2021 Men's Lacrosse Preview
Video Preview
2021 Schedule
2021 Roster
2020 Statistics
Patchogue, NY| Following an abbreviated 2020 campaign, the St. Joseph's College (L.I.) men's lacrosse team returns to the field for the 2021 season this Saturday, March 27.
Leading the program for the fifth-straight season is Tom Rotanz, the accomplished former Shoreham-Wading River high school boys lacrosse team coach from 1995 to 2013.
SJC went 1-3 in four contests last season after qualifying for the Skyline Conference playoffs for the first time in 2019. Fourth-seeded SJC was defeated by top-seed and eventual champion Maritime that season.
The Returners: Rotanz returns 18 players to a squad of 21. Headlining the returners is senior Vincent Raccuglia, who is expected to lead the Golden Eagles' backline alongside junior Jared Racioppo and senior Alex Felice.
Junior Andrew Brust returns in goal. The Shirley, NY native boasts a career .575 save percentage and 9.70 goals-against average in 19 appearances for the Golden Eagles.
In attack, Rotanz will lean on junior Tim McCann, who scored 22 goals and 25 points in 15 games as a freshman in 2019. Junior Robert Lopez, who scored four points in four games in 2020, will supplement the attack.
Returning in midfield are juniors Brian Hunter and Matt Trautman, the latter of which has scored 12 goals and collected 23 ground balls in 19 collegiate appearances.
The Newcomers: Two new faces join the SJC ranks, including sophomore transfer Brett O'Brien, who made two appearances at SUNY Cortland in 2019 and will slot into the SJC defense.
Freshman keeper Connor Van Dusen and freshman midfielder Shawn Castro are set to make their collegiate debuts this season.
Expectations: Coach Rotanz admits an abbreviated preseason and long layoff will create new challenges this season, but as is always the case, he expects his team to qualify for Skyline Conference playoffs for the second time since 2019.
SJC opens the season this Saturday, March 27, when they visit the College of Mount St. Vincent for a Skyline Conference contest at 1:00 pm. Live video and stats for the contest will be available at sjcgoldeneagles.com.
