February 15, 2006

LAURINBURG, NC—Second year head coach Michael Lawson will once again be at the helm of the St. Andrews men’s lacrosse team. This time, Lawson will be coaching his first recruiting class, which has the potential to make some serious noise on both the Deep South and Division II national scene.

The experience the Knights gained from playing a very difficult schedule in 2005 should help this year’s squad. St. Andrews finished 5-11 last year, with eight of their 11 losses coming against teams that were ranked in the top-10 nationally at some point last season.

The Knights finished 4-3 in the Deep South Conference in ‘05, earning a No. 4 seed in the conference tournament. SAPC defeated Mars Hill in the first round, before losing in the semifinals to Limestone.

A plethora of new faces dot the sidelines for St. Andrews, including 20 of the Knights 32 players being recruits of Lawson’s since he took over the program in August of 2004. Lawson tentatively plans to start eight different players from last year, with the Knights success balancing upon how quickly they mesh together and mature.

St. Andrews only returns two seniors, but both are of the highest quality. Midfielders Pat Fitzgerald and Bryan Riddell return for their final season as the team leaders and reigning All-DSC selections. Fitzgerald has already been selected as a 2006 Preseason Division II All-American.

The Knights defense has been completely revamped, with the projecting starting defense and goalkeeper being completely different from last year. Lawson expects big things from freshman netminder Nat Hull, who should provided a dramatic improvement in the cage. Hull will be the leader of a young and athletic defense, while freshman goalie Steve Hartley will be challenging Hull for playing time all year.

A freshmen trio of Jeff Osterritter, Parker Ferguson, and TJ Dacey will give St. Andrews one of its most athletic defensive units that program has ever fielded. Junior Peter Swink, freshman Chris Nagle and Ryan Ebey, and junior college transfer Ernest Chaluisant will all be in the Knights defensive mix.

“I need this group of young defenders to grow up and mature very quickly and we will go as far as they provide for us,” said Lawson. “I believe these young guys make us stronger on defense now than we were at the end of last season.”

SAPC’s transition game at midfield will be Lawson’s biggest strength in 2006. Riddell and Fitzgerald anchor the midfield as the Knights top two returning point’s scorers from last year with 33 and 31 points, respectively.

Lawson has added transfers Tony Ferreira, a high school All-American, from Loyola College and Sean Todd, a two-time All-Conference middie from Howard Community College, who is recovering from injury. Junior Tom Watt will be used all over the field while Kyle Loda and Max Kalkstein will push for big minutes as freshman. The Knights plan to gobble up most face offs with freshmen Ethan Young and Marcus Kirby taking the lion’s share of draws.

Junior Zach Mryncza makes his return to St. Andrews after missing last season and will be counted on as a leader on offense. Mryncza led the 2004 Knights with 53 points. Mryncza will be joined on attack with juniors Dan Hartzell, who moves up from the midfield, and Zach Miller, who red shirted last year.

The Knights blend of veteran experience and talented youth should provide for an exciting season for the fans of the St. Andrews lacrosse program.