player on the team in picking up 50-50 chances with 30 groundballs.

Bard has the lowest scoring offense in the Liberty League by a wide margin, but its points come from a compact group of four players. George Goceljak and Blake Burnley are tied for the team lead with 26 points apiece and Emmet O'Connell and John Palermo have also tallied their fair share, with 23 and 20 points, respectively. Palermo is the team's top sniper with 18 goals, while O'Connell makes his presence known with a team-best 14 assists. Sam Funnell is active on defense with 27 caused turnovers, the most in the conference, and 38 groundballs. Will Hughes has also caused 22 turnovers to help out the Raptors' defensive backbone Troy Ludtka. The junior goalkeeper has a team-best 40 groundballs to go along with his 11.45 goals against average and .536 save percentage.

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Players Mentioned

#26 J.R. Campbell: A; 6' 0"; Senior

#11 Austin Case: M; 5' 7"; Senior

#17 Ryan DaRin: A; 5' 10"; Junior

#5 Scott Dosser: M; 5' 9"; Junior

#9 Sam Groves: A; 5' 8"; Sophomore

#10 Keith Mierzwa: D; 5' 10"; Senior

#16 Marc Simmons: M; 6' 1"; Junior

#7 Ryan St. Croix: M; 6' 3"; Junior

#4 Nick Strandholm: GK; 6' 0"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#26 J.R. Campbell
: 6' 0"; Senior
: A

#11 Austin Case
: 5' 7"; Senior
: M

#17 Ryan DaRin
: 5' 10"; Junior
: A

#5 Scott Dosser
: 5' 9"; Junior
: M

#9 Sam Groves
: 5' 8"; Sophomore
: A

#10 Keith Mierzwa
: 5' 10"; Senior
: D

#16 Marc Simmons
: 6' 1"; Junior
: M

#7 Ryan St. Croix
: 6' 3"; Junior
: M

#4 Nick Strandholm
: 6' 0"; Junior
: GK