2023 CCC Men’s Lacrosse Pre-Season Poll
BIDDEFORD, Maine – Defending Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Men's Lacrosse Tournament Champion and perennial CCC title contender, Western New England, was picked atop the 2023 Preseason Coaches' Poll once again.
The Golden Bears earned 79 points and seven first place votes in the poll, which was completed last week by the league's nine men's lacrosse head coaches.
WNE had a perfect conference season last year, posting an 8-0 record and going 15-6 overall. It cruised its way to the title, defeating No. 6 seed Nichols and No. 2 seed Endicott on the way to re-capturing the conference crown. It was the 11th season in a row that WNE found itself in the conference championship game. In the NCAA Tournament, the Golden Bears received a bye to the second round and earned the league's first NCAA win since 2015, defeating Lynchburg, 14-10. However, the Golden Bears would fall in the third round to Union, 21-11.
The team that has consistently been challenging WNE for the league title, Endicott, landed second in this year's voting with 74 points and the remaining two first place votes. The Gulls have competed for the CCC Tournament Championship nine years in a row and will be trying regain league supremacy following a 7-1 CCC (10-6 overall) season in 2022.
Rhode Island rivals Salve Regina and Roger Williams landed in third and fourth in the poll, respectively. The Seahawks earned 58 points, while the Hawks received 56. Rounding out the top-five was Wentworth with 42 points in the poll.
The lower half of the poll consisted of 2022 CCC Semifinalist Nichols at sixth (41 points), Curry and the University of New England tied at seventh (21), and the Gordon rounding out the voting with 13 points.
CCC men's lacrosse teams hit the field this weekend with five teams beginning the non-conference schedules on Saturday, Feb. 18. These games will serve as tune ups before CCC play begins on Saturday, March 18. The conference schedule is a single round-robin format with each team playing every conference opponent once to complete a nine-game schedule.
The top seven teams in the conference standings at the end of the regular season will qualify for the 2023 CCC Men's Lacrosse Championship Tournament. The tournament will open on Saturday, April 29 with the quarterfinal round. The quarterfinal winners will advance to the CCC Semifinals on Wednesday, May 3. The semifinal winners will then compete for the CCC Tournament Championship on Saturday, May 6 with the winner earning the conference's automatic qualifier into the 2023 NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Championship.
2023 CCC Men's Lacrosse Preseason Coaches' Poll
| Team | Points (First Place Votes) | |
| 1. | Western New England | 79 (7) |
| 2. | Endicott | 74 (2) |
| 3. | Salve Regina | 58 |
| 4. | Roger Williams | 56 |
| 5. | Wentworth | 42 |
| 6. | Nichols | 41 |
| T-7. | Curry | 21 |
| T-7. | University of New England | 21 |
| 9. | Gordon | 13 |
2023 CCC Men's Lacrosse Previews
Contributed by each school's sports information department.
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1. Western New England Western New England will look to continue its success from its 2022 season, after making it to the third round of the NCAA Tournament, for the upcoming 2023 season. 2022 CCC Coach of the Year, John Klepacki, will lead the 2023 season as head coach of the Golden Bears for his 22nd season. On the field, Mike Bannon (Edmond, Okla.) and Noah Rust (Windham, N.H.) will lead the offense for the Golden Bears, alongside Dylan Hanley (New Fairfield, Conn.) and Brian Madden (Brookfield, Conn.). On defense, senior Anthony Gamba (Oyster Bay, N.Y.) will anchor the back line for WNE. Carter Randall (Sammamish, Wash.) will return in goal, after a First Team All-CCC selection in 2022. Western New England opens its 2023 season on the road at Keene State on Tuesday, Feb. 21 at 4 p.m. The Golden Bears host their home opener against Coast Guard Saturday, Feb. 25 at 3 p.m. |
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2. Endicott The Gulls will look to claim their 11th CCC Championship behind five All-Conference returnees and the leadership of captains Domenic Masucci (Reading, Mass.) and Domenic Valera (Fitchburg, Mass.). Endicott's 2023 campaign begins at home on Saturday, Feb. 18 against Keene State. |
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3. Salve Regina Salve Regina comes into the 2023 season, looking to build on its 7-8 (5-3 CCC) season a year ago. It will do so under the leadership of head coach Patrick Cooney, who enters his 20th season at the helm. The Seahawks return four of their six All-Conference performers from a year ago. Included in that group is junior Max Beauchamp (Saunderstown, R.I.) who lead the team in points with 47. Also returning is Jack Naglieri (Westhampton Beach, N.Y.) who recorded 26 caused turnovers and 51 ground balls, finishing first and second in each category, respectively. Liam Cooney (Portsmouth, R.I.) is also back for another year in Newport after tying for the team lead in goals with 34 in 2022. The Seahawks' season gets underway on Saturday, Feb. 18 as they welcome UMass Boston at 1 p.m. to open the non-conference slate. Conference play begins on March 29 with a trip to Nichols at 7 p.m. |
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4. Roger Williams Kevin Gould takes over the reins of the Hawks for his first season in 2023. Roger Williams finished the season with record of 9-11, with a 5-3 record within the CCC. The Hawks fought their way to the CCC Semifinals last season after earning the No. 4 seed in the CCC Tournament. Roger Williams brings in 12 freshman this season, along with six seniors and a graduate student. |
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5. Wentworth Returning two of its top five scorers from a season ago, the Wentworth Institute of Technology men's lacrosse team looks to make a run at a second straight Commonwealth Coast Conference Tournament berth after finishing last season 8-8 (4-4 CCC); its most wins since 2015. Junior attack Drew Bouley (Gloucester, Mass.) leads the way after leading the team with 20 assists and ranking second on the team with 40 points as a sophomore. Sophomore attack Erik Vogt (Warwick, N.Y.) looks to build upon a 25-point rookie campaign, which ranked him fifth among his teammates. Five seniors also return for the Black & Gold in midfielder Mason Gorman (Hanson, Mass.) who scooped up 18 ground balls as a sophomore, attack Liam Carroll (Brookfield, Conn.), who had eight points and 14 ground balls as a sophomore, defenseman Tyler Hearn (Holden, Mass.), who had 23 ground balls and six caused turnovers as a sophomore, midfielder Matt Kleckowski (Manchester Center, Vt.), who had 19 ground balls in 2021, and Jack Wishart (Reading, Mass.) who adds depth to the midfield position. |
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6. Nichols Following a semifinal round exit in last season's CCC Tournament, the Bison look to keep trending in an upward direction with first-year head coach Shayne Lynch now at the helm. Lynch is poised to lead the Nichols bench after most recently serving as the Associate Head Coach at Holy Cross for the past four seasons. Lynch will look to his core of returners, including his top point scorer in attackman Cian Keohane (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.), who returns for a fifth year after scoring 52 goals with 11 assists for 63 points a season ago. Also re-joining Keohane at attack are classmate Hunter Ferreira (Mansfield, Mass.) (54 points in 2022) and junior Colby Gillis (Northborough, Mass.) (56 points in 2022). On defense, junior Kyle Ettenhoffer (Winchester, Mass.) looks to improve on a 2022 season in which he caused 26 turnovers and scooped 50 ground balls. Ryan Warner (Grafton, Mass.), a senior out of Grafton, Mass., led the team with 63 ground balls in 2022. At goalkeeper, Brady Morgan (Framingham, Mass.) saw time in all 19 games last season, making 16 starts for the Bison. The sophomore made 196 saves to post a .531 save percentage, posting an 8-8 record. The Bison kick off their campaign on Saturday, Feb. 18 in a home matchup against Emerson at 1 p.m. |
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T-7. Curry Head coach John Carroll will look to return the Colonels to the postseason in his first year as head coach of the Curry men's lacrosse program. He will seek contributions offensively from sophomore Brody Dalzell (Wrentham, Mass.), junior Connor Bryant (Methuen, Mass.), and senior Nick Perfetuo (Norwell, Mass.), who ranked second, third, and fourth on the Colonels with 18, 14, and 13 goals respectively last season. Defensive midfielder Anthony Lewis (Middletown, R.I.) returns to the Colonel sideline for his junior season this year after ranking second on the team with 72 ground balls and 19 caused turnovers. Between the pipes, Curry will rely on junior goalkeeper Evan Falandys (Leominster, Mass.), who went 5-8 last year with a 10.37 goals against average and 57.5 save percentage. |
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T-7. University of New England The University of New England and 11th-year head coach Charlie Burch return the team's second-through-sixth top goal scorers from 2022, as well as the leading statistical midfielders and defenders. Among those with significant experience from a year ago are senior midfield Ryan Hazard (Milford, Mass.), senior midfield Colin Watt (Somers, Conn.), senior defender Cole Ventimiglia (Eastham, Mass.), senior long-stick midfielder Will Szumita (Wayne, N.J.), senior long-stick midfielder Todd Cravedi (Simsbury, Conn.), junior attack Andrew Lawrence (North Yarmouth, Maine), junior midfield Jordan White (Racho Palso Verdes, Calif.), junior attack Sam McGregor (Dedham, Mass.), and sophomore face-off Ben Gowell (Plymouth, Mass.). Hazard, along with senior short-stick defensive midfielder Colin Gleason (Chelmsford, Mass.) and senior goalkeeper Alex Thoms (Lake Forest, Ill.), will serve as the Nor'easter captains. |
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9. Gordon The Fighting Scots look to combine a mix of veterans as well as a large incoming class this season. Gordon will rely on Marco Fernandez (Fishkill, N.Y.) to spearhead the Scots' offensive drive as well as keeper Colin Liscomb (Woodstock, Conn.) to barricade the net. The Fighting Scots' 2022 second-leading scorer, Fernandez, will return to the turf for his junior season after earning a total of 27 goals for his squad as well as four assists. In goal, the Scots will rely on underclassman Liscomb who returns for his second season in the CCC after 745:15 minutes of experience in the 2022 season while rounding up 247 saves to earn a save percentage of .580. The Fighting Scots commence their 2023 season in Norton, Mass. on Wednesday, Feb. 22 when they face the Wheaton Lyons at 7 p.m. |
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Drew Bouley, WIT
