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Alphabetical 2013 NCAA D1 Preview: Canisius

We’ve broken down all the ‘A’ and ‘B’ NCAA D1 teams and now we move on to the C Section of the Alphabetical 2013 NCAA D1 Preview posts. It’s time to take a look at Canisius College out of the Metro Atlantic Conference, located in Buffalo, NY.

Canisius went 6-8 in 2012 under Head Coach Randy Mearns, and for the most part, the Golden Griffins were pretty competitive towards the end of the season. Early on, they lost big to Cornell, Detroit, Hobart and Siena, but later in the year showed improvement by beating both Detroit and Siena in tight games. Canisius was dispatched by Loyola in the NCAAs, 15-7.

https://youtu.be/sfsgCvqj7kE

In 2013, Canisius will still play in the MAAC, but their out-of-conference schedule is totally reinvented. Games with Denver, Air Force, Syracuse, and Jacksonville all provide good tests, and the Golden Griffins will once again face Albany, Cornell, and Hobart. Canisius can win the MAAC again this year, and their 2013 OOC tests would prepare them well for a better NCAA run if they do so.

Simon Giourmetakis’ 47 points will be missed this year, and so will the contributions of Haney and Gibbons. Thankfully, Tim Edwards and Nick Caldiero both return at the midfield position, so all continuity will not be lost. The Griffins need to find scorers however, especially on attack.

Another huge hole to fill for Canisius is in goal. Sean Callahan is gone, and Alex Govenettio, Nick Anderson or Nick Carrasco will need to step up. Unless freshman Jeff Wilson materializes into a serious stopper, it will have to come from an upperclassman. I picked out the goalie position as most important because the D will also see a crop of new players step in, and leadership will need to come from within the crease.

While Canisius looks to improve on last year’s success, all signs point to 2013 as a rebuilding year for the Golden Griffins, unless underclassmen and their crop of new players can step in and contribute right away.

Click HERE to see Alphabetical 2013 NCAA D1 Preview posts for Air Force, Albany, Army, Bellarmine, Binghamton, Brown, Bryant, and Bucknell!