Wednesday, February 15, 2006

LIMESTONE UNANIMOUS CHOICE TO WIN
2006 DEEP SOUTH LACROSSE TITLE
Blue Hose Men's Lacrosse picked 10th in preseason poll

ROCK HILL, SC – With two new teams joining the league, the Deep South Conference will have a new look in 2006. But one thing that hasn’t changed is Limestone College’s position as conference front-runner.

The Saints, who have advanced to the NCAA Division II national men’s lacrosse championship for six consecutive years and have won seven consecutive conference tournament titles, finds themselves in the familiar spot as preseason favorite in the Deep South Conference.

The Saints are the unanimous choice to win the 2006 Deep South Conference title. Limestone has not lost a regular-season conference game since 1997. Limestone received a maximum 100 points and ten first-place votes in poll by the league’s ten head coaches. The Saints are ranked third nationally in the Inside Lacrosse preseason poll.

Queens University of Charlotte is picked to finish second. The Royals received 88 total points. The Royals return All-Conference attack Alex Tack and preseason All-American Nick Mezzanotte.

Mars Hill is picked to finish third, receiving 74 points. The Lions finished tied for third in the league standings in 2005, their highest finish ever. Coach Brian Anken looks to continue that success with 16 returning letterwinners, including preseason All-American goalie Matt Holthaus.

St. Andrews Presbyterian College garnered 72 points to finish fourth in the poll. Midfielders Pat Fitzgerald and Bryan Riddell are returning All-Deep South Conference selections, and Fitzgerald is a preseason All-American.

Catawba College, which advanced to the championship game of the Deep South Conference tournament last season for the second year in a row, is picked to finish fifth with 57 points. The Indians return 12 players off last year’s squad.

Wingate University is sixth in the preseason poll with 50 points. Goalie David Suthers, who had a strong freshman season in 2005, returns to guard the net for the Bulldogs.

Pfeiffer University came in seventh in the poll with 48 points.

Belmont Abbey College is new to the league, and coach Rob Horrigan’s team is already receiving respect, finishing eighth in the poll with 25 points.

Lees-McRae College, with new coach Matt Edmunds, is ninth with 22 points.

Presbyterian College, the other first-year addition to the league, rounds out the poll.

The quarterfinals of the Deep South Conference tournament will be April 18 at the home of the higher seed. The semifinals will be Friday, April 21 at Memorial Stadium in Charlotte, with Queens as the host. The championship game set for 2 p.m. Sunday, April 23 at Memorial Stadium in Charlotte.

The Deep South Conference is in its thirteenth year as a lacrosse league and ninth as a fully sanctioned NCAA DII Conference. Members schools include: Belmont Abbey College (Belmont, N.C.), Catawba College (Salisbury, N.C.), Lees-McRae College (Banner Elk, N.C.), Limestone College (Gaffney, S.C.), Mars Hill College (Mars Hill, N.C.), Pfeiffer University (Misenheimer, N.C.), Presbyterian College (Clinton, S.C.), Queens University (Charlotte, N.C.); St. Andrews Presbyterian College (Laurinburg, N.C.), and Wingate University (Wingate, N.C.).

The Deep South Conference is a premier lacrosse league in the South and dedicated to the highest quality of competition and sportsmanship.

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