SEASON PREVIEW: 2020 UD Men's Lacrosse Opens Saturday with Huntingdon College
MULTMEDIA COVERAGE
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THE LEAD VS. HUNTINGDON
The University of Dallas men's lacrosse team plays its 2020 home opener on Saturday, February 8, versus Huntingdon College (AL) at 1 p.m. The Crusaders will be at the friendly confines quite often this spring with nine of their 12 regular season contests in Irving. This includes a five-game home stand to kick off the spring slate. Dallas is coming off an 18-4 setback at TCU last Saturday.
SEASON PREVIEW
Head Coach Keith Loftis enters his second season leading the UD men's lacrosse program. He arrived nearly a year ago with not much time to transition in. Loftis guided the Crusaders to a 4-9 record and the third seed in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Tournament.
Dallas placed a quartet of players on the SCAC All-Conference Teams, which included returners Jake Frederick (Coppell, Texas), Bogar Trout III (Tecumseh, Mich.), and Austin Gibbons (St. Charles, Ill.). The trio each garnered a school record of some variety in 2019. Frederick is the individual season and career record holder for assists with 16 and 32, respectively. Gibbons notched a single-game record seven assists, and Trout III holds the all-time amount of caused turnovers with 50.
In addition, the team's offense has produced record breaking numbers the past two seasons for goals (144), assists (74), and points (218). Dallas only returns two scorers that reached double figures last season in Gibbons and Frederick.
ROSTER OUTLOOK
UD enters the new season with 17 players on the roster. This includes just six returners from last season's group. 11 freshmen are transitioning to collegiate lacrosse but continue working hard and trying to get better each day. Besides three returners listed above, Tommy Chadwick (Tampa, Fla.), Dan McCrorey (Reno, Nev.), and Hector Pinell-Sanchez (Manor, Texas) return for their junior seasons.
Making up the large freshmen class are: Luke Gerami (Santa Cruz, Calif.), Owen Gibbons (St. Charles, Ill.), Andrew Ferguson (Front Royal, Va.), Dominic Bowes (Alexandria, Va.), Javier Valenzuela (Irving, Texas), Kyle Goodwin (Philadelphia, Pa.), Sam Dixon (Hurst, Texas), Christian Mitchell (Shreveport, La.), John Reynolds (Fallbrook, Calif.), Michael White (Colleyville, Texas), and Ethan Mercer.
Gibbons and Reynolds do have older brothers that have been part of the men's lacrosse program with A. Gibbons and Chasen Reynolds.
Gibbons, Dixon, and White form a trio of goalkeepers that give Coach Loftis options for protecting the cage this spring after having just one last spring. It also allows Pinell-Sanchez to be utilized as a field player fulltime.
ABOUT HUNTINGDON
The Hawks produced a 12-7 record and perfect 7-0 mark in the USA South last season. Huntingdon was given a sixth-place vote in the preseason lacrosse poll with 25 points. Fourth and fifth place schools earned within six points of them.
The Hawks edged UD in Montgomery last season, 26-6. Dallas fell 10-5 two seasons ago in Irvng. Leading scorer from a season ago, Bryce Coates (37 goals) is not on this year's team. However, HC retained Zach Barnhill, who was a top contributor in assists with 33. He logged 49 points.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Huntingdon 2019 Season Stats
- All-time Series: UD is 0-6
ROAD AHEAD
Dallas is not back in action until the end of the month on the Leap Day with Hendrix College. The match is slated for 1 p.m.