2019 Men’s College Lacrosse Year In Review: #62 Furman Paladins

With the 2019 college lacrosse season complete, it’s time to look back at how all 73 teams did during the season, along with an early look at each squad for 2020.

Note: These are not end of season rankings.

Here’s our last five Year In Review posts we’ve done:

• #67 Dartmouth
• #66 Bryant
• #65 Bellarmine
• #64 Lafayette
• #63 Hartford

To see all of our posts, check out the 2019 Year In Review section on the site.

Let’s continue our 2019 Year In Review!

#62 Furman Paladins

Conference: SoCon
2019 Record: 4-10 (2-5 in SoCon)
Head coach: Richie Meade (6th Season)

Statistical Leaders

Goals: Jarrett Birch (31)
Assists: Anders Erickson (17)
Points: Jarrett Birch (37)
Faceoffs: Michael Abizaid (90-of-208; 43.3%)
Ground balls: Corey Hall (42)
Caused turnovers: Corey Hall (22)
Goals against average: Alec Van de Bovenkamp (12.96 GAA)
Save percentage: Alec Van de Bovenkamp (51%)

Personnel Losses

Key seniors departing: M William Holcomb (25 Gs, 9 As, 12 GBs, 5 CTs), M David Williamson (12 Gs, 4 As, 9 GBs, 3 CTs), D Parker Widhelm (13 CTs, 21 GBs, 1 A), M Gus Pinsoneault (11 Gs, 6 As, 5 GBs, 3 CTs), LSM Myles Cohen (5 CTs, 27 GBs), SSDM Finn Barry (9 CTs, 21 GBs, 2 Gs, 1 A), SSDM Kevin Smith (5 CTs, 26 GBs, 1 G, 2 As), D/LSM Kyle Weatherford (6 CTs, 15 GBs, 1 A)
Senior scoring departing: 79 of 255 points (31%)
Senior starts lost: 42 of 140 (30%)

Season Summary

Furman had its second consecutive 4-10 season in 2019, two years removed from a 7-8 mark that was their best season in program history.

They have not been so good in nonconference play since the program was founded. Entering 2019, they only had two nonconference victories. They doubled that number up this season with wins over Canisius and Hampton.

But without a doubt, they are a much better performing team inside the Southern Conference, and while a 2-4 conference record might not show it, their games typically have. This year, four of the five Paladin losses in the SoCon came within five goals. But some of those games Furman wish they had another chance to turn into wins.

Against eventual conference champion Richmond, the Paladins had a 6-3 lead with 2:26 left in the second quarter. The Spiders got a goal with seven seconds left in the half, which help kickstart an 8-0 scoring run that wound up being the difference in the game. Against Bellarmine, Furman had an 11-6 lead with 5:29 left in the third quarter before the Knights scored nine of the final 10 goals of the game to steal a win. And against Jacksonville, Gus Pinsoneault scored with 2:24 left to cut the Dolphins lead to one, but the Paladins could not get the ball back afterwards.

It was another year for players such as William Holcomb and goalie Alec Van de Bovenkamp to lead the way for Furman, along with Jarrett Birch breaking through with a team-high 37 points and nearly doubling up his point total as a freshman. Furman had 29 players appear in at least 10 games this season, which is quite a lot.

Looking Ahead

Furman’s midfield will lose a few key contributors in Holcomb, David Williamson, and Pinsoneault. However, the attack unit is all back with Birch, rising sophomore Anders Erickson, and rising junior Carson Sorrells returning. Keegan Pearl, Jack Barron, and Jimmy Harrington also return. Rising senior Chad Kreuzer will lead the midfield returnees along with Austin Leonard, Jordan Radoll and Tucker Brown. Don’t be surprised if some listed attackmen might move up and play midfield.

Corey Hall and Cole Horan are both rising juniors, along with rising senior Ben Medrano. They should be starting close defensemen. Also back on defense includes Will O’Grady, Brady Stoll, Joe Murphy, Brandon Bank, and Burke Widhelm, with Van De Bovenkamp backstopping.

One big question will be at the faceoff X. Rising junior Michael Abizaid went 43.3% on draws last season. Rising senior Jack Schleicher (18.8%), rising junior Sage Rieth (48.2%), and rising sophomore Kris Casey (31%) are other returning options, but nobody has seemed to pull away in the past few seasons.

Furman has a lot of young guys that saw the field in 2019. That should help with experience on the field and hopefully produces better results in 2020.