2023 NCAA Lacrosse Rankings: No. 16 Boston University (Men)

The 2023 college lacrosse season is almost here. As is our annual tradition, we’re featuring every team ranked in the Nike/USA Lacrosse Preseason Top 20.

Check back to USALaxMagazine.com each weekday this month for new previews, scouting reports and rival analysis.

TOP RETURNERS

Vince D’Alto, A, Sr.

An honorable mention All-American and BU’s top scorer (45 goals, 30 assists), D’Alto worked to improve his ball distribution and decision-making in the offseason. “I wouldn’t be surprised if  he’s in the top 25 on the Tewaaraton list,” coach Ryan Polley said. “He might be our most improved player from when our season ended at Princeton (a 12-5 NCAA tournament first-round loss) to today. We’re expecting a huge year from Vince.”

Matt Garber, G, Gr.

Part of a seven-man graduate class, the Patriot League Goalie of the Year and honorable mention All-American goalie made 200 saves in 17 games, posting a 10.41 goal against average and a 53.6 save percentage. Third-year starter and first-team All-Patriot League defenseman Patrick Morrison anchors the unit in front of Garber.

Roy Meyer, LSM, Sr.

Just the second player in BU history to be named a first-team All-American, Meyer led the nation in caused turnovers (58). His stellar campaign included career highs of six caused turnovers and seven ground balls in the Terriers’ 14-10 win over Army in the Patriot League championship game, which sent them to the NCAA tournament for the first time in their nine-year history.

KEY ADDITIONS

Aden Johnson, D, Fr.

In addition to the seven graduate-year players, BU boasts a 14-member senior class, so there won’t be many opportunities for freshmen. Johnson comes with the Calvert Hall (Md.) pedigree, however, and showed enough in the fall that he could be the second or third pole.

Connor Kehm, D, Fr.

A two-time team captain at Don Boscoe Prep (N.J.), Kehm has length and range at 6-foot-3 and could also work into the defensive rotation. Morrison and Dane DeGoler are fixtures at close defense, but that third spot could be up for grabs.

Jimmy Kohr, A, Fr.

The Terriers are preparing Kohr, a USA Lacrosse All-American and top scorer at Central York (Pa.) High School, to take Timmy Ley’s position on attack next year. Ley is a fifth-year starter coming off a career year (43 goals, 31 assists), so BU will bring along Kohr slowly.

KEY DEPARTURES

Graduations: Will Carson, D

STORYLINES TO WATCH

BU’s disruptive force

Roy Meyer was far from a can’t-miss prospect. Most Division I coaches aren’t clamoring for a 5-foot-10, 170-pound long pole.

“Roy was very underrecruited. We might have been the only Division I offer. Definitely the only top-25 offer,” BU coach Ryan Polley said. “We’re not afraid to take chances on smaller guys or guys that are little less athletic. We really do value stickwork, especially on the defensive side. It’s something I learned at Yale. You could be successful with smaller guys who may not have the quickest feet, but they have great IQ, great savvy and a great stick. We’ve made history producing All-American and all-conference players out of guys that fit that mold.”

BU’s proud LSM lineage includes two players (Chase Levesque and Reece Eddy) that went pro. Meyer figures to join them. He was a first-team All-American and the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year last spring, leading the NCAA with 58 caused turnovers. He’s a menace.

“The way we play defense, he’s the perfect fit,” Polley said. “For a 10-man riding team that likes to slide, you couldn’t peg anybody better.”

Chemistry on attack

When Chris Gray bolted for North Carolina after the 2019 season, Polley privately wondered what else he could have done. Everything they talked about in recruiting Gray to BU had come true. He was the country’s top scorer and would have been the Patriot League Player of the Year and maybe even the Tewaaraton Award winner were it not for Pat Spencer.

But when one door closes, another opens. BU discovered a trio that was greater than the sum of its parts in Vince D’Alto, Timmy Ley and Louis Perfetto. They’ve started every game of their career together and combined for 214 points last year.

Their splits are even more impressive. D’Alto was 45-30, Ley was 45-31 and Perfetto was 30-35. They all can dodge. They all can feed. They all can score.

The sixth hand

After every goal, BU comes together for a “six hands” celebration. Every offensive player on the field gets a piece of the credit. It’s something assistant coach Mike Silipo brought with him from Ithaca, where he played and coached before joining the Terriers in 2017.

BU is set with its Big Three at attack. Jake Cates is back from ACL surgery to helm the midfield. And Tommy Borque came on strong at the end of last season, scoring the overtime winner in the Patriot League semifinal win over Lehigh, adding two goals in the championship game victory over Army and tallying a hat trick in the NCAA tournament loss to Princeton.

“I’m unclear on who I would pole,” Polley said.

But who’s the sixth hand?

Christian Quadrino, who started 16 games at midfield, is no longer with the team. That leaves Jett Dzaiama and Matt Baugher to fill the void. Or perhaps an option emerges from the backlog of attackmen waiting in the wings.

ENEMY LINES
WHAT RIVALS ARE SAYING ABOUT THE TAR HEELS

“They have everything back. Ryan and those guys have given those guys the confidence that’s impressive. You look at those guys on paper and on film, and they can’t run past you --- but they don’t need to. They just play with such a bravado that is contagious. You feel it from them, you feel it from their staff. As an opponent, it sucks because it makes you angry. But it’s impressive. I envy them for that, and they’ve made it work.”

BEYOND THE BASICS
POWERED BY LACROSSE REFERENCE

98.6%

EGA is my metric for overall player production. It's like WAR in baseball or PER in basketball. It takes all the good and bad things that a player does and puts it into a single number. And since it’s an all-in-one metric, it’s a good way to look at returning production. And for fans of the Terriers’, EGA paints a very rosy picture. Coach Polley’s crew returns 98.6% of their production from last year (as measured by EGA).

Lacrosse Reference Glossary