Here’s a shout out to the real red dragons an the thing I know about the most, SUNYAC lacrosse. First things first ONEONTA IS THE ORIGINAL RED DRAGONS. Rumor has it a former Oneonta student later became a president or some higher up at Cortland and loved our name and color scheme so they adopted the same. I’m writing this assuming I know whos coming back for each team but with covid/ 5th years returning I could be wrong since rosters are not out yet. I’m not only an alumni I also coached at Oneonta for 3 years so I really do know the ins and outs of the entire conference so I hope the three people that read this enjoy.
#1 Cortland
If you go at the king you better kill him. It pains me to say but nobody’s been able to knock Cortland off the throne in what seems like 45 years (Besides Plattsburgh 2017) . Until somebody can take them down they will be at the #1 spot forever. In my opinion the program as a whole hasn’t been the same since emotional team leader and all around good guy Dakota Chin graduated in 2017, shout out 21. The 2 big pieces I’m looking for is if Williams and Nicholson return for an extra year. In the most Cortland thing of all time they recruit an attackmen who wasn’t getting much time so he goes to face off and dominates the conference for 4 years. If he’s back it puts a pretty good distance between Cortland and second place. Nicholson in my opinion has been the best LSM in the conference for the last few years. One of the most bad ass clips I’ve ever watched this kid took is hand off his stick and gave one of the best midfielders in the conference the olé come get some hand gesture. He then proceeds to de-twig the kid, it was amazing. One thing you can always count on for Cortland is some home town boys and this year specifically is the year of Homer for Cortland. Wainwright, Natale, and Yacavone have been staples in the starting line up for 4 years and these kids are awesome. The biggest returning piece by far is Troy Morris. This kid is an absolute stud and has been since he stepped on campus. Righty, lefty, dodge to feed/score this kid can dice you up in multiple ways and as I know first hand torments defensive coordinators. Coach Beville as usual will be ready to roll with an all star roster looking for bigger things then just a free t shirt on conference championship day.
#Geneseo
Coach Fiorentino leaving is devastating for this program. This team was on the rise and under Fiorentino I think was primed to take down Cortland and really take over the conference as top dog for a while. This roster is loaded and they are so well coached that even with out there head coach will be a powerful force in the conference. The revolving door that is the SUNYAC Conference sees Fiorentino leave to only be replaced by an in conference coach. Drew Bezek the former Oswego head coach takes over the helm. I think Drew is a really good coach but obviously there will be an adjustment period coming into a new team mid year.
#3 Oneonta
Yes we just graduated a very big and important class but I think Coach Owens has done a great job recruiting. This year will be our first recruiting class to graduate and in those years so much has changed but that’s a story for another day. We lose huge pieces like Mcrea, Stieve, Michalisn, Bennisutti, and Fay but I think some of our biggest pieces are returning. what are the two most important positions on the lacrosse field? Face off and Goalie can take you a long way even with an an average roster and Oneonta returns Berson and the Shan man. If Williams is out I really think Shanley can be the best draw man in the conference. The big reason for Shanley’s success has been and will continue to be Christian Moreno. This kids an absolute stud and I think will finally have his big break out season while playing the entire conference for the first time. Gallagher as we say last year is a force to be reckoned with and with the help of some more transfers on offense should shine again. The defense Lead by Berson is young but have more Lacrosse IQ then they have had in a long time. We are also more athletic down there that will allow them to play more aggressively if they choose to play more man to man this year. The shiniest toy Coach Owens has on the team is #21 Dean Cannon. Deano is as smooth as they come and has been a pain in the ass for defense to worry about since he stepped on the field his freshman year. As crazy as it is Owens is one of the more tenured coaches in the conference now. (not including Bezek whos starting over with a new team) I think that will be a huge advantage to help them make the playoffs for the second straight year.
#4 Brockport
I really didn’t think Brockport was very good but there game against Geneseo has my brain in a pretzel. They gave a really really good Geneseo team fits in there last game of the year. Maybe it was just one of those look ahead games for Geneseo and Brockport took advantage to keep it close? They also have a huge advantage competing against a new program, two new head coaches, and the wild card Potsdam to give them a chance to make the playoffs.
#5 Plattsburgh
Plattsburgh is an interesting one to figure out. This year will tell a lot about where the program is headed. The former Cardinal Coach Hauk enters his first real year as head coach. Can he turn things back to where they were headed under his former head coach Cavanagh? The team that won the SUNYAC a few years back was loaded with Cavanagh’s recruits. Time will tell and ill be here to watch.
#6 Oswego
After a tough defeated season and after losing there head coach its hard to put Oswego towards the top of the conference. They played a really tough schedule last year they are not a bad team by any means. The young interim head coach is going to have a ton on his plate and as a guy who was an assistant in a very similar situation in 2018 I know how hard this can be. I don’t really know much about Coach Eccles except his playing days at Albany so only time will tell how the Lakers will end up.
#7 Potsdam
If Josh Huiatt returns for Potsdam they might jump up to the number 2-3 spot he’s that talented. This kid was voted player of the year in a conference with Troy Morris in it so that says all you need to know. If he doesn’t return….. might be tough sledding for the Bears until the next Huiatt comes along.
#8 New Paltz
The new kids on the block will be spending some time down here in last place for a while. With any new program it takes time to establish yourself and get deep into the recruiting circuit. Besides being the closest SUNY to Long Island I think this is going to be a hard place to recruit good talent.
Off Ball 