Season Review: Men's Lacrosse posts second straight winning season in 2017
By Caleb Scott
ADA — Under the guidance of second-year head coach Nat St. Laurent, the Ohio Northern men's lacrosse team posted its second consecutive winning season in 2017.
The Polar Bears finished the season 9-7 overall and 4-4 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, improving their win total from a season ago.
Five athletes earned All-Conference accolades for their efforts on the field.
Sophomores Andrew Fox (Solon), Anthony Pavone (Chagrin Falls/Kenston) and Jackson Pfister (Upper Arlington) and freshmen Cameron Marous (Brecksville) and Logan Krogman (Aurora, Ill./Waubonsie Valley) all earned All-OAC honors.
For the second time in the program's 2-year history, an Ohio Northern athlete was named Freshman of the Year in the OAC.
Marous earned the honor and was named Second Team All-OAC for his efforts.
The freshman was second on the team and 10th in the OAC with an ONU freshman record 36 goals, was second on the team and fourth in the OAC with 24 assists and led the team and was fifth in the OAC with 60 points in his rookie campaign as an attacker.
His shots on goal percentage of 67.5 percent also led the team in 2017.
Pavone was named Second Team All-OAC and is now a two-time Second Team All-OAC honoree as a midfielder.
He led the team and was third in the OAC with 27 assists. He was also second on the team with 18 goals and 45 points.
Fox is also a two-time Second Team All-OAC honoree and was named the OAC Freshman of the Year in 2016 as a defensman.
He led the team and was second in the OAC with 35 caused turnovers this season. Fox was fourth on the squad with 33 ground balls.
Pfister earned Honorable Mention honors after ranking second on the team with 40 ground balls while starting all 16 games on defense.
Krogman was also named Honorable Mention All-OAC and led the team and was 10th in the OAC with a school record 68 ground balls this season.
He also scored four goals and had seven points on the year.
The Polar Bears also showed success in the classroom as nine athletes were named Academic All-OAC for ONU.
Fox, Pfister, Krogman and sophomores Andrew Laudico (Williamsville, N.Y./South), Matthew Laudico (Williamsville, N.Y./South), Mitchell Frisby (Wadsworth), Lucas Blaszyk (Spencerport, N.Y./Churchville-Chili), Andrew Markell (Missouri City, Tex./Ridge Point) and Noah St. Croix (Rochester, N.Y./Irondequoit) all earned the honor.
Sophomore Max Weese (Columbus/Hilliard Darby), Marous and Blaszyk all were named OAC Offensive Player of the Week during the season for Northern, while sophomore Alex Pizarro (Boonsboro, Md.) garnered OAC Defensive Player of the Week during the season.
After opening the season with a hard-fought 15-7 loss at Kenyon, Northern opened the home portion of its schedule with a 12-4 victory over Calvin (Mich.) at Dial-Roberson Stadium.
During its Spring Break trip, ONU fell to Hampden-Sydney (Va.) and Guilford (N.C) before returning home to defeat Hanover (Ind.) which was the start of an 8-game win streak.
During the streak, Northern defeated non-conference foes Houghton (N.Y.), Adrian (Mich.) and Franciscan before opening OAC play with a perfect 4-0 record, claiming victories over Mount Union, Wilmington, Muskingum and Heidelberg.
From there Northern would drop four games to end the season, with three of the contests being decided by four goals or less.