COLONIA, NJ – Five-time defending conference champion Mercy headlines the 2025 East Coast Conference Men's Lacrosse Preseason Poll, as voted on by the league's seven head coaches and announced on Wednesday morning. Roberts Wesleyan senior attackman Gunner MacMillan (Henrietta, NY) was unanimously selected as the ECC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year and Frostburg State senior long stick midfielder Seamus Kearney (Mt. Airy, MD) was tabbed the ECC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year.
Mercy, who begins the season ranked No. 5 in the USA Lacrosse Magazine Top 20 Media Preseason Poll and No. 8 in the Inside Lacrosse (IL) Top 25 Media Preseason Poll, took five of seven first-place votes to top the poll with 46 points. The Mavericks have appeared in six of the last seven ECC Championship Tournament Finals and have won five straight. Mercy has also earned the last five consecutive ECC Regular Season Championships and has won 35 consecutive games against ECC competition, with the last loss coming in the 2018 ECC Championship Tournament Final. Under the direction of reigning ECC Coach of the Year Ryan MacSpadyen, the Mavericks led the ECC in 12 major statistical categories, including win percentage (87.5%), after going 14-2 overall (6-0) en route to their fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.
Mercy returns three All-ECC selections from a year ago, highlighted by last year's ECC Goalkeeper and Rookie of the Year Cameron Dorfman. Dorfman went 10-2 in goal in 2024 with 132 saves, a .569 save percentage and 8.86 goals-against average. With the graduation of All-American and three-time ECC Defensive Player of the Year Justin Gerdvil, close defenseman Owen Stephenson will co-anchor the defensive unit with Dorfman, as the All-ECC Second Team selection is coming off of a season in which he boasted 41 ground balls and 16 caused turnovers.
The Mavs graduate their top five point scorers from a season ago, including 50+ point contributors in All-Americans and All-ECC First Teamers Greg Gibbons (28G, 51) and Andrew Calabria (38G, 31) alongside TJ Heyder (44G, 14A) and Brody Caskenette (41G, 16A), but All-ECC First Team midfielder Devon Duchnowski (23G, 8A) and Ryan Smith (16G, 15A) are ready to step into starting leadership roles on Mercy's offensive unit in 2025.
Of note, the All-American unit of face-off specialist Jason Kuehner and short stick defensive midfielders Damiano Ferrera and Tyler Pjatak – who ranked second in the country in FO winning percentage at 68.5 percent – is gone. Ryan Resnick and Kenneth Summit are Mercy's returners at the X while Jake Norton, Christopher Bergersen, and AJ Barone will look to step up at the SSDM position.
The runner-up in the last three ECC Championship Tournament Finals, Frostburg State comes in No. 2 in the preseason poll with 39 points and one first-place vote. Coming off of a 13-4 regular season and 5-1 showing in ECC play, the Bobcats begin the year ranked No. 15 in both the IL and USA Lacrosse Magazine preseason rankings.
The Bobcats lose their four 50+ point contributors in reigning All-American and ECC Offensive Player of the Year Bubba Love (ECC-leading 84 points on 49G, 35A), All-American and All-ECC First Team midfielder Chase Buckwalter (49G, 18A), All-ECC Second Team attackman Austin Sipes (42G, 37A), and All-ECC Second Team midfielder Owen McCallum (40G, 17A), but Luke Roach (11G, 4A) and Henry Sykes (4G, 7A) will be among a group of talented offensive options to step up on the attack. Looking to lead the back line following the graduation of All-American and All-ECC First Team close defenseman Luke McCullough (43GB, 18CT) is All-ECC First Team long stick midfielder Kearney, who has been tabbed the ECC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year.
A United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association Honorable Mention All-American, Kearney went off for 46 ground balls and 31 caused turnovers in 2024, anchoring a Frostburg State defense that led the ECC in scoring defense, allowing just 9.41 goals per game (12th nationally). He also directed a back line that topped the ECC in both caused turnovers per game (11.29, 16th nationally), and clearing percentage, as the Bobcats put the ball back into their offensive third 85.9 percent of the time.
Also of note, face-off specialist Alex Walstrum also returns after turning in an All-ECC Second Team-worthy season last spring.
Separated by just two points, Roberts Wesleyan (35 points) and Molloy (33 points, one first-place vote) come in at No. 3 and No. 4, respectively.
Coming off of a 10-6 (4-2 ECC) season, Roberts Wesleyan is expected to make its sixth consecutive ECC Championship Tournament appearance this spring. RWU had a trio of 70+ point scorers last season in MacMillan (64G, 17A), Jordan Deats (38G, 36A), and Dan Doviak (47G, 24A), but returns only MacMillan from a group that accounted for 64 percent of the Redhawks' offensive production.
The ECC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, MacMillan topped the conference in goals per game (4.00, third nationally) and points per game (5.06, seventh nationally) last season, totaling 81 points on a conference-leading 64 goals with 17 assists. In regular season ECC play, MacMillan topped the competition with 30 goals and 4.29 goals per game, including a combined 15 goals in back-to-back competitions against District of Columbia (8) and St. Thomas Aquinas (7) and four apiece against D'Youville and Molloy.
RWU's other returning All-ECC First Team selection is close defenseman Brady Kustra, who ranked second in the conference with 32 ground balls and 2.00 caused turnovers per game to go with 44 ground balls. Kustra anchored RWU to a scoring defense of 10.94 goals allowed per game, which ranked third in the ECC and 25th nationally. Also of note, with the departure of Mercy's Kuehner, Isaac Marrero steps into the role of the conference's top returning face-off specialist, winning at a clip of 56.3% last spring.
Appearing in the last five consecutive ECC Championship Tournaments, Molloy (8-10, 3-3 ECC last year) is the final expected tournament participant this spring. The Lions return the All-ECC Second Team trio of midfielder Brian Diliberto (18G, 12A), close defenseman Thomas Kofod (36GB, 15CT in shortened season), and USILA Honorable Mention goalkeeper Christian Michaels, who ranked in the ECC's top four in saves per game (12.59), save percentage (52.1%), and goals against average (12.31) and led Molloy to a No. 8 national ranking for total saves as a team (239). On the offensive end of the ball, four of Molloy's top five point contributors from a year ago return in Noah Taylor (19G, 28A), Tommy Corcoran (21G, 18A), Justin Palulis (31G, 7A), and Brian Green (20G, 17A). The Lions topped the conference in man-up offense (41.4%) with significant contributions from Corcoran (7G), Green (6G), and Diliberto (5G) on the EMO.
Under the new direction of first-year head coach Jack Spallone (Saint Joseph's '12), St. Thomas Aquinas finishes fifth in the preseason voting with 19 points. John Pena (21G, 6A) and Jeremy Poggi (11G, 5A) are STAC's top returning point scorers, and freshman attackman Lucas Mullen will add a "pass first" mentality to the offensive unit. With international experience, freshman face-off specialist Vinny Rosario is expected to make an impact at the X while veteran goalkeeper Craig Peavy returns after ranking seventh nationally in saves per game (14.56) with a 52.8 save percentage last year. The Spartans finished 5-11 overall and 2-4 in the ECC last season.
D'Youville, who finished 2-14 overall (1-5 ECC) a season ago, is ranked sixth in the preseason voting with 15 points. Led by All-ECC Second Team midfielder Nick Sholett (21G, 8A), the Saints return their top four point scorers from last year, including Brady Ruffalo (22G, 6A), Stefano Evan (14G, 13A), and Luciano Gonzalez (17G, 8A). Close defenseman Logan Schwartz is the reigning ECC leader in caused turnovers (40) and caused turnovers per game (2.50, 12th nationally), and he returns to anchor a DYU defensive unit that topped the ECC and ranked 14th nationally in man-down defense at a clip of 76.3 percent.
District of Columbia's attacking duo of Dylan Donaldson (21G, 7A) and Jordan Schemm (17G, 9A) return for their senior seasons after combining for 55 percent of the Firebirds' offensive production a season ago. UDC will look to fill the hole in net left by the graduation of goalkeeper Najee Wilson, the reigning Division II national leader in saves per game (18.83). Receiving nine points to round out the preseason poll, District of Columbia finished 1-11 (0-6 ECC) last spring and earned a win over CACC foe Holy Family on March 8.
The ECC's seven men's lacrosse programs will open up their 2025 campaigns beginning this Saturday, February 1 (D'Youville vs. Davis & Elkins) and through (Molloy vs. Adelphi) and through Saturday, February 22 (Frostburg State at Walsh). For the ECC's complete 2025 men's lacrosse composite schedule, please click here.
2025 ECC Men's Lacrosse Preseason Poll
1. Mercy - 46 points (5 first-place votes)
2. Frostburg State - 39 points (1 first-place vote)
3. Roberts Wesleyan - 35 points
4. Molloy - 33 points (1 first-place vote)
5. St. Thomas Aquinas - 19 points
6. D'Youville - 15 points
7. District of Columbia - 9 points
2025 ECC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year
Gunner MacMillan, Sr., A, Roberts Wesleyan
2025 ECC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year
Seamus Kearney, Sr., LSM, Frostburg State