After a week hiatus, the Stat Freaks have returned! Full transparency: there was a bad combination of timing and NCAA website update that put us in a pinch. But we’re now in the clear, so you get a double dose! First, we’ll take a look at the big performances from Week 2, followed by the most recent Week 3 ballers. Now, in case you’re really into the big picture here, you might wonder why I’m talking about this past week being Week 3 when the ‘Is This Poll Serious?!‘ (and associated Inside Lacrosse poll) are at Week 2. Answer: The poll skipped over the lightly played actual first week of games and waiting for the majority of the country to start playing. Stat Freaks went for it and turned in Week 1. So there you go, getting the explanation you probably didn’t even know you needed. You’re welcome.
READ MORE: Check out our NCAA Conference Comparison after last week’s NCAA Division I Lacrosse action here.
Now, first are the Week 2 Stat Freaks candidates:
Offense: The Cutoff here is a combined 7 goals and/or assists
| Chris Aslanian – Hobart: 5G, 2A, 7 Shots vs. Canisius |
| Eric Holden – Hobart: 7G, 2A, 14 Shots vs. Canisius |
| Pat Spencer – Loyola Maryland: 5G, 2A, 9 Shots vs. Virginia |
| Brendan Sunday – Towson: 6G, 2A, 13 Shots vs. Johns Hopkins |
| Josh Stout – Utah: 7G, 1A, 15 Shots vs. Mercer |
| Daniel Bucaro – Georgetown: 3G, 4A, 8 Shots vs. Sacred Heart |
| Joe Saggese – Sacred Heart: 5G, 2A, 11 Shots vs. Georgetown |
| Grant Ament – Penn St.: 1G, 6A, 4 Shots vs. Robert Morris |
| Chris Connolly – Massachusetts: 2G, 5A, 5 Shots vs. Army West Point |
| Brendan Nichtern – Army West Point: 4G, 3A, 5 Shots vs. Massachusetts |
| Kieran Mullins – Rutgers: 6G, 3A, 11 Shots vs. St. John’s (NY) |
Defense: For here, you need 8 GBs, CTs, and/or points
| Samuel Cambere – Utah: 6GB, 5CT vs. Mercer |
| Teddy Leggett – Lehigh: 6GB, 4CT vs. Hofstra |
| Matt Farrell – Holy Cross: 8GB, 2CT vs. Providence |
| Andrew Simeon – Vermont: 7GB, 1CT vs. Navy |
| Joseph Cipoletti – Sacred Heart: 5GB, 4CT vs. Georgetown |
| Pat Tully – Lafayette: 7GB, 2CT vs. NJIT |
| John Tachon – NJIT: 7GB, 2CT vs. Lafayette |
| Brandon Ruditz – Cleveland St.: 9GB vs. Michigan |
| Connor Davis – Wagner: 6GB, 2CT vs. Manhattan |
| Isaac Paparo – Massachusetts: 5GB, 3CT, 1A vs. Army West Point |
| Johnny Surdick – Army West Point: 7GB, 2CT vs. Massachusetts |
| Turner Uppgren – Duke: 5GB, 3CT vs. Jacksonville |
| Luke Caracciolo – Bryant: 8GB, 1CT vs. Bucknell |
Faceoffs: Greater than 70%, at least 10 attempts
| Zach Cole – Saint Joseph’s: 19/23, 14 GB, 1G vs. St. Bonaventure |
| Alex Woodall – Towson: 21/28, 17 GB, 1G, 2A vs. Johns Hopkins |
| Tyler Stevenson – NJIT: 20/26, 6 GB vs. Lafayette |
| Gerard Arceri – Penn St.: 11/13, 8 GB, 1G vs. Robert Morris |
| Tom Meyers – Massachusetts: 21/25, 13 GB vs. Army West Point |
| Brett Dattilo – UMass Lowell: 10/13, 3 GB vs. Quinnipiac |
| Brian Smyth – Duke: 17/23, 14 GB, 2G vs. Jacksonville |
| Brett Boos – Denver: 15/19, 4 GB vs. Air Force |
| Austin Henningsen – Maryland: 15/15, 6 GB vs. Richmond |
Goalies: Greater than 70%
| Colby Kneese – Penn St.: 11/15 Saves, 1GB vs. Robert Morris |
| James Spence – Lehigh: 16/20 Saves, 3GB, 1CT vs. Hofstra |
Freak of the Week for Week 2:
Offense
This is a TOUGH one. Pat Spencer from Loyola is the talk of the country, and rightly so. This game was huge for him and really made a statement. But other statements were made, too. Utah got their first win with Josh Stout’s seven goals and one assist, Grant Ament’s nation-leading six assists, Kieran Mullins’ nine points to come back against the Johnnies and of course Brendan Sunday’s sock trick against Hopkins. Big, big week for the O.
Defense
Defensively, I love the dueling longpoles with Surdick and Paparo in the UMass-Army game. When you have a close game and your big names are making plays, it’s an awesome situations, especially when Paparo notched an assist, too. Cambere out of Utah pulling in the stats in their win vs. Mercer was also huge.
FOGO
We have our first perfect game! Maryland’s Henningsen did not lose a single faceoff against Richmond. Tom Meyers’ 21/25 performance was great against Army, despite the losing effort. For me, it’s hard to pick against Alex Woodall. 21 wins, and he didn’t get only four of those ground balls. Especially down the stretch, he was key in them jumping all over Hopkins and not given the jays any glimpse of comeback hope.
Goalies
With only two goalies (technically, three) making the list, it’s hard to who had the statistically more significant performance. Both were important games for their teams, but Spence’s loaded line with GBs and a CT probably takes the cake for me.
Freak of the Week: Week 2
But the Week 2 Freak of the Week has to be Tuner Uppgren from Duke. Why? Because they needed a bounce back win badly against Jacksonville. And that game also was one where they needed a second half surge to create separation. The fact that he qualified on defender stats AS A GOALIE is nothing short of incredible. I think it’s only happened once in the few years I’ve been doing this. Truly remarkable.
On to the Week 3 Stat Freaks!
Freak of the Week for Week 3
Offense: The Cutoff here is a combined 7 goals and/or assists
| Dylan Jinks – Hartford: 8G, 1A, 12 Shots vs. St. John’s (NY) |
| Jonathan Huber – St. John’s (NY): 5G, 2A, 12 Shots vs. Hartford |
| Michael Sowers – Princeton: 2G, 5A, 6 Shots vs. Monmouth |
| Chris Brown – Princeton: 5G, 2A, 11 Shots vs. Monmouth |
| Emmet Cordrey – Princeton: 6G, 2A, 7 Shots vs. Monmouth |
| Jason Knox – Hobart: 9G, A, 11 Shots vs. Siena |
| Chris Gray – Boston U.: 3G, 6A, 6 Shots vs. Dartmouth |
| Pat Spencer – Loyola Maryland: 3G, 4A, 8 Shots vs. Johns Hopkins |
| Brad Voigt – Syracuse: 6G, 1A, 11 Shots vs. Albany (NY) |
| Max Tuttle – Sacred Heart: 6G, 2A, 12 Shots vs. Furman |
| Luke McCaleb – Brown: 3G, 5A, 8 Shots vs. Quinnipiac |
| Mac O’Keefe – Penn St.: 7G, 1A, 13 Shots vs. Stony Brook |
Defense: For here, you need 8 GBs, CTs, and/or points
| Andrew Eichelberger – Lehigh: 5GB, 3CT, 1G vs. Virginia |
| Nick Grill – Marquette: 6GB, 2CT vs. Jacksonville |
| Gunnar Schimoler – UMBC: 8GB, 4CT vs. Navy |
| Colin Kasner – UMBC: 5GB, 3CT vs. Navy |
| Bryan McIntosh – Mount St. Mary’s: 5GB, 3CT vs. Towson |
| Chase Pirozzi – Mount St. Mary’s: 6GB, 3CT vs. Towson |
| Jack Anderson – Saint Joseph’s: 8GB, CT, 2A vs. Fairfield |
| Ryan Lovell – Hartford: 7GB, 1CT vs. St. John’s (NY) |
| Jake Stevens – Princeton: 9GB, CT, 1A vs. Monmouth |
| Kyle Walsh – VMI: 5GB, 5CT vs. Manhattan |
| Eric Lane – VMI: 5GB, 3CT vs. Manhattan |
| Josh Wehn – Bellarmine: 7GB, 3CT vs. Cleveland St. |
| Ryan McNulty – Loyola Maryland: 6GB, 3CT vs. Johns Hopkins |
| Tyson Bomberry – Syracuse: 7GB, 3CT vs. Albany (NY) |
| Matt Neufeldt – Denver: 5GB, 4CT, 1A vs. Duke |
| Patrick Aslanian – Georgetown: 6GB, 5CT, 1G vs. Robert Morris |
| Gibson Smith – Georgetown: 7GB, 2CT vs. Robert Morris |
| Michael Altmann – Hofstra: 5GB, 3CT, 1G vs. Utah |
| Christian Klipstein – Bucknell: 7GB, 4CT vs. Richmond |
| Garrett LeClaire – Mercer: 4GB, 4CT vs. Canisius |
| Holden Garlent – Canisius: 7GB, 6CT, 1A vs. Mercer |
| Will Jones – Vermont: 4GB, 4CT vs. Holy Cross |
| Kevin Falteisek – NJIT: 4GB, 4CT vs. Delaware |
| Austin Haynes – Delaware: 5GB, 7CT vs. NJIT |
| Joe Saggese – Sacred Heart: 7GB, 1CT, 2G, 4A vs. Furman |
| Logan Liljeberg – Sacred Heart: 11GB, CT, 3G, 2A vs. Furman |
| Michael Brown – Brown: 5GB, 3CT vs. Quinnipiac |
| Jack Rowlett – North Carolina: 7GB, 7CT vs. Harvard |
Faceoffs: Greater than 70%, at least 10 attempts
| Zach Cole – Saint Joseph’s: 21/28, 9 GB, 2G, 2A vs. Fairfield |
| Malcolm Feeney – Colgate: 14/19, 8 GB vs. Binghamton |
| Jack-Henry Vara – Princeton: 8/11, 1 GB vs. Monmouth |
| Matthew Pedicine – Hobart: 32/37, 20 GB vs. Siena |
| Alex Schoen – Rutgers: 11/14, 9 GB vs. Army West Point |
| Danny Tesler – Cleveland St.: 16/18, 10 GB, 1G vs. Bellarmine |
| Andrew Hamilton – Cleveland St.: 9/10, 5 GB, 1G vs. Bellarmine |
| Brian Herber – Hofstra: 18/25, 12 GB, 1G vs. Utah |
| TD Ierlan – Yale: 18/25, 10 GB vs. Villanova |
| Kyle Gallagher – Penn: 21/27, 10 GB, 1A vs. Maryland |
| Dan O’Connell – Holy Cross: 15/18, 11 GB vs. Vermont |
| Jake Hervada – Delaware: 13/17, 5 GB vs. NJIT |
Goalies: Greater than 70%
| Tyler Canto – Towson: 18/25 Saves, 6GB, 1CT vs. Mount St. Mary’s |
| Drake Porter – Syracuse: 12/17 Saves, 1GB vs. Albany (NY) |
| Josh Kirson – Ohio St.: 17/24 Saves, 3GB, 1CT vs. Massachusetts |
| Matt Deluca – Delaware: 17/20 Saves, 2GB vs. NJIT |
| Colby Kneese – Penn St.: 8/9 Saves, 2GB vs. Stony Brook |
Offense
The most ridiculous thing this week is that Princeton’s entire starting attack made it. Seriously. Three attackmen all scored eight points in the same game. I’m reasonably confident that’s never happened since I’ve been doing this. Pat Spencer once against the list, as did Brad Voigt from Syracuse who outscore Albany by himself. And as good as six goals is, Jason Knox’s nine for Hobart is just that much sweeter.
Defense
Defense was ridiculous this week. But hand picking a few: Stat Freaks regular Kyle Walsh from VMI made an appearance in their first season opener win in like 19 years or something crazy. You also have Tyson Bomberry whose stats backed up his obvious great play while guarding Tehoka Naticoke. I’m also a huge fan of the sacred heart duo of Joe Saggese and Logan Liljeberg dropping a combined 18 GBs, five goals, and six assists vs. Furman. Not bad for a pair of offensive players. Then there’s UNC’s Jack Rowlett pulling down a seven GBs and seven CTs vs. Harvard.
FOGO
The thing with the FOGO list is that I have the cutoff of 10 faceoffs for a reason. Way too often, the first string will dominate, or someone else will just go 2/2, 3/4 and get the same credit as a starter. But if you’re taking 10, you’re a big contributor. So when you see two different FOGOs for Cleveland St.? Hello! And of course, TD Ierlan made the list in his first game because that’s what he does. But how about Hobart’s Matthew Pedicine taking 37 faceoffs?!
Goalies
Towson’s Tyler Canto had himself a game! Great save percentage and almost enough GBs/CTs to make the list as a defender. That’s not easy to do. Penn State’s Colby Kneese was almost perfect through his three-plus quarters of play before backup Trevor Scollins jumped in to save six while allowing three. By comparison, Drake Porter for Syracuse made the list for his game against Albany and when he was subbed out, his backup didn’t let in any goals on two shots. Not too shabby.
Freak of the Week: Week 3
For me, the craziest stat line this week and our official Freak of the Week is St. Joseph’s Zach Cole. 21/28 with four points to go with it. But, he was really a pivotal piece for that game where they routed Fairfield. Even if you take away the four goals he scored or assisted on, St. Joseph’s still scored ten other goals in the first eighty seconds following a faceoff. That was the same as Fairfield’s total goal count!
Last, but not least, we can start tabulating our season appearances. First up, is the number of times an individual has been on the Stat Freaks list:
| Name – School | # |
| Colby Kneese – Penn St. | 3 |
| Grant Ament – Penn St. | 2 |
| Brian Smyth – Duke | 2 |
| Gerard Arceri – Penn St. | 2 |
| Pat Spencer – Loyola Maryland | 2 |
| Joe Saggese – Sacred Heart | 2 |
| Zach Cole – Saint Joseph’s | 2 |
Now, which schools are sending the most players to the Stat Freaks list?
| Team | Freaks |
| Penn St. | 8 |
| Lehigh | 5 |
| Sacred Heart | 5 |
| Princeton | 4 |
| Massachusetts | 3 |
| High Point | 3 |
| Duke | 3 |
| NJIT | 3 |
| Boston U. | 3 |
| Rutgers | 3 |
| Towson | 3 |
| Cleveland St. | 3 |
| Loyola Maryland | 3 |
| Georgetown | 3 |
| Saint Joseph’s | 3 |
| Syracuse | 3 |
| Delaware | 3 |
Now, the bad list. Who is allowing the most Stat Freaks against them?
| Team | Allowed |
| NJIT | 6 |
| Monmouth | 5 |
| Jacksonville | 5 |
| Army West Point | 4 |
| Furman | 4 |
| Villanova | 4 |
| Robert Morris | 4 |
| Johns Hopkins | 4 |
