POUGHKEEPSIE, New York – Marist men's lacrosse returned to the field for its first practice last week, and with that marked the beginning of the 2020 season. Prior to the first game of the season, which will be Saturday, February 8 vs Binghamton, we will be taking a look into one of the team's positional groups every week. For this period, we will dive into the team's group of attackmen.
- Marist graduated two attackmen from last year's Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Champion squad: Thomas Rago and Jack Dolan
- Both players were valued for their leadership on and off the field, and had some memorable moments as Red Foxes.
- Rago will always be remembered for his game-winning goal in the MAAC semifinals against Monmouth in 2016 that sent the Red Foxes to their third straight conference championship game. He was a member of the All-MAAC Rookie team that season. He scored 12 goals and grabbed six ground balls in his career. Additionally, Rago scored a game-winning goal in overtime against #8 Stony Brook which is the highest ranked team ever defeated by a Marist squad.
- Dolan appeared in seven games in hist Marist career, and had two shots with one on goal. He was a three-time member of the MAAC All-Academic Team (all three years he was eligible).
- All three starting attackmen from last season are returning, along with a number of other attackmen that have made a significant impact on the program throughout their time at Marist.
- Jojo Pirreca, Jamison Embury, and Jake Weinman return and figure to be in line to start at attack again this season.
- Vito Musso will also be returning this season, and is expected to make a significant contribution off the bench.
- Sal Cipriano is the final returning attackmen from last year's roster, and he will provide some depth off the bench for the Red Foxes in 2020.
- With Weinman back, the Red Foxes maintain last season's leading goal scorer (33) and point scorer (41). He started in all 17 games last year, and scored at least one goal in every single game. Weinman tallied a hat trick with an assist in the MAAC Championship against Quinnipiac, helping Marist secure the MAAC title. He has 49 goals and nine assists for his career, now entering his junior season.
- Pirreca returns for his sophomore campaign, and with his return Marist gets back its second leading goal scorer (27) and point scorer (35) from 2019. In his first season as a Red Fox, Pirreca started all 17 games and was named to the All-MAAC Rookie Team, and was a College Crosse Honorable Mention All-Freshman Team selection. He scored the game winning goal in Marist's MAAC Championship victory over the Quinnipiac Bobcats.
- Marist gets back one of its most versatile players with the return of Jamison Embury, who was second on the team in assists (13), and fourth on the team in goals (19). This ranked him third on the team in total points with 31. He started 10 games in the second half of the season, and recorded at least one point in every single one of his starts. He broke out in the MAAC Championships, totaling a career-high five points (three goals and two assists) against Canisius in the MAAC semifinals. He followed that up by one-upping himself and tallying six points (four goals and two assists) in the MAAC Championship against Quinnipiac.
- Musso will return in a bench roll, in which he burst onto the scene last season. He played in eight games late in the season last year, and scored six goals. Wilkinson noted that Musso is a player he believes has made major strides after the past few months, and that he is excited to see him continue to develop in the offense.
- Cipriano returns after being named to the All-MAAC Academic Team last season, having appeared in six games for his career.
The men's lacrosse team has added a handful of new faces at the position heading into the 2020 season. The group consists of three new freshmen:
Stephen Bickel,
Kellen Pulera, and
Sam Tomson. Head Coach
Keegan Wilkinson is anticipating this group will have a massive impact on the team this season, and has the potential to be a very talented group of attackmen. Wilkinson noted that Bickel and Pulera both have skill sets that fit really well into their offense. Specifically, he pointed out that Bickel is a tremendously versatile shooter, and that Pulera is a throwback left-handed goal scorer that should transition seamlessly.
"Having a full off-season to build off last year's success has been really helpful for this group of attackmen, and we know that the year of experience they all gained playing together last season will allow them to hit the ground running heading into this year," Wilkinson said. "JoJo, Jamison and Jake all bring a different element to our team's offense which is really special and allows them to gel really well together. They have worked hard to grow their games over the last few months and expand on the things that have helped them to have success early in their careers. I'm excited to see this group's progress this season."
