Men’s Lacrosse to start 2013 season

By Raymond Gurbisz

Coming off a solid 12-6 record in the 2011-2012 season, the Kean University Men’s lacrosse team will
look to start hot in their season opener on Feb. 23.

The Cougars’ first game will come on the road against a tough Adrian College team, who finished their
year 17-2, outscoring their opponents by an average of almost seven goals per game.

For the Cougar squad to start strong, the team will need their hot hands from last year to perform.
Fortunately for the team, both of their leading players in points from last season are returning.

Junior attacker Richard Cheifitz led the team in all major categories last season. Cheifitz finished the
season with 40 goals, 21 assists, 142 shots and 61 overall points. The 40 goals scored for the 6-Foot-1
junior was 15 more than anyone else on the roster.

The Cougars’ second leading scorer was junior midfielder John Marcelli. Marcelli tallied an impressive
25-goal season to go along with his 32 overall points.

If the team wants to do well, keeping up the good play on home turf will also be a must. Last season
the Cougars did a good job of winning at home. The squad was 8-2 overall when playing home games.
On the road, they were just 4-2, while also 0-2 at neutral locations. This season the Cougars will get
another chance to perform well at home, having nine of their 16 games played at Kean.

Another area in which the Cougars excelled last season was in conference play. They finished with a
5-1 record within the conference, a statistic that the team surely will like to see continue in upcoming
games.

Nothing will make a bolder statement for the team than beating a sure favorite in Adrian College for
the season opener. It will be interesting to see if the Cougars will be able to take the first game of the
season as an underdog and carry some momentum into the first few games of the new year.

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