WINTHROP, Mass. – The 2020 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's lacrosse preseason poll has been released and Saint Joseph's College is forecasted to finish third this spring.
Last spring the Monks went 12-5 overall with a 6-2 record in conference play en route to earning the #3 seed in the GNAC Tournament. Saint Joseph's hosted sixth-seeded Johnson & Wales University – the reigning conference champions – in the first round and suffered a season-ending 11-8 setback at the hands of the Wildcats on April 27th.
The Monks return two of their top three scorers from last spring, as junior Shane Puleo (Nashua, N.H.) and graduate Daniel Cunningham (West Islip, N.Y.) figure to lead the offensive charge in 2020. Puleo garnered Second Team All-GNAC honors after scoring 21 goals and 48 assists for 69 total points as a sophomore while Cunningham netted 13 goals with 20 helpers for 33 points last season.
Senior Shane Fors (Ledyard, Conn.), a 2019 Third Team All-GNAC honoree, returns as the Monks' face-off specialist and is in position to shatter the program's career face-off wins and ground balls records. Junior LSM Alex Osmanski (Abington, Mass.), a 2019 Second Team All-Conference selection, and senior Joseph Mooney (Kennebunk, Maine) return to help bolster the SJC defense in 2020.
Under the watch of Head Coach Bill Cosentino - who is now in his fourth year - the Monks set new team records for victories (12), winning percentage (.706), and longest winning streak (10) as well as goals (210), assists (136) and points (346) last season.
After falling at home in the 2018 Great Northeast Athletic Conference Men's Lacrosse title game, Norwich University righted the ship in impressive fashion last spring. The Cadets, whose only other GNAC title came back in 2013, avenged the 2018 setback to Johnson & Wales University (RI) by defeating JWU in the 2019 GNAC Semifinals before going on the road to defeat top-seeded Lasell University, 8-6, in last year's championship contest.
While Norwich went on to suffer a narrow 12-10 setback in the NCAA Tournament to New England College, the Cadets have been selected atop the 2019 GNAC Preseason poll (as voted upon by the league's 10 head coaches), receiving eight first-place votes for 98 points overall.
Last year's runner-up Lasell finished second overall with the other two first-place tallies and 92 points in the rankings. The two programs are slated to go head-to-head at Lasell on Wednesday, April 8.
Rounding out the top-five in the poll were Saint Joseph's College of Maine with 78 points, JWU with 62 points, and Anna Maria College with 57 points. Making up the remainder of the poll included Emmanuel College (50 points), Rivier University (47), Albertus Magnus College (25), upstart program University of Saint Joseph (23), and Regis College (18).
Outside of a three-year championship run by Emmanuel from 2014-16, there has been a great deal of parity across the GNAC, with Lasell winning the 2017 GNAC Championship and NCAA automatic berth before JWU won in 2018 and Norwich a year ago.
Prior to the Emmanuel run, Norwich won its aforementioned other GNAC title in 2013, which was preceded by Mount Ida College winning the GNAC's first two team titles in 2012 and 2011. Mount Ida, which closed abruptly as an institution following the 2017-18 academic year, was led by longtime lacrosse head coach Andrew Fink, who will now guide the USJ Blue Jays in their first year as a varsity program.
Saint Joseph's of Maine will also look to take a leap forward this spring, as the Monks were bested at home by JWU in the GNAC Tournament Quarterfinals a year ago.
Norwich will open up the newest campaign at home against 2019 NCAA Tournament foe NEC on Wednesday, February 26. The Cadets will follow with two more home tilts against Curry and Plymouth State before traveling to USJ to open GNAC play on March 10.
As for the Lasers, they will look for its second GNAC title in a four-year span when they open up on the road at MIT on Feb. 26 prior to hosting Roger Williams and Plymouth State at home.
With eight teams qualifying for the postseason, the 2020 GNAC Tournament commences with quarterfinal action on Saturday, April 25, followed by the semis on Wednesday, Apr. 29, and the title game (at the highest remaining seed) on Saturday, May 2.
2020 GNAC MLAX Preseason Poll
1. Norwich (8) - 98
2. Lasell (2) - 92
3. Saint Joseph's Maine - 78
4. Johnson & Wales - 62
5. Anna Maria - 57
6. Emmanuel - 50
7. Rivier - 47
8. Albertus Magnus - 25
9. St. Joseph (CT) - 23
10. Regis - 18
The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 13 member institutions and over 3,000 student-athletes across the New England region. Founded in 1995, the GNAC annually sponsors and administers 22 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunity and community involvement in an effort to enhance the student-athlete experience.
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THANKS IN LARGE PART TO GNAC SPORTS INFORMATION OFFICE