2018 Men’s Lacrosse Year in Review: #31 Jacksonville Dolphins

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. These are not end of season rankings, as some people might think.

We’ve already begun looking back to 2018 with some team recaps thus far and continued our series last week with North Carolina, Towson, Penn, UMass Lowell, and Bryant.

So with that, let’s continue the recaps!

#31 Jacksonville Dolphins

Conference: SoCon
2018 Record: 8-7 (5-2 in SoCon play)
Postseason: Defeated High Point in SoCon semifinals, lost to Richmond in SoCon championship
Head coach: John Galloway (2nd Year)

Statistical Leaders

Goals: McLean Chicquen (27)
Assists: Eric Applegate (20)
Points: McLean Chicquen and Eric Applegate (43)
Faceoffs: Hunter Forbes (258-of-366; 70.5%)
Ground balls: Hunter Forbes (160)
Caused turnovers: Dixon Smith (26)
Goals against average: Hunter Sells (10.10 GAA)
Save percentage: Hunter Sells (44.8%)

Personnel Losses

Key seniors departing: M McLean Chicquen (27 Gs, 16 As, 22 GBs), FOGO Hunter Forbes (70.5% faceoff draws, 160 GBs, 4 Gs, 3 As), SSDM Ryan Beville (49 GBs, 13 CTs, 1 G, 2 As), A Shawn Ewert (15 Gs, 9 As, 15 GBs), A Chase McIntyre (3 Gs, 5 As), A Mitchell Parker (7 Gs, 1 A), G Ben Gleichenhaus (9.87 GAA, 50% SV %)
Senior scoring departing: 94 of 248 points (37.9%)
Senior starts lost: 39 of 150 (26%)

Season Summary

The Dolphins were one of the most improved teams in all of college lacrosse in 2018. After consecutive four-win seasons, followed by consecutive three-win campaigns, Jacksonville entered the eyes of the rest of the college lacrosse community thanks to second year head coach John Galloway.

But after a surprising five-goal upset of Navy, it took a little while for the Dolphins to get sustained success. After an 11-goal blowout to Duke, Jacksonville lost three of their next four games, all of them by a goal and two of them in overtime. Against Marquette, John Wagner scored the game-winner with seven seconds left in Wisconsin. After a Detroit Mercy win, it looked like JU would shock the lacrosse world with an upset over Ohio State. They led by two with 2:11 left, but Tre Leclaire scored twice before the end of regulation, including one with two ticks left, before putting home the overtime winner. The following week against Vermont, Jacksonville scored two goals midway through the final frame to tie things up at 10, but Ian MacKay put home the game-winner in overtime.

The good news was that SoCon play was beginning and it would be a wide open race for the conference’s automatic qualifier in May. The Dolphins went 5-2 in conference play, which was good. The bad news was their losses came against High Point and Richmond. JU had to face both teams to take home the SoCon crown. Against High Point, the Panthers took a 10-4 lead early in the third quarter and it appeared as if the Dolphins were done. But thanks to two separate 4-0 runs in the second half, capped off by Evan Tyler’s overtime winner, JU advanced to the conference title game to take on Richmond. But despite scoring six goals in the opening 15 minutes and holding a two-goal lead in the fourth quarter, the Spiders tied it up and won it in overtime on a Teddy Hatfield tally.

Jacksonville had four 20 goal scorers in McLean Chicquen, Dwayne Mattushik, Eric Applegate, and freshman Jeremy Winston. Applegate was also the only Dolphin to record 20 assists and co-led the team in points along with Chicquen. Mattushik and Winston had 30 points, while Will Hendrick and Shawn Ewert finished in the 20-point range. Freshman Gavin Dembeck ended his rookie campaign with 16 points, 14 of them coming as goals.

The close defense was led by freshman Dixon Smith, who was a first team choice in our All-Freshman selections back in June. Smith joined redshirt-junior Sam Dovan for the majority of the season along with freshman Tyler Morris and senior Max Hartong. Redshirt-freshman Tommy Barnhorst and freshman Gavin Legg were the LSMs, while senior captain Ryan Beville, junior Hayden La Vangie, and freshman Jack Dolan served as the short sticks. Senior FOGO Hunter Forbes had the best year of his career with a 70.5% faceoff percentage, while junior netminder Hunter Sells found his home in Duval and had a decent year with a 10.10 goals against average.

Looking Ahead

The finish was good, but there’s plenty of things to work on for Jacksonville. Despite the offense ranking in the top 20, their defense was right in the middle of Division I. Three important pieces in Chicquen, Beville, and Forbes all graduate.

At midfield, Dembeck and sophomore Alec Drosos are guys that can step up and replace some of the senior’s point totals from a year ago. The team also got former Monmouth recruit Logan Posner via transfer. He played attack and midfield while at St. Paul’s. The Dolphins also get two other attackmen in Kieran Byrnes (Villanova) and James Bohlinger (Saint Joseph’s). Byrnes is a fifth-year transfer while Bohlinger played in 2017 and made the NEC’s Rookie Team. He did not appear in 2018.

On the defensive side, Beville is a tough blow to the shorties, but at least this past year’s unit was relatively new and young. Another year of experience under their belt should help them become a stronger unit.

The big hole is at the faceoff X with Forbes. Outside of him, three defensemen took draws. No other FOGO took draws besides Forbes. Hudson Bearden will probably be asked to take draws next season, whether as the top specialist or as a reserve.

Overall, things are very up in Duval and it would not be a surprise if the Dolphins made it to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history this upcoming season.

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