2019 Men’s College Lacrosse Year In Review: #17 Marist Red Foxes

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:

• #22 Lehigh
• #21 Quinnipiac
• #20 Denver
• #19 Hobart
• #18 High Point

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 with the teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament!

#17 Marist Red Foxes

Conference: MAAC
2019 Record: 10-7 (6-1 in MAAC)
Postseason: Defeated Canisius and Quinnipiac for MAAC Championship, lost to UMBC in NCAA Opening Round
Head coach: Keegan Wilkinson (8th Season)

Statistical Leaders

Goals: Jake Weinman (33)
Assists: James Lyons (14)
Points: Jake Weinman (41)
Faceoffs: Peyton Smith (247-of-392; 63%)
Ground balls: Peyton Smith (115)
Caused turnovers: James Sarrocco (22)
Goals against average: Jake MacGregor (10.61)
Save percentage: Jake MacGregor (52.2%)

Personnel Losses

Key seniors departing: D James Sarrocco (22 CTs, 46 GBs), D Ralph Sommer (16 CTs, 37 GBs), SSDM Matthew Selts (10 CTs, 39 GBs, 2 Gs, 2 As), D Billy Andrle (6 CTs, 7 GBs), M Evan Gagne (5 Gs, 2 As, 3 GBs, 1 CT)
Senior scoring departing: 11 of 246 points (4.5%)
Senior starts lost: 67 of 170 (39.4%)

Season Summary

2018 did not go well for Marist, who went 3-12 and won their fewest games in a season since 2009. It looked like the Red Foxes were in for a rebuilding year.

And it looked that way early on as they began the season with losses against Air Force and Army West Point. But Marist rebounded with wins in their next two games against Hartford and Stony Brook. Down for most of the game against the Hawks, the Red Foxes recorded two goals in the final 7:35 to take a one-goal win before going on a 6-0 run in their 10-5 win over the Seawolves. They wrapped up a five-game road stand with a big loss to North Carolina.

March 16 marked not only the team’s MAAC opener against Monmouth, but also their first home game of the season. They took care of the Hawks before going back on the road to edge Manhattan by a goal. They returned back home to take on Detroit Mercy where they gave up a three-goal lead with 9:50 left in the game. The Titans were able to score four goals in under five minutes to get the win. They then suffered another home loss, this time against Bucknell, as Marist lost a 6-5 lead with a 5-0 run from the opposition.

Marist then went on a three-game winning streak with conference victories coming against Siena, Quinnipiac, and St. Bonaventure. After a blowout loss to Virginia in Charlottesville, the Red Foxes ended the regular season with a 10-8 win over Canisius, the team they would face in the MAAC semifinals a few days later. Despite the Golden Griffins cutting the Marist lead to a goal with 10:16 left in the game, the Red Fox defense shut the door as Jake McGregor made four saves in that span of time to put Marist in the conference title game against Quinnipiac. In a tightly contested game, the Red Foxes were able to string together a one-goal victory for their second MAAC title in the decade. However, their NCAA Tournament run was the shortest out of any team, as UMBC scored nine of 11 goals in the second half en route to eliminating Marist.

Four of Marist’s top six scorers were freshmen, with two of them starting for most of the season. Jojo Pirreca started all 17 games and finished with 35 goals while Jamison Embury started in 10 and finished with 31 points. The two of them were joined by redshirt sophomore Jake Weinman, who led the team with 33 goals and 41 points. Joe Tierney originally started at attack, but made the switch to midfield later in the season. James Lyons, Hunter Embury, Chris Schlappich, Michael Smith, and Evan Gagne also played roles up top.

Whereas the offense was young, the defense was experienced with plenty of seniors. In fact, the entire starting close defense of James Sarrocco, Ralph Sommer, and Billy Andrle were all seniors. JT Roselle and Sam Ahlgrim were the main LSMs, while Matthew Selts and Tyler Ammirato were the primary SSDMs. MacGregor took over for Brian Corrigan in goal, while Peyton Smith was one of the underrated FOGOs in the country with a 63% success rate.

Looking Ahead

Marist doesn’t lose a ton of scoring. In fact, they only lose 11 of their 246 points to senior graduation with Gagne being the only loss on the offensive side of the ball.

The bad news is the Red Foxes have a lot of holes to fill on defense, especially with all three close defensemen and their top short stick defenseman graduating. Stephen Viola and Ryan Brand are some options, along with Wagner transfer Kyle Stofko. Protecting MacGregor in goal will be big in the MAAC, which has not had a repeat conference champion for a good chunk of time. Unless the team takes a big step back with a season they had in 2018, Marist should be back in the MAAC Tournament once again in 2020.