WEST BABYLON, N.Y. – Four-time defending conference champion Mercy headlines the 2024 East Coast Conference Men’s Lacrosse Preseason Poll, as voted on by the league’s seven head coaches and announced on Wednesday afternoon. Mercy’s Justin Gerdvil (East Northport, N.Y.) was selected the ECC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year while Frostburg State’s Bubba Love (Westminster, Md.) earned ECC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year recognition.
Mercy, who begins the season ranked No. 9 in the Nike/USA Lacrosse Magazine Top 20 Media Preseason Poll and No. 12 in both the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA)/Blatant Lacrosse Top 20 Coaches Preseason Poll and Inside Lacrosse (IL) Top 25 Media Preseason Poll, took five of seven first-place votes to top the poll with 47 points. The Mavericks have appeared in five of the last six ECC Championship finals and have won four straight ECC Championship crowns. Mercy has also earned the last four consecutive ECC Regular-Season Championships and have won 29 straight games against ECC competition, with the last loss coming in the 2018 ECC Championship. The Mavericks made the NCAA Championship for the fourth consecutive season last spring and returns six All-Conference players in Gerdvil (1st), face-off specialist Jason Kuehner (1st), attackman TJ Heyder (2nd), midfielder Andrew Calabria (2nd), and short stick defensive midfielders Tyler Pjatak (1st) and Damiano Ferrara (2nd).
The back-to-back ECC Defensive Player of the Year, Gerdvil finished the 2023 season as the ECC leader in caused turnovers per game with 2.41 (41 total), which ranked eighth nationally. Gerdvil also ranked fourth in the ECC in ground balls per game with 4.47 (76 total) to go with two goals and two assists. The Mercy defensive standout had one goal, two ground balls, and three caused turnovers to lead Mercy in the ECC Championship semifinals last spring and went on to be named a USILA First Team All-American and USA Lacrosse Magazine First Team All-American.
The runner-up in the last two ECC Championships, Frostburg State comes in No. 2 in the preseason poll with 42 points and two first-place votes. The Bobcats, who begin the year ranked No. 16 in both the IL Top 25 Media Preseason Poll and Nike/USA Lacrosse Magazine Top 20 Media Preseason Poll and No. 17 in the USILA/Blatant Lacrosse Top 20 Coaches Preseason Poll, return three All-Conference selections in Love (2nd), midfielder Owen McCallum (1st) and defenseman Luke McCullough (1st) as well as 2022 ECC Rookie of the Year Seamus Kearney.
A three-time All-ECC Second Team selection and the 2021 ECC Rookie of the Year, Love ranked in the ECC’s top ten in points per game (4.22), goals per game (2.28), and assists per game (1.94) last spring. In 18 games for the Bobcats, the Frostburg State graduate student scored 41 goals and dished out 35 assists, the latter of which tied for second most in a single season at FSU. Love went off for 11 points in the ECC postseason, with three goals and five assists in Frostburg State’s semifinal win over Roberts Wesleyan and a hat trick in the title game against Mercy.
Separated by one point, Roberts Wesleyan (33 points) and Molloy (32 points) come in at No. 3 and No. 4, respectively. The Redhawks, who are receiving votes in the USILA/Blatant Lacrosse Top 20 Coaches Preseason Poll, have reached the ECC Championship in each of the last four seasons and return All-Conference First Team midfielder Jordon Deats while Molloy has appeared in the ECC Championship four times in the last five seasons and return 2023 Rookie of the Year long stick midfielder Thomas Kofod (2nd) alongside fellow All-Conference Second Team selections in attackman Chris Delaney and goalkeeper Christian Michaels.
St. Thomas Aquinas (19 points), D’Youville (14 points), and District of Columbia (9 points) round out the poll in spots No. 5 through No. 7, respectively.
2024 ECC Men's Lacrosse Preseason Poll
1. Mercy
47 points (5 first-place votes)
14-4 (6-0 ECC) in 2023
2. Frostburg State
42 points (2 first-place votes)
13-5 (4-2 ECC) in 2023
3. Roberts Wesleyan
33 points
9-5 (4-2 ECC) in 2023
4. Molloy
32 points
9-9 (4-2 ECC) in 2023
5. St. Thomas Aquinas
19 points
6-7 (2-4 ECC) in 2023
6. D'Youville
14 points
4-11 (1-5 ECC) in 2023
7. District of Columbia
9 points
0-10 (0-6 ECC) in 2023
Preseason Offensive Player of the Year
Bubba Love, Gr., A., Frostburg State
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year
Justin Gerdvil, Gr., D, Mercy
Season Openers
Saturday, February 10
D’Youville vs. Post, 12:00 PM
Molloy vs. Seton Hill (Pa.), 12:00 PM
St. Thomas Aquinas at Chowan, 12:00 PM
Roberts Wesleyan at Dominican, 1:00 PM
Wednesday, February 14
Mercy vs. Saint Rose, 1:00 PM
Saturday, February 17
District of Columbia at Virginia State, 5:00 PM
Sunday, February 18
Frostburg State vs. Saint Michael’s, 12:00 PM