CU Men's Lacrosse Preview - at Rensselaer (4/8)

Ben Moeller

Men's Lacrosse | 4/6/2023 11:00:00 AM

Starting to get some looks for the national polls, the Clarkson University Men's Lacrosse team looks to firm up its position in the Liberty League standings when the team travels to take on Rensselaer on Saturday afternoon.

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The Series: Clarkson picked up an 11-8 win over the Engineers last season, thanks in large part to Matthew Hansen's excellence on faceoffs, where the senior won 14 of 23 tries and had 10 groundballs. RPI leads in the all-time series, 33-25.

Key Stats for Clarkson (9-1, 1-1 Liberty League): The Golden Knights rank ninth nationally in goals allowed per game (7.40) thanks to a steady defense and strong goalkeeping. Junior Matt Szwagulinskii leads the team with 19 caused turnovers and also has 25 groundballs, while both Patrick Sanna (15 caused turnovers) and Mason Volley (12 caused turnovers) have stood out as well. Grad student Jacob Mattice leads the Liberty League in goals against average at 7.04 and owns a .572 save percentage. Mattice's GAA ranks eighth nationally and he has played more minutes than any of the players ahead of him in that statistic. Offensively, Clarkson has weathered some injuries and has four players with 20-plus points, led by senior Thomas Fiebich, who has 33 points on 12 goals and 21 assists. Bryan Penney leads the squad with 22 goals.

Key Stats for Rensselaer (5-6, 2-1 Liberty League): Sophomore Joseph Perry, last season's Liberty League Rookie of the Year and a Liberty League Honorable Mention All-Star, has a .586 save percentage with 143 saves in just under 600 minutes of playing time in the crease for RPI, though his goals against average is over 10 as he has averaged 13 saves per game. The Engineers get the majority of their offense from three players with Luke Murphy (23-23-46), Cooper Manzi (23-11-34), and Tyler Ruffini (10-12-22) accounting for a large portion. Jack Greene ranks second in the conference in caused turnovers (22) and Caleb Oswari is second on the team in that category (16). Angelo Venuto is winning 65.8% of his faceoffs and he often wins them clean, claiming 125 groundballs, nearly 50 more than any other player in the conference.

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Players Mentioned

#34 Thomas Fiebich: A; 5' 10"; Junior

#30 Matthew Hansen: M; 5' 8"; Junior

#21 Bryan Penney: M; 5' 11"; Senior

#13 Patrick Sanna: D; 6' 2"; Junior

#19 Matt Szwagulinski: D; 5' 10"; Sophomore

#11 Mason Volley: D; 6' 0"; Freshman

#23 Jacob Mattice: GK; 6' 0"; Graduate Student

Players Mentioned

#34 Thomas Fiebich
: 5' 10"; Junior
: A

#30 Matthew Hansen
: 5' 8"; Junior
: M

#21 Bryan Penney
: 5' 11"; Senior
: M

#13 Patrick Sanna
: 6' 2"; Junior
: D

#19 Matt Szwagulinski
: 5' 10"; Sophomore
: D

#11 Mason Volley
: 6' 0"; Freshman
: D

#23 Jacob Mattice
: 6' 0"; Graduate Student
: GK