Buccaneer Men’s Lacrosse Prepares for 2019 Season

Buccaneer Men’s Lacrosse Prepares for 2019 Season

BUZZARDS BAY, Mass – Last season, the Buccaneer men's lacrosse team finished 6-8 under first year head coach, Rick Bagby. The team's NEWMAC record was only 1-6, good for a seventh place conference finish ahead of Emerson. Coach Bagby's second year at the helm will be the program's final season in the NEWMAC before transitioning to the LEC in 2020.

The squad returns 29 players from 2018, including leading scorers senior captain Ted Powers (Marshfield, Mass) and junior Benjamin Avakian (Bourne, Mass) who each scored 18 goals last season. Powers also led the team in assists with 14. Seniors, attacker Powers, goalkeeper Michael Dolan (McLean, Va), defender Eli DiTullio (Marshfield, Mass), and midfielder Kenneth Parnell (Marshfield, Mass) will serve as the team's captains in 2019. Dolan started all 14 of the team's games in 2018 posting the 6-8 record and saving 49.8% of the 237 shots he faced. Parnell played an abbreviated season, making nine appearances for the Buccaneers, scoring six goals and adding five assists. Also returning for 2019 is face-off man Michael Sharry (Braintree, Mass). Last season, Sharry won 52.5% of the 259 face-offs he took and though face-off takers don't generally see much more time on the field, Sharry tallied two goals and four assists in 14 games.

Coach Bagby has brought in 13 freshman to join the 29 returners and replace the five seniors that left following 2018, round out the 43 man roster for the upcoming campaign.

The Buccaneers currently have 15 games on their 2019 schedule with seven at home and eight on the road. They will open their season at home on Saturday, March 9th against non-conference opponent, Maine Maritime at 11am.

The remainder of their non-conference slate includes match-ups with four future LEC opponents, Eastern Connecticut, Salem State, Southern Maine, and UMass-Dartmouth, and GNAC's Albertus Magnus, all of which are on the road. At home in non-conference action, the Bucs will face Norwich and Gordon.

The final NEWMAC schedule for the Buccaneers begins with a road game against Babson on March 30th to close out the month of March and first half of the season.

Maritime will open April with two games against Clark and MIT on the 3rd and the 6th. After their non-conference matchup with UMass-Dartmouth, the Bucs pick up conference play at home against Springfield on Saturday April 30th which is followed up by three road games including Coast Guard and Wheaton. The Team will return home on April 27th to finish their conference and regular season against Emerson.

Last season's six wins was the team's highest win total since 2015 when the team finished 6-10. Their one-win conference record has been the same since 2012. In 2011, the team did not win a game in conference and in 2009 the squad won three conference games. The 2019 Bucs are hopeful of finishing strong in the conference before transitioning to the LEC.

All times and dates for any scheduled game is subject to change due to weather. For more schedule information, Click HERE. For a look at the 2019 roster, Click HERE