LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Ursinus College men's lacrosse team continues to make waves across the country.
Fresh off a pair of victories over nationally ranked powers, giving them three on the season, the undefeated Bears moved up six spots to No. 12 in the latest United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) coaches poll.
Ursinus (4-0) has already put together one of the strongest resumes in Division III under first-year head coach Gary Mercadante. After opening the 2019 campaign with an upset at then-No. 17 Stevenson and tacking on a 10-9 double-overtime victory at Mary Washington, the Bears cranked it up a notch with two more impressive signature results.
The Bears dismantled then-No. 17 Cortland in Wednesday's home opener, taking a 6-5 lead into halftime before leading by as many as eight goals in the fourth quarter of a 15-9 win. On Saturday, Ursinus took down then-No. 14 Christopher Newport in a 12-10 neutral-site thriller, besting a Captains team that had demolished 12th-ranked Roanoke by a 17-3 spread just a few days earlier.
Ursinus has been effective in all phases of the game. The team boasts three of the Centennial Conference's leading scorers in senior Peter DeSimone (13 goals, 9 assists), junior Bobby McClure (14 goals, 2 assists), and sophomore Hakan Atillasoy (12 goals, 4 assists). Senior Brian Casey leads the conference in faceoff percentage (77.4) while ranking seventh in ground balls (17) despite playing in only two games, and senior Alex Middleman is fourth in the CC with eight caused turnovers for a defense that has allowed less than 10 goals per game to a bevy of high-powered opponents.
The Bears are one of four ranked Centennial Conference squads, joining No. 8 Gettysburg, No. 10 Dickinson, and No. 15 Franklin & Marshall. Muhlenberg and Washington College are receiving votes in the poll.