Falcon Lacrosse Projected to Win ASUN in Preseason Poll
1/19/2022 2:47:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
ATLANTA, Ga. – The ASUN Conference office has announced its 2022 Men's Lacrosse Preseason All-Conference awards Wednesday as voted on by the league's six head coaches. Air Force and Utah are expected to battle for the ASUN crown after both programs tied with 31 overall votes in the Preseason Coaches Poll.
The Falcons received three first-place nods while the Utes pulled in two and Robert Morris collected the final tally in the third position in the poll. Bellarmine is projected to finish in fourth place while Detroit Mercy and Cleveland State round out the rankings.
Robert Morris' Corson Kealey was selected as the ASUN Preseason Player of the Year, while the rest of the preseason superlatives were awarded to Jon Robbins of Bellarmine (Unanimous Preseason Defensive Player of the Year) and Robert Morris' Jake Boudreau (Preseason Midfielder of the Year).
2022 ASUN Men's Lacrosse Preseason All-Conference Team Goalie *JC Higginbotham, Bellarmine: Higginbotham made 12 starts in 13 appearances for the Knights in 2021 and logged over 700 minutes in goal. He also carried a 10.58 goals-against average and a .523 save percentage while amassing 145 saves. Defenders *Jon Robbins, Bellarmine: Robbins returns for the Knights as a First Team All-Conference member from a season ago. The newly Unanimous Preseason Defensive Player of the Year was ranked first on the team in caused turnovers (35) and second in ground balls (39). Quentin Carlile, Air Force: Carlile played and started in all 13 games during the 2021 campaign for the Falcons and was a force on the defensive end after collecting 29 ground balls and forcing 23 opponent miscues. Owen Down, Robert Morris: Down started all 13 contests and led the team in caused turnovers (14) while adding 22 ground balls. He also registered a season-best three caused turnovers and a ground ball at No. 8 Notre Dame on Feb. 27, 2021. Samuel Cambere, Utah: Cambere played in 11 games last year and started two contests while recording six points (2 goals, 4 assists). He finished first on the team with 14 caused turnovers and second on the squad with 52 ground balls.
Midfielders *Jake Boudreau, Robert Morris: Boudreau will head into the new schedule as the Preseason Midfielder of the Year after leading the Colonials in ground balls (58), ranking third in assists (14) and points (28) and fifth in goals (14) and caused turnovers (10). Brenden Crouse, Air Force: The senior from Eldersburg, Md., is back for another season after earning 11 starts in 13 games played a season ago. Crouse netted 14 goals and dished out nine assists while totaling a .448 shots-on-goal percentage. Benny O'Rourk, Bellarmine: O'Rourk ranked second on the team last year in shots-on-goal (35) and third in points (20), goals (15) and shots (61). He was also tied for fifth in assists (five) and appeared in 14 games with 13 starts. Paul Manuszak, Detroit Mercy: Manuszak was the Long Stick Midfielder of the Year for the second-straight season in 2021 as he played in all seven games with four starts. He led the team with 36 ground balls and 13 caused turnovers with two goals and an assist. Attackers *Corson Kealey, Robert Morris: The Preseason Player of the Year is coming off a campaign where he finished third on the team in goals (21) and fourth in points (26) in just seven starts. Kealey registered four hat tricks and six multi-goal performances. Brett Erskine, Detroit Mercy: Erskine led the Titans in overall points (25), goals (17) and assists (8) while picking up 15 ground balls and causing five turnovers last year. He ended with a .648 shots-on-goal percentage and was First Team All-Conference in 2021. Tyler Bradbury, Utah: Bradbury returns for the Utes after starting all 11 games a season ago. The Oak Park, Calif., native led the team in points (39) and assists (25) while scoring 14 goals last year – which ranked second on the team. 2022 ASUN Men's Lacrosse Preseason All-Conference Team
| Pos. | Name | School | Cl. | Hometown | Academic Major | ||
| GK | JC Higginbotham* | Bellarmine | Jr. | Plano, Texas | Finance | ||
| D | Jon Robbins* | Bellarmine | Gr. | Plano, Texas | Business Administration | ||
| D | Quentin Carlile | Air Force | Sr. | Indianapolis, Ind. | Management | ||
| D | Owen Down | Robert Morris | Sr. | Scarborough, Ontario | Sports Management | ||
| D | Samuel Cambere | Utah | Jr. | Flower Mound, Texas | Criminology | ||
| MF | Jake Boudreau* | Robert Morris | Gr. | Brampton, Ontario | Marketing | ||
| MF | Brenden Crouse | Air Force | Sr. | Eldersburg, Md. | Operations Research | ||
| MF | Benny O'Rourk | Bellarmine | Jr. | Hilton Head Island, S.C. | Business Administration | ||
| MF | Paul Manuszak | Detroit Mercy | Gr. | Sterling Heights, Mich. | Engineering | ||
| A | Corson Kealey* | Robert Morris | Gr. | Ottawa, Ontario | Psychology | ||
| A | Brett Erskine | Detroit Mercy | Gr. | St. Catharines, Ontario | Business | ||
| A | Tyler Bradbury | Utah | So. | Oak Park, Calif. | Business Administration |
* - Unanimous selection to the Preseason Team 2022 ASUN Men's Lacrosse Preseason Coaches Poll
| Pl. | Team (1st-Place Votes) | Points | ||
| 1. | Air Force (3) | 31 | ||
| 1. | Utah (2) | 31 | ||
| 3. | Robert Morris (1) | 22 | ||
| 4. | Bellarmine | 17 | ||
| 5. | Detroit Mercy | 13 | ||
| 6. | Cleveland State | 11 |
The ASUN also took to social media to poll the fans for the conference preseason superlative awards. Cleveland State's Jason Sullivan was named the Fan-Voted Preseason Player of the Year. Additionally, Owen Down of Robert Morris earned the Fan-Voted Preseason Defensive Player of the Year honor and Cleveland State's Nick Polydoras won the Fan-Voted Preseason Midfielder of the Year accolade.
ASUN Conference, Atlanta, Ga. – the only DI conference headquartered in the ATL, our footprint's primary media, sports, business, transportation and cultural hub The ASUN, a Division I conference member of the NCAA, boasts a membership of institutions that share visionary leadership, bold ambition and creative innovation. As a nimble adaptive conference, unafraid to blaze a national pathway for better service to our student-athletes, teams, and institutions, the ASUN has a proud history of firsts, national academic and athletic achievements and a conference culture that walks the walk with its four ASUN Beams. Students First! Rise. Connect. Impact. #ASUNBuilt by Bellarmine (Louisville), Central Arkansas (Conway), Eastern Kentucky (Richmond), FGCU (Fort Myers), Jacksonville (Fla.), Jacksonville State (Jacksonville, Ala.), Kennesaw State (Ga.), Liberty (Lynchburg, Va.), Lipscomb (Nashville), North Alabama (Florence), North Florida (Jacksonville, Fla.), and Stetson (DeLand, Fla.). Austin Peay, based in Clarksville, Tenn., is set to join the league in the 2022-23 academic year.
