CU Men's Lacrosse Preview - vs. Cortland State (4/19)

Playing its third top-10 team in less than a month, the Clarkson University Men's Lacrosse team will be looking to finish off its run against ranked teams with a winning record when the Golden Knights host Cortland State on Wednesday afternoon at Hantz Turf Field.

The Golden Knights enter the game with a record of 7-4 overall and 2-3 in the Liberty League, ending a three-game losing streak in conference play on Saturday. Cortland come in at 10-1 overall and is ranked sixth in the nation in the latest poll. Clarkson has also played four-ranked RIT (9-6 win) and seventh-ranked St. Lawrence (11-4 loss).

Clarkson is just 4-19 all-time against the Red Dragons, last winning in 1994. The Knights results against Cortland have gone in both directions in the last two years, as the Dragons won 20-11 in an offense-fueled contest in 2016, but the two teams battled to a 5-4 decision in 2015.

Freshman Conor Bartlett had a solid week in two starts last week, scoring a goal and assisting on six others to push his season total to 29 points with 12 goals and 17 assists. He trails only Ryan Darin on Clarkson's scoring chart, as the senior attackman has 35 points thanks to 31 goals and four assists. Ryan St. Croix is now just one goal shy 100 for his career and he has 26 points on 19 goals and seven assists. Kyle Brown has also chipped in 20 points (15-5) while Shane Kilday has 14 points (11-3). Ryan Gabriel had a solid run on faceoffs against Bard on Saturday, winning 16 of 17 tries to improve his season rate to 60.6% (123-for-203) with a team-best 36 groundballs. Mark Uhlig (34 groundballs) and Marc Simmons (27 groundballs) have also been busy when Gabriel can't corral his initial attempt, while Justin Gibson is the team's top defender with 14 caused turnovers. Nick Strandholm owns an 8.36 goals against average and a .573 save percentage.

Cortland's only loss came to fourth-ranked RIT, but the Red Dragons aren't leaving teams in the dust the way they usually do in the SUNYAC. Two players have surpassed 40 points for the Red Dragons already, as Devin Phelps has an impressive 27 assists and 19 goals for 46 points, and Thomas McNaney has 32 goals and 12 assists for 44 points. Nate Beresovoy (20-6-26) and Joey Panariello (16-9-25) are also both above 20 points while several others have already contributed double figures in goals. Both Trevor Platt and Dave Foster have enjoyed strong seasons defensively, causing a combined 30 turnovers and producing 47 groundballs. Mike Hart will challenge Clarkson's Ryan Gabriel on faceoffs, with Hart posting .567 win percentage (122-for-215) with 82 groundballs. Joe Scalise has a .519 save percentage with an 8.66 goals against average.

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

#37 Kyle Brown: M; 6' 1"; Senior

#44 Justin Gibson: D; 6' 4"; Senior

#20 Shane Kilday: M; 5' 6"; Sophomore

#16 Marc Simmons: M; 6' 2"; Senior

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

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

#1 Mark Uhlig: M; 5' 11"; Junior

#2 Conor Bartlett: M; 5' 7"; Freshman

#21 Ryan Gabriel: M; 5' 9"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#37 Kyle Brown
: 6' 1"; Senior
: M

#44 Justin Gibson
: 6' 4"; Senior
: D

#20 Shane Kilday
: 5' 6"; Sophomore
: M

#16 Marc Simmons
: 6' 2"; Senior
: M

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

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

#1 Mark Uhlig
: 5' 11"; Junior
: M

#2 Conor Bartlett
: 5' 7"; Freshman
: M

#21 Ryan Gabriel
: 5' 9"; Freshman
: M