BEREA, Ohio -- The Baldwin Wallace University men's lacrosse team will compete in its first Ohio Athletic Conference season and has its sights set on winning the 2014 OAC title. Head Coach Jason Tarnow has a young team of mostly of freshmen and sophomores, but he and his staff have set high expectations for the program's second season of varsity competition.
BW opens the season on Saturday, March 1 when it hosts Alfred State (N.Y.) University in the second game of a men's and women's lacrosse doubleheader in The George Finnie Stadium at 4 p.m. The Yellow Jacket women play host to NAIA Lourdes University at 1 p.m.
Tarnow returns 12 lettermen and six starters from last season's 6-5 overall squad, including senior captains and midfielders Steve Humbert (Liberty Township/Lakota East), Tim Hamm (Baldwinsville N.Y.), Josh Pecinovsky (Columbus/Bishop Hartley) and Jake Opincar (Middleburg Heights/Padua Fransiscan). Senior goalie Ray Caraballo (Cleveland/St. Ignatius) also is expected to be a leader.
"This team is very young," said Tarnow. Ninety-percent of the team is freshman and sophomores. We know that we will continue to have growing pains, so our focus again will be on improving every day in practices and games. Regardless, everyone involved in this program, from the coaches to the players, have high standards."
Leading the way offensively are sophomores Andrew Madden (Lakewood/St. Edward) and Vinny Carson (Cleveland/Benedictine). Sophomore goalkeeper Jake Harders (Rocky River/St. Edward) looks to build off a strong freshman campaign.
Madden, who was second on the team with 21 goals last season, recorded five man-up scores, tied for third with 24 points, recorded a team-high .457 shot percentage, including a .500 shots-on-goal percentage, collected 19 ground balls, and caused one turnover. He also registered three assists on the season. Carson was one of only four players to start all 11 games for the Yellow Jackets during their inaugural season, and led the team with 21 assists and 39 points, and was third with 18 goals, including three man-up goals. He also was third on the team overall with 42 ground balls and caused four turnovers.
Harders played all but four of the team's 660 minutes in goal last season and allowed 9.34 goals-per-game, saved 49 percent of the shots he faced, and made 98 total saves, including 10 or more in five games.
Joining Madden, Carson and Harders as returning starters on offense are sophomores Mike Comiono (Brecksville/ Brecksville-Broadview Heights) and Steve Wozniak (Strongsville/Padua Franciscan). The returning defensive starters are junior Chris Nurse (Westlake) and senior Randy Grein (Hudson).
Comiono was third amongst defenders with 25 ground balls and led the team with 16 caused turnovers, while Wozniak netted three goals, collected 14 ground balls and caused two turnovers. Nurse snagged 31 ground balls and was second on the team with 15 caused turnovers, and Grein was second among defenders with 12 caused turnovers and 32 ground balls.
Tarnow has a bevy of freshman to help fill out the rest of his starting lineup as BW welcomes twenty-eight incoming freshmen to the team.
The Yellow Jackets will play four other home games during March. The first game is on March 10 versus Olivet (Mich.) followed by Bethany (W. Va.) on March 19, a game that was rescheduled from February 23. BW will then close the month with a game against LaRoche (Pa.) on March 30. The first OAC match is on the road on Saturday, April 12 versus Wilmington College at 1 p.m.
FOR MORE BW SPORTS INFORMATION, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327 and e-mail at kruple@bw.edu or Assistant SID Jeff Miller by phone at 440-826-2780 and email at jefmille@bw.edu. Fans can access the latest BW athletics information at www.bwyellowjackets.com and we invite you to join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bwyellowjackets and Twitter at http://twitter.com/bwathletics.
