3 Burning Questions for 2025
12/19/2024 10:11 AM
Maryland, Virginia and Notre Dame have critical vacancies to fill.
1. Who will be the goalie for Notre Dame?
Liam Entenmann leaves a cavernous vacancy in the crease after starting in 62 games. The lanky righty led the Irish to the 2024 NCAA National Championship title, becoming the first program in a decade to win back-to-back titles. The PLL Atlas rookie finished his senior season with a record of 16-1 while making 195 saves and allowing 147 goals for a save percentage of .570.
It's a positional battle between lefty Alex Zepf and Thomas Ricciardelli.
Zepf (Chaminade) 5-11 and 205 pounds, now a senior, made six appearances in 2024 with six total saves in mop up duty.
Ricciardelli, a 5-11 Junior from Taft, was a five star recruit and UA All-American. He has not been in the fire, playing for just six minutes in 2024 making one save.
Both have splinters from the pine to remove. They are diametrically opposed goalies in style. "Rico" steals goals and is exceptional in the clearing game. Zepf is a steady eddy, unwavering presence- never too high or low.
This will be fascinating to follow in February and March.
2. What will Virginia's attack look like?
Connor Shellenberger and Payton Cormier exhausted their eligibility.
Along the way Shelly guided Virginia to the 2021 NcAA championship and was crowned MVP. His consistent excellence is unlike anything we've seen in C-Ville. He's the only four-time USILA First Team All-American (2021-24) in Cav history and the programs all-time points leader.
Cormier concluded his college career as the NCAA Division I career goals record holder (224) and set UVA's single-season goals record with 65 in 2024.
Good luck replacing those two.
Sophomore McCabe Millon is a lock starter. The highly recruited son of two Hall of Famers (Erin & Mark) finished his rookie season with 66 points (41g, 25a), The versatile righty led all Division I freshmen in total goals and points. Shellenberger and Cormier drew significant attention, so his coverage dynamic will differ. .
The remaining candidates are Thomas Mencke, Ryan Colsey, and Truitt Sunderland have been auditioning for rolls.
Colsey (6-3 200) has impressed coach Lars Tiffany. ""Is there anyone more ALL-IN than Ryan on his personal growth as a trusted teammate and lacrosse player? Few sacrifice time with family and financial opportunities to head north of the border for the summer to play Junior A box lacrosse: Ryan helped the Adanacs win a Minto Cup." Colsey (23 points in 2024) is an excellent long range shooter.
Sunderland is a junior from Calvert Hall erroneously listed at 5-11 160. Time in the weight room has elevated his strength. He was (9,8) as a freshman and was the #4 recruit in the country. His inside finishing can be elite.
Thomas Mencke is a 6-0 senior from Dallas is a hard nosed dodger who has (7,2) in 28 career games. He is tough, determined and passionate with an eye on finishing his career as a major contributor.
Cavs scrimmage on Jan 25 in Annapolis — Navy & Marquette and Feb 1 in Charlottesville — Drexel/W&L
They Open at home against Colgate on Feb 8.
3. Who's going to face-off for Maryland?
Luke Weirman took his dominance to the PLL. The FOGO ended up his career first on Maryland’s all-time faceoff list with 881 wins, ranking 10th all-time in NCAA history. Weirman scooped up nearly 500 ground balls and had 16 goals and 16 assists in 62 games. He was a catalyst and a weapon, a real game changer at the FOGO spot.
Here's a look at the current Hog Pen.
Shea Keethler- Sr. 5-10 200 Ohio
Keether subbed from Weirman and a did solid job against Brown last spring. He fits the mold – strong, competitive and tough as nails and learned a lot from Luke. He made 7 appearances and went 16 of 26 at the dot in 2024.
Terp coach John Tillman told me, "We all have a lot of confidence in Shea."
Sean Creter Soph 5-11 185 NJ
UA AA two years ago and 2X NJ Midfielder of the year with lots of upside. He only made 3 apps in 2024 winning 3 of 12 draws. Tillman points out that Creter is "Very good with the ball, skilled and played EMO in high school."
Mitch Lloyd Junior 5-11 190 NJ
Athletic midfielder from St Joes Prep. Coach Tillman adds, "Played offense in high school. Very bright. Thinking about med school." So was I for a brief stint.
Jonah Carrier freshman 6-1 166 NY
Tillman noted that "Jonah was a bright spot this fall. He Impressed everyone with his maturity and poise." Section V offensive player of the year at Irondequoit HS. He has above par skills, awareness and instincts.
Assistant coach Tim O'Branski works with the Hog Pen of face-off athletes and has a strong track record. He will need to do his best work, finding production after Weirman went 63% with 10 points in 2024.
Maryland scrimmages Duke and Georgetown during the 2025 pre-season and that's where the job will initially be won or lost.
"You are trying to get everyone a chance but FOGO's need to get a certain number of reps in a row to get rhythm. We will see if they can adjust to strategies," explained Tillman. "Face-off guys get used to the same opponents and same whistles cadence in practice – so we wanted as many opportunities to change things up."
Looks like Maryland has put an emphasis on the lacrosse portion of the FOGO role as three of the four candidates played offense in high school.
"We try to track as much data as possible when we are going live. Towards the end of fall we scrimmaged a lot to get them more situational awareness," he explained. "But we also realize it's a long year so we try to balance reps and the inevitable wear and tear from the year. So it's a balance. These guys always seem to want more but when things like wrists, backs and shoulders get sore you have to be careful."
Those are three gigantic question marks for Virginia, Maryland and Notre Dame as we enter 2025.
Quint Kessenich covers college sports for the ESPN family of networks. He will be in State College, PA on Saturday working the CFP first round game between SMU and Penn State on TNT at noon.
