2023 NCAA Lacrosse Rankings: No. 20 Saint Joseph's (Men)

The 2023 college lacrosse season is almost here. As is our annual tradition, we’re featuring every team ranked in the Nike/USA Lacrosse Preseason Top 20.

Check back to USALaxMagazine.com each weekday this month for new previews, scouting reports and rival analysis.

TOP RETURNERS

Levi Anderson, A, Gr.

The Canadian moved from attack to midfield early last season and wound up leading the Hawks in assists (31) and points (64). He’ll again team with Matt Bohmer (43 G, 19 A) and Carter Page (51 G) on attack. “Levi is as talented a player as we’ve ever had,” Wray said. “He can play above the goal. He can play behind the goal. He has underrated vision and passing ability. He’s a tough guy to match up with.”

Tucker Brown, M, Gr.

A first team all-Northeast pick last season, Brown had 43 goals and 11 assists and will generate plenty of attention — both on his own merits and because of the graduation of fellow midfielder Austin Strazzulla (24 G, 18 A). Brown had hat tricks in five of the Hawks’ last nine games, last year, including against Yale in the NCAA tournament.

Zach Cole, FO, Gr.

Few faceoff men flip the field as consistently as Cole, who won 68.1 percent of his draws last season and ranks 12th all-time (and first among active players) with 787 career faceoff wins. “Zach Cole has been the heart and soul of our team over the last four years,” Wray said. “He has been the biggest difference-maker. I won’t mince words about it. Our team would be very different without Zach Cole over the last few years.”

KEY ADDITIONS

Aidan Clark, M, Jr. (Wagner) and Stephen Dwyer, M, Gr. (Wagner)

Saint Joseph’s added two starters from former NEC foe Wagner’s lineup last year in Clark (25 G, 7 A) and Dwyer (20 G, 5 A), the only two Seahawks to reach double figures in goals last season. Both will be in the mix to claim time in the midfield this season, and Wray said that unit is where the most competition was in the fall.

Christian Marchini, SSDM, Fr.

Saint Joseph’s is an experienced team with relatively modest graduation losses, so playing time for freshman probably won’t be plentiful. But Marchini impressed Wray and his staff considerably throughout the fall, and the Hawks did lose a pair of short sticks (including all-NEC pick Adam Ritter). Two other freshmen to keep an eye on: Attackman Collin Campbell and 6-foot-7 defenseman Liam Quinn.

Scott Macmillan, G, Gr. (Gettysburg)

The Gettysburg transfer owns a career .546 save percentage and helped the Bullets reach the Division III quarterfinals last spring. He’ll provide competition to incumbent starter Robbie Seeley (.540), who made a season-high 16 saves in last year’s NEC title game against Hobart.

KEY DEPARTURES

Graduations: Jack Anderson, SSDM; Logan Blondell, D; Teo Domic, M; Adam Ritter, SSDM; Austin Strazzulla, M

STORYLINES TO WATCH

And now for the encore …

The Hawks had won a share of five NEC titles between 2014 and 2021 and didn’t have an NCAA tournament berth to show for it. So Wray and the program had reason to savor last year’s breakthrough, especially since it earned its NCAA trip with a victory at home in the league title game and then drew new fans with its spirited play in an 18-16 loss at Yale in the first round.

Saint Joseph’s brings back eight of its top nine scorers and eight starters. And while one season doesn’t pick up right where the last one ended, the Hawks have plenty of answers in place already.

“We feel like we have a good team,” Wray said. “I don’t go into every year saying, ‘You know what, I think we have a very competitive team.’ Some years, you don’t know what you have and it’s going to take shape over the course of the season. This year, I think going into the season, I think we have a good team.”

Entering the Atlantic 10

The Atlantic 10 — the Hawks’ all-sports conference home for decades — will sponsor men’s lacrosse for the first time. That means Saint Joseph’s has a new set of league foes after competing in the Northeast Conference since 2014.

Hobart — an associate A-10 member — is a familiar face, while Saint Joseph’s will now also face High Point, Massachusetts, Richmond and St. Bonaventure in conference play.

While it isn’t a perfect measurement, the RPI is indicative of the escalation awaiting the Hawks. The rest of last year’s NEC averaged an RPI of 51.7 in 2022. The five other A-10 teams’ average RPI was 30.

“I do think it’s exciting knowing you’re going to need to be at your absolute best in every single game if you want to win,” Wray said. “Not that it wasn’t necessarily the case in our previous league, but the competition level will be higher. The top three teams in the NEC on any given year, I’d put up with the top programs in the A-10. I just think from top to bottom, everybody is going to be at that level every year.”

Who’s next in the midfield?

Tucker Brown is the most established option in the midfield, and one of the Hawks’ biggest questions is how the rest of that line will look. Colin Reich (8 G, 15 A) returns after starting 11 games last year, and he showed in the fall he’s become a better dodge-to-score player.

It could be that Mac McLaughlin (19 G, 9 A), who split time between the top two midfield lines, slides seamlessly into Austin Strazzulla’s old starting spot.

“Those are big shoes to fill,” Wray said. “We’re hoping Mac can step up and absorb some of that production.”

An alternate option for the Saint Joseph’s staff is to move Levi Anderson back to midfield now that attackman Ryan Doran is healthy. Doran started the first two games last season, but suffered a torn ACL against Delaware on Feb. 15.

ENEMY LINES
WHAT RIVALS ARE SAYING ABOUT THE HAWKS

“What Taylor Wray has done with that program, being in the shadow of Penn and Penn State and Princeton and Villanova and Drexel, and oh, nice little Saint Joe’s has become someone to fear. They have great players, a couple great Canadian players. They’re good in the goal. They have one of the best faceoff guys in the country. And Taylor Wray — talk about being overlooked. This guy is overlooked as a coach throughout college lacrosse. He’s one of the best in my book.”

BEYOND THE BASICS
POWERED BY LACROSSE REFERENCE

23.1%

Levi Anderson finished the year having generated 23.1% of the Hawks’ assists. Given his touches, the 1.7 assists he averaged per-game put him in the 78th percentile nationally. The downside for Anderson was a turnover rate that put him in just the 35th percentile nationally. If he can keep generating offense for others, while cutting out some of the turnovers, this offense could take another step forward in 2023.

Lacrosse Reference Glossary