2018 Men’s Lacrosse Year in Review: #56 Furman Paladins

With the 2018 college lacrosse season complete, it’s time to start looking back at how all 71 teams did during the season, as well as what to expect from each squad for 2019.

We’ve already begun looking back to 2018 with some team recaps thus far and continued our series last week with Mercer, Wagner, Bellarmine, Manhattan, and Holy Cross.

So with that, let’s continue the recaps!

#56 Furman Paladins

Conference: SoCon
2018 Record: 4-10 (4-3 in SoCon play)
Postseason: Lost to Richmond in SoCon semifinals
Head coach: Richie Meade (5th Year)

Statistical Leaders

Goals: David Williamson (27)
Assists: Jonah Moore (22)
Points: William Holcomb (36)
Faceoffs: Sage Rieth (77-of-192; 40.1%)
Ground balls: Alec Van de Bovenkamp (31)
Caused turnovers: Kyle Weatherford (18)
Goals against average: Alec Van de Bovenkamp (12.52 GAA)
Save percentage: Alec Van de Bovenkamp (49.4%)

Personnel Losses

Key seniors departing: A Jonah Moore (13 Gs, 22 As, 11 GBs), D Jason Moore (7 GBs, 2 CTs), FOGO Rory McElligatt (26.7% faceoff draws, 8 GBs)
Senior scoring departing: 35 of 192 points (18.2%)
Senior starts lost: 14 of 140 (10%)

Season Summary

It’s a tale of two teams when discussing Furman. The Paladins have only won two games outside of SoCon play (2017 against Mount St. Mary’s and 2015 against Canisius). But when SoCon play comes around, Furman gets going.

After losing their first six games of the season, two of which came in overtime, the Paladins won their first three SoCon games against Richmond, VMI, and Mercer. Things were going well for Richie Meade’s squad before they lost their next three games against High Point, Air Force, and Jacksonville. They needed a win against a Bellarmine team playing with some momentum to return to the SoCon Tournament, and they edged the Knights by a goal.

The rematch against Richmond was not pretty. After beating the Spiders by a goal in their first meeting, Richmond doubled up on Furman, 16-8, to end the Paladin season.

Juniors William Holcomb and David Williamson, along with senior Jonah Moore, all had 30 point seasons, while freshman Jarrett Birch put up 20 points in his first season. Junior Kyle Weatherford, who was previously a SSDM, led the team with 19 caused turnovers at close defense. Junior Parker Widhelm and sophomore Will O’Grady also contributed on defense protecting sophomore goalie Alec Van de Bovenkamp.

Looking Ahead

The only real big loss is Jonah Moore at attack. Moore led the team with 22 assists and was second in points at 35.

Furman has a ton of underclassmen ready to contribute. Lou Yovino had only 14 points (10 goals, 4 assists) as a sophomore after a 27-point campaign as a freshman. It’ll be big for the Paladins to get him going as a junior. Freshman attackman Carson Sorrells and junior midfielder Zach Scott will also look to improve on their seasons after recording at least 10 points last year.

At the faceoff X, Sage Rieth will look to improve on last year’s 40.1% win percentage. Similar to Yovino, sophomore goalie Van de Bovenkamp will be eyeing a bounceback season as a junior in 2019 after giving up 12.52 goals a game last season.

Here’s who the Paladins will be adding to their roster for next year.*

*Compiled from a multitude of websites. Schools usually officially announce their recruiting class during the fall semester.