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Alphabetical 2014 NCAA D1 Preview: Hartford

We’re back with the Alphabetical 2014 NCAA D1 Previews! Like last year, we’ll go through all of the D1 men’s teams for 2014 (there are 67 this year!) and we are now moving on to the Hartford Hawks, located in Hartford, CT.

The Hawks will be seeing a ton of turnover in 2014. On offense, Kevin O’Shea (attack) and Andrew Cacchio (attack) both return. Both of those guys put up at least 26 points. Below them, Tate Klidonas returns in the midfield, and then their next highest returning scorer is Alex Matarazzo. Matarazzo is a defenseman who had 8 points last year. While the cupboard isn’t bare in Hartford, it’s definitely newly stocked, and it’s hard to tell how it will all shake out. Greg Reynolds saw some success at the D2 level with SNHU, so I’m curious to see if he can step in right away.

Hartford’s midfield has some decent depth, but not a ton of experience. Guys like Brad Hutton should step up their presence, but a new crop of players is definitely needed. LSM seems to be a position in question as well, but Adam Yee returns to take face offs, and he was just above 50% last year. It’s not stellar, but it’s something that provides some consistency for Hartford.

Hartford does have 9 players listed as defenseman on their roster, and Chris Duffy and Matarazzo provide some good game experience as seniors. Hartford has couple other guys who might fill the remaining spots but graduated some of their 2013 talent. Frank Piechota returns for his senior year in goal after playing the vast majority of the team’s minutes last year, and will need to be a backbone for this to D to gel and see success.

Hartford is dealing with a lot of turnover this year, and with a few exceptions, their schedule is pretty favorable. They play UMass, Albany, Dartmouth, and their America East schedule later in the season, and if they come together, could be competitive. If they stumble early against newbie Richmond, I also wouldn’t be shocked. Hartford is really unknown this year, and have a lot of questions to answer.

For more NCAA D1 Lacrosse coverage, check out Alphabetical 2013 NCAA D1 Preview: Air ForceAlbanyArmyBellarmineBinghamtonBostonBrownBryantBucknellCanisius,
Colgate,  CornellDartmouthDelawareDetroitDrexelDukeFairfieldFurman, and Georgetown.