UMass Tabbed to Repeat as CAA Men's Lacrosse Champion

1/31/2019 11:00:00 AM

RICHMOND, Va. (January 31, 2019) – The University of Massachusetts was picked to win the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) men’s lacrosse title in a vote of the league’s six head coaches. UMass collected the 2018 CAA regular-season and tournament championship for the first time since 2012. Minuteman senior defender Isaac Paparo and Towson senior midfielder Zach Goodrich were selected as the CAA Preseason co-Players of the Year.

UMass was a unanimous selection atop the poll, earning all five first-place votes for which it was eligible (coaches are not allowed to vote for their own team nor student-athletes) to finish with 25 points. Towson earned the sixth first-place tally, taking second in the poll with 21 points. Delaware and Hofstra, which each qualified for the 2018 CAA Championship, tied for third in the poll with 14 points each. Drexel was three points behind the pair with 11 points to take fifth, while Fairfield was sixth in the poll.

UMass went 12-5 overall and 5-0 in CAA play to earn its first conference title and NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championship bid for the first time since 2012, where the Minutemen fell to eventual national champion Yale, 15-13, in the first round. Paparo was named the 2018 CAA Player of the Year after a junior campaign in which he caused at least one turnover in 15-of-17 games, finishing with 25 turnovers forced (1.47/g). Paparo was tops in the CAA among non-faceoff specialists in ground balls per game (2.59), collecting 44 on the season. Paparo also finished with five goals, including two in the NCAA Tournament, and eight assists to his credit.

Goodrich earned CAA Defensive Player of the Year accolades in his junior year. The defensive midfielder tied his career-best, causing 19 turnovers. A First Team All-CAA selection in 2017 and 2018, Goodrich was a Tewaarton Trophy semifinalist in 2018. Goodrich joined Paparo as USILA All-Americans, with Goodrich earning first team honors and Paparo taking honorable mention accolades.

Joining Paparo on the Preseason All-CAA Team were teammates Chris Connolly, Jeff Trainor and Sean Sconone. Connolly was tabbed the 2018 CAA Rookie of the Year after a 50-point campaign, the most by a UMass freshman since 1974. Connolly tallied 25 goals and 25 assists, recording three hat tricks on the year, including one in the CAA Championship game. Trainor earned an All-CAA First Team nod as a sophomore, also recording 50 points (28g, 22a), ranking as the highest-scoring midfielder in the CAA. Sconone was tabbed the CAA Championship Most Outstanding Player after allowing 7.0 goals per match in the tournament. As a junior, Sconone posted a 9.68 goals-against average and a .590 save percentage on the season.

Goodrich was joined by two Towson teammates on the preseason team – Koby Smith and Alex Woodall. Smith, a long-stick mid, was a Second Team All-CAA and All-Rookie Team selection in his freshman year, appearing in all 15 games and causing 13 turnovers. Woodall was chosen to the team as a face-off specialist, where he had a .609 (168-of-276) winning percentage on face-offs in 2018. The senior was a two-time CAA Player of the Week honoree in 2018.

Delaware took third in the CAA last season and placed two players onto the preseason team, Charlie Kitchen and Austin Haynes. In attack, Kitchen was a First Team All-CAA pick as a sophomore, scoring 37 goals to lead the CAA. Kitchen tallied five hat tricks on the year, including a five-goal effort in two matches. On the opposite end of the field, Haynes keyed Delaware’s defense, earning First Team All-CAA honors in 2018. Haynes forced a team-best 26 turnovers while collecting 35 ground balls.

Hofstra, the No. 4 seed in the 2018 championship, is represented by Ryan Tierney on the preseason team. Tierney was a two-time CAA Player of the Week and an All-CAA First Team selection from his attack position. Tierney led the Pride in goals (27), assists (22) and points (49).

Drexel had three players voted onto the preseason team, Matthew Varian, Marshal King and Matt Klinges. As a sophomore, Varian was an All-CAA Second Team pick, leading the conference in points per game with 3.77. Varian finished the 2018 campaign with 49 points (28g, 21a) in 13 games. King was also an All-CAA Second Team selection in 2018, finishing second to Varian on the team with 11 assists. King added 18 goals to finish with 29 points on the year. In defense, Klinges appeared in all 13 games for the Dragons, ranking third on the team with 20 ground balls. From his defensive position, Klinges caused five turnovers.

Fairfield went 4-11 overall and 1-4 in CAA action in 2018. The Stags will turn to Colin Burke to once again lead their attack after the senior had a team-best 40 points (17g, 23a) in 2018.

The men’s lacrosse season will begin on Saturday, Feb. 9, with four CAA squads in action. Delaware will head to Mount St. Mary’s for a noon match, while No. rv/rv Towson will host No. 7/7 Johns Hopkins, also at noon, with coverage on the Lax Sports Network. No. 18/-- UMass opens its campaign at home with a 1 p.m. ET match against No. rv/-- Army. The four-game slate concludes at 2:30 p.m. ET when No. --/rv Hofstra heads to No. 13/13 Lehigh.

The 2019 CAA Men's Lacrosse Championship is set for the first week in May and will be hosted by the No. 1 seed. Semifinal action begins on Thursday, May 2 followed by the title contest is slated for Saturday, May 4.

2019 CAA Preseason Honors

Team (1^st place votes)	Points
1. UMass (5)	25
2. Towson (1)	21
t3. Delaware	14
t3. Hofstra	14
5. Drexel	11
6. Fairfield	5

Preseason Co-Players of the Year: Zach Goodrich, Towson; Isaac Paparo, UMass

Preseason All-CAA Team
Player, Team	Position	Class	Hometown/High School (Last)
Charlie Kitchen, Delaware	Attack	Junior	Marlton, N.J./St. Augustine Prep
Ryan Tierney, Hofstra	Attack	Junior	Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa
Matthew Varian, Drexel	Attack	Junior	Island Park, N.Y./Long Beach
Chris Connolly, UMass	Attack	Sophomore	Glastonbury, Conn./Trinity-Pawling (N.Y.)
Zach Goodrich, Towson	Midfield	Senior	Stevensville, Md./Kent Island
Jeff Trainor, UMass	Midfield	Junior	Billerica, Mass./Billerica
Marshal King, Drexel	Midfield	Senior	Victoria, British Columbia/Claremont
Koby Smith, Towson	Long-Stick Mid	Sophomore	Lutherville, Md./Loyola Blakefield
Alex Woodall, Towson	Face Off Specialist	Senior	Annapolis, Md./St. Mary’s (High Point)
Isaac Paparo, UMass	Defense	Senior	Westport, Conn./Staples
Austin Haynes, Delaware	Defense	Senior	Moorestown, N.J./Moorestown
Matt Klinges, Drexel	Defense	Senior	Haverford, Pa./Malvern Prep
Sean Sconone, UMass	Goalkeeper	Senior	East Islip, N.Y./East Islip