Inside Lacrosse Unveils Division I Preseason All-Americans

As part of their 2017 Face-Off Yearbook, Inside Lacrosse has released their list of preseason All-Americans throughout NCAA lacrosse. Take a look at their picks below, including in Division I Men’s Lacrosse.

Who Should Replace Casey Rees?

This list was published before Rees’ injury at Navy, which will keep him out for the entire 2017 campaign. With him now out, who should replace his spot on the list? There are plenty of different options, including teammate Greyson Torain. Names such as Zed Williams and Joe Lang deserve some credit as well. There’s also Carson Song, who should have a bigger role in Brown’s offense this year, and let’s not forget Joel Tinney, who might end up as a top midfielder by season’s end, and maybe a Tewaaraton winner? But I’d give the nod to Connor Kelly on Maryland. He came up big for the Terps this season, and he should return to the top midfield line, the lone returning starter on that unit as well. He scored four goals in the National Championship game against North Carolina, and he should be a big offensive weapon for the Terps once again in 2017.

Surprises And Snubs

Unlike last year, I don’t think there’s a solid three our even four top tier of goaltenders. Gone are the likes of Kyle Bernlohr, Jack Kelly, Tyler White, and even John Connors. Shane Doss from Notre Dame is on the First Team, with Jacob Stover of Loyola and Jack Concannon follow suit. No Big Ten or Ivy League keepers are on any of these teams, while three MAAC goaltenders are Honorable Mentions.

In the face-off category, it’s obvious that Trevor Baptiste and Ben Williams are two of the top FOGOs in the country. But for the Third Team choice of Stephen Kelly, I think it should’ve been Dylan Protesto of Hartford. Protesto had a 70.8% win percentage last season, leading the nation and the only player in the 70% range. Kelly’s 57.4% win percentage is in the top-third of all face-off takers, but he does face higher quality FOGOs than Protesto does. Protesto got the best of third place guy Sam Talkow from BU last season.

And how about some love for the d-middies in the ACC, with Tate Jozokos and Drew Schantz not recognized. Schantz is the third best SSDM in the ACC, while Jozokos and Thomas Zenker are the top two in that category. Zenker is an Honorable Mention on this list.

Dark Horse Candidates To Be Postseason All-American Choices

Preseason lists don’t take in to account any breakout players during the season, as well as freshmen. For the most part, this is a very senior-heavy list, but there are a few guys that weren’t named Preseason All-Americans that I’d keep an eye on.

We’ll continue the Hartford talk with sophomore attackman Dylan Jinks. He led Hartford with 58 points last season, and with another great season, he might be an Honorable Mention choice at the very least.

Hofstra loses one of their best players on offense in Sam Llinares, but have the return of JUCO stud Josh Byrne for his senior year to team up with incoming freshman Ryan Tierney. He led the Pride with 45 points last season, and was second in the CAA with 3.0 points per game. Having Tierney at attack should help him stay an offensive weapon this season, and will be able to mentor the freshman into being an offensive leader and probable quarterback of the offense.

Lehigh’s Tristan Rai has a similar story, except he’s just a sophomore. Watch him grab the Mountain Hawk offense by the horns this season, while Virginia, with success in Lars Tiffany’s first year in Charlottesville, could have a number of guys named All-Americans, including Ryan Lukacovic, Ryan Conrad, LSM Michael Howard, and even defenseman Tanner Scales, who could have a resurgent renaissance after missing all of 2015 with an injury. Howard and Scales were named Honorable Mention All-Americans. I also wouldn’t be shocked to see Grant Ament’s name appear on one of the three All-American teams at the end of the season as well.

Finally at goaltender, Penn’s Reed Junkin had a great freshman year, and is part of a talented class that also includes Simon Mathias, Reilly Hupfeldt, and Alex Roesner on offense, and Honorable Mention LSM Connor Keating. Junkin’s play helped Penn to the Ivy League semifinals, where they were very close to beating second-seeded Yale. If Junkin’s play improves, he should be on the All-American list come year’s end.