Four USILA and five IMLCA first-team All-Americans return alongside a host of second- and third-team selections looking to make their marks in 2018.
Narrowing it down to four, US Lacrosse Magazine has named Nate Beresovoy (Cortland), Jordan Krug (Cabrini), Harry Stanton (Wesleyan) and Kyle Tucker (Salisbury) as finalists for Warrior Division III Men’s Preseason Player of the Year.
We've named the four finalists for @warriorlax Division III Men's Preseason Player of the Year. Vote and read more https://t.co/lopF5ZSWkU
— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) January 4, 2018
CC: @RedDragonPride, @CabriniMLAX, @Wes_Athletics, @SalisburyMLAX
The magazine’s staff will select a winner to be published in its February NCAA preview edition. Fans are encouraged to vote on Twitter, but the results will not determine the preseason player of the year.
As the season progresses, more names will jump into the conversation.
More on the finalists for Warrior Division III Men’s Preseason Player of the Year:
Nate Beresovoy
Cortland
Beresovoy returns for his senior season after scoring at least once in all but one game for the Red Dragons, a performance that earned him All-American honors from both the IMLCA (first-team) and USILA (second-team) a year ago. As a junior, he scored 36 times and assisted another nine, helping bring pressure from the middle of the field to open things up for Cortland’s attack, which returns 90-point producer Devin Phelps for 2018.
Jordan Krug
Cabrini
In just two seasons, the junior from New Jersey has racked up 151 points, leading the Cavaliers with 58 goals and 75 points as a sophomore, including a monster six-point showing in his team’s upset win over then-No. 1 Salisbury in April. His team didn’t fare as well in its NCAA tournament rematch with the eventual NCAA champion Sea Gulls, but he and the rest of a Cabrini team returning much of its firepower from a year ago should once again challenge even the top tier of college lacrosse’s largest division.
Harry Stanton
Wesleyan
The lone returning first-team All-American on offense, Stanton set a school record with 86 goals as a junior, adding 29 assists to finish with 115 points for the NCAA semifinalists. A known quantity now on a team with a target on its back – both in the NESCAC and the DIII world at large – Stanton will have to come up big once more if he and the rest of coach John Raba’s team look to fulfill expectations in 2018.
Kyle Tucker
Salisbury
With the Sea Gull offense dotted with question marks, Tucker and the rest of the stout Salisbury defense will have to loom large – at least in the early season as those questions get answered. There’s little doubt that the back line is coach Jim Berkman’s ace in the hole going into the season, anchored by Tucker, who captured the USILA’s William C. Styles honor a year ago after leading a defensive unit that allowed fewer than seven goals per game. Stats wise, Tucker finished with 30 caused turnovers and 67 groundballs for the NCAA champions.