FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
By William Howard, SFU Lacrosse Media Relations
Simon Fraser University Lacrosse

BURNABY, BC (January, 16, 2007) – The Simon Fraser men’s lacrosse team is ranked No. 24 in the 2008 Lax World MCLA Division I Preseason Top 25 Poll, which was released today by CollegeLAX.us. The Clan return seven of their top ten scorers and one starting close defense from last year’s team that finished second in the PNCLL and whose only two losses were to the MCLA National Championship runners up University of Oregon Ducks.

The Clan’s 2008 roster will be bolstered by the addition of 10 freshman including three players who were invited to the final try-out camp for Canada’s U19 National Team, defender Curt Brown (Lantzville, BC / Dover Bay Secondary), long stick midfielder Nathan Clare (Ladner, BC / Vancouver College), and midfielder Matt Miyashita (Richmond, BC / Hugh Boyd Secondary). Simon Fraser’s 2008 recruiting class also features four players from British Columbia’s U19 Provincial Selects team, midfielder Nick Bertoia (Coquitlam, BC / Centennial Secondary), Curt Brown, Nathan Clare, and highly touted goaltender Dean Stewart (Duncan, BC / Claremont Secondary) and one player from SFU’s elite development program, the Burnaby Mountain Selects, attackman Chris Tessarolo (New Westminster, BC / New Westminster Secondary).

Co-Head Coaches Brent Hoskins & Jeff Cathrea, whose team went 9-2 last season, will look to take advantage of a strong out-of-conference schedule in 2008 to lead the Clan back into MCLA National Championship contention. Six opponents on the Clan’s 2008 schedule are ranked among the MCLA Top 25, including four ranked in the top fifteen and two ranked in the top five. The fourteen opponents on Simon Fraser’s 2008 schedule combined to post a 121-63 (.658) record in 2007 and seven opponents won 10 or more games.

The Clan will take on six ranked teams in 2008 visiting No. 1 Brigham Young University (February 23), No. 11 Lindenwood University (March 7), No. 14 Sonoma State University (March 22), No. 17 Texas A&M (March 8 @ Lindenwood) No. 18 University of Illinois (March 9 @ Lindenwood) and hosting No. 5 University of Oregon (April 5). The Clan will also visit the No. 1 ranked MCLA Division II team Westminster College (February 22) and host the 2007 MCLA Division II National Champions University of Montana (March 2).

Simon Fraser, who boasts four returning PNCLL 2007 All-Conference selections, will be led in 2008 by junior midfielder and 2006 MCLA All-American Honorable Mention Curtis Manning (Surrey, BC / Fraser Heights Secondary) and sophomore attackman Ben Towner (Port Coquitlam, BC / Terry Fox Secondary), who led the Clan with 36 goals and 10 assists for 46 points in 2007.

2008 Lax World MCLA Division 1 Preseason Top 25 Poll
*2008 SFU Opponents in Bold*

Rank – School (2007 Record)
1. Brigham Young University (16-2)
2. Colorado State University (13-3)
3. University of California Santa Barbara (14-4)
4. University of Minnesota-Duluth (11-3)
5. University of Oregon (17-2)
6. Arizona State University (10-4)
7. Boston College (15-1)
8. University of Michigan (10-3)
9. University of Arizona (14-5)
10. Northeastern University (16-2)
11. Lindenwood University (9-5)
12. University of Colorado (13-5)
13. University of Georgia (10-2)
14. Sonoma State University (10-4)
15. Chapman University (8-7)
16. Florida State University (14-3)
17. Texas A&M (13-2)
18. University of Illinois (10-7)
19. University of Florida (12-3)
20. Virginia Tech University (10-4)
21. University of Utah (7-9)
22. Cal Poly SLO (10-6)
23. Michigan State University (9-3)
24. SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY (9-2)
25. University of Texas (12-6)

Simon Fraser University Men’s Lacrosse is entering its 12th season and competes in the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA). During the 2008 season, Co-Head Coaches Brent Hoskins & Jeff Cathrea (4th season) look to lead the Clan into the Pacific Northwest Collegiate Lacrosse League (PNCLL) Final Four Conference Championships for the 11th time in team history. The team has captured 6 Conference Titles (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2003) and has earned 7 National Championship appearances, placing 2nd in 1999. The Clan, proudly sponsored by Firstar Performance Apparel, Riddell Helmets and Gait Lacrosse, opens it 2008 season on February 9 at the University of Idaho and plays its first home game at Terry Fox Field on Sunday, March 2 vs. the University of Montana.

For more information on SFU Lacrosse please visit www.sfulacrosse.ca.

Contact: Brent Hoskins (604) 836-7748, bhoskins@alumni.sfu.ca

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 17th, 2008 at 2:52 am and is filed under MCLA News, PNCLL. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.