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So the 2016 season has been over for nearly four weeks, and we still miss it. So as Eri is taking a look at each individual team (god rest his soul), I'll be taking a smaller look at each team.
Yesterday, I took at look at the Big East. Today, we'll go into the humongous big Patriot League. Batman and Robin dominated the conference, as Loyola is the first Final Four team we'll put a bow on in this series. Let's dive in.
The Good: Outside of the team being young, a one goal win over Monmouth was the highlight of your terrible season.
The Bad: You stunk...again. One less win than in 2015 and ZERO conference victories. Close losses to Sacred Heart and Loyola was it. Please improve.
The Future: You're young already, but need some more talent. Hopefully FOGO Andrew Chase (Summit), midfielder Jack Marshall (Haverford School), and attackman Seth Obadia (Port Washington) have some talent.
The Good: Good wins over Bucknell and Hobart early in the season. And you have a freshman stud in attackman Sam Cleveland.
The Bad: Oh god. A ton of bad. Sure you didn't have Matt Clarkson or Ryan Walsh, but holy cow 4-10 after a 10-6 season and winning the Patriot League Tournament? ZOINKS! And close losses to MICHIGAN, Lehigh, Cornell and Army hurt your chances of even appearing in the Patriot League Tournament. Plus, goalie Brandon Burke had an under-.500 save percentage.
The Future: Well, you could go down next year, but more than likely, you'll go up. You have an Under Armour All-American in Bullis attack/midfielder Nicky Petkevich, along with another top stud in Landon midfielder Griffin Brown. Other names to watch include Chaminade FOGO Brendon Luu, Detroit Country Day attack/midfielder Cooper Belanger, and Lawrenceville defenseman Garreth Cunnif.
BOSTON UNIVERSITY TERRIERS (8-7)
The Good: You had a pretty good record at 8-7 for a third year program and have improved every season since your two-win campaign in 2014. Impressive wins over High Point, Navy, and Harvard looked great on your resume.
The Bad: But how are we getting to an 8-7 team before the rest of the under-.500 teams? Oh yeah, because you went 3-5 in Patriot League play and lost to Holy Cross 11-7 for the final spot in the Patriot League Tournament. Ouch. One goal losses to Lehigh and Loyola, which you were leading for the majority of the game, wouldn't have put you in a position where you were to end the season.
The Future: In your first recruiting class' final season, you'll get a small present in Coronado attack/midfielder Anthony DeMaio. There's also a pair of Calvert Hall Cardinals in goaltender Joe McSorley and midfielder Connor Pearce heading to Beantown. Following them include Lake Highland Prep middie Jackson Colling and Episcopal Academy attackman Eric Haab.
The Good: Somehow after starting 0-8 and losing 10 of your first 11 games, you finished winning three of your last four games and making it to the Patriot League Tournament, thanks to wins over Lafayette, Colgate, and Boston University. Jon Vogel was a stud at attack with a team-high 39 goals.
The Bad: Starting 0-8 is definitely bad! And after going a pretty good 6-7 last year, you'd think that you'd build off of that. Tight losses to Providence, three straight one-goal losses to Harvard, Lehigh, and Loyola, and then Hartford didn't help either.
The Future: Hopefully you can be like you were in 2015. Your top recruit is Foothill attackman Kevin Kodzis, one of the top attackers in the country. Other top attackmen include Massapequa's Justin Lynskey and St. Joe's Prep's Kevin Stump, who was the Philadelphia Catholic League's MVP. Also, St. Paul's LSM John Faus is a good add.
The Good: Freshmen Tristan Rai and Eddie Bouhall were big contributors to you guys in their first seasons. You also won five of your first seven games. You also had a good win over Boston University later in the season.
The Bad: After going 5-2 to start the season, you lost seven of your final eight games, including close losses to Loyola and Cornell. A two goal loss to Duke was thought to be a sign of good things to come, but that obviously was not true. And with the losses of Reid Weber, Billy Oppenheimer, and Casey Eidenshink, a once dominant program is looking to rebuild.
The Future: With some big contributors leaving, this incoming class of freshmen will be counted on in a few years. You get a ton of Southeastern PA kids, and a ton of them are coming in 2016. A pair of La Salle College High School grads in midfielder Austin Clibanoff and defenseman Dan Rivera headline the PA kids. Other Keystone State recruits include defenseman Zac Methlie (Springfield-Delco) and midfielder Carter Gensler (Spring-Ford). Other recruits include Seton Hall Prep goalie Colin Kirst and St. Stephen's & St. Agnes attackman Ben Martin.
The Good: You managed to replace John Glesener nicely in freshman Nate Jones, who led the team in goals with 36, while junior Cole Johnson led the team with 71 points. A.J. Barretto had a pretty good freshman campaign, and will be expected to improve next season. After finishing 10-7 last year, finishing with that exact record in 2016 could be deemed a success. Now it's time to try and take the Patriot League title from Loyola next year after losing both meetings.
The Bad: There were some games where you could've left with a victory. A prime example is the game against Syracuse. You had a lead, but then Orange retook the lead back and hit the pipe on the last shot of the game. OUCH. Other tough losses include Rutgers, Bucknell, and Navy.
The Future: As with all the Academies, there's a good chance many recruits from the 2016 class go to Army Prep. Whether they do go to Army Prep or not, notable guys include a pair of St. Anthony's Friars in FOGO Sam Nadjari and midfielder James Pryor. Plenty of top Long Islanders as well including Ward Melville defenseman John Day and Chaminade midfielder Alex Alacqua. Others include Culver midfielder Anthony George, Landon offensive weapon Drennan Greene, and Victor defenseman Patrick Barrow. Now to the guys that went to Army Prep last year. It's highlighted by two goalies, Boys' Latin's Liam Frerichs and Bridgewater-Raritan's Luke Konen. It'll be hard for them to take the starting job away from Barretto. Other guys include midfielders Kyle Brattan (Garden City) and David Lipka (Georgetown Prep), and defenseman Jake Nordhausen (Loyola Blakefield).
The Good: You slightly improved from a 9-6 record in 2015. Good early season wins over Bryant and Fairfield, along with BU, helped, and underclassmen Will Sands and Tommy O'Connor prove to be players ready to take on the roles that Sean Doyle and Thomas Flibotte will surrender. LSM Alex Spring was an Honorable Mention All-American.
The Bad: A very questionable loss to Colgate early in Patriot League play is a head scratcher. A tight loss to Villanova was alright, but the final game, a double overtime loss against Loyola in the Patriot League semifinal, will linger until next season.
The Future: Let's start with the transfer you just got in former Landon keeper and Johns Hopkins commit Hunter Sells, who will have four years of eligibility left. He'll have to beat out Christian Klipstein for the starting job in the fall. As for your current commits, a few New Yorkers are some notable recruits, such as Bronxville defenseman Jack Gelinas, Jamesville-DeWitt attackman Grayson Burns, and Smithtown East midfielder Trent Starr. Other notables include Bullis FOGO Joseph Stein and Hotchkiss School attackman Will Yorke.
The Good: BOSS Rick Sowell has rebuilt your program, going 11-5 in 2016. Although you almost didn't make the NCAA Tournament, you played with house money and defeated Yale in an upset before falling just short against Brown, when John Connors stood on his head. Top defenseman Chris Fennell was a Second Team All-American, while LSM Matt Rees was a Third Team All-American, and brother Casey Rees was an Honorable Mention All-American as a midfielder.
The Bad: You almost didn't get in thanks to a 9-3 loss to Army in the Patriot League semifinals, and also had one goal losses to Johns Hopkins and Boston University. You didn't show up in the Maryland game until later on, but it was too late. You'll have to replace Patrick Keena, T.J, Hanzsche, Kevin Wendel, Jules Godino, and of course Connors in net.
The Future: The same situation as Army, so we'll start with the 2016 recruits. A pair of Severn School grads in midfielder Tyler Perreten and LSM/defenseman Jacob Mandish stay in Annapolis. From across the border in Pennsylvania, Bishop Shanahan goalie Jason Yoquinto and St. Joe's Prep midfielder Alex Scalamandre hope to bring help whenever they can. Also, look out for McCallie defenseman Jeff Durden. As for the Navy Prep kids, two former Haverford School kids in FOGO Colin Bosak and midfielder Brendan Jacob are part of this group along with Salesianum grads Connor Freeborn (defense) and Ryan Kern (goaltender). Four names from the DMV area include defensemen Thomas Evans (Landon), Troy Jahelka (Paul VI), and Thomas Miller (St. Mary's), along with St. Paul's midfielder Jack Pollard.
The Good: Pat Spencer. That's all. But I'll continue. Batman was a huge complement to Robin (Zach Herreweyers), but he should've been a Tewaaraton finalist and a First Team All-American instead of a Second Team choice. Junior midfielder Brian Sherlock was an Honorable Mention. You made it to Championship Weekend for the first time since winning it all in 2012, and Spencer had a historic 88-point campaign. And that's only year one! Plus, Jacob Stover was pretty solid in net when he took over for Grant Limone midway through the season, except against UNC.
The Bad: You had a tough stretch midway through the season when you lost close games to Towson and Navy, and also got dismantled by Duke. Then, UNC killed you in the first half of the semifinals. You lose Ryan Moran to become the BOSS at UMBC, and also lose Herreweyers, Tyler Albrecht, Jeff Chase, and David Manning.
The Future: Let's start with the obvious gem: Ryan McNulty from Bishop Shanahan. The LSM is an Under Armour All-American, and could be asked to become a defenseman. Another player that's a top player is LSM/defenseman John Railey of Georgetown Prep. Unlike McNulty, he is listed as a defenseman. Add Alex Johnson from Culver and Loyola will be happy with their defense for years to come. But to complement Spencer on offense will be A.J. Traynor (Malvern Prep), Cole Boland (Regis Jesuit), and Riley Cox (Cold Spring Harbor).