Men's Lacrosse was poised for memorable year
MEQUON, Wis. -- Concordia Wisconsin was poised to have another big year, but like all spring sports its season was cut short due to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic that spread across the world.
The Falcons, competing for the last year in the Midwest Lacrosse Conference before moving to the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference, were chosen to finish second in the Coaches Preseason Poll after winning the MLC Regular Season and Tournament Championships in 2019. Through the six games, they were able to compete in they compiled a 4-2 overall record and were 1-1 in league play.
During those four victories, they ran past the opposition, doubling up the score on them three times and winning by a combined margin of 51-20. Three of those wins came at home, including a season-opening 17-3 victory over Northland. They also defeated Benedictine, 11-5, in the conference-opener after outscoring the Eagles 8-0 during a span that stretched nearly 36 minutes.
Despite the season being cut short, junior Keijo Day (Esko, Minn.) was leading the team with 26 points (15 goals, 11 assists). Junior Ryan LeFebvre (Chicago, Ill.) had a team-best 13 assists (21 points) and junior Connor Peterson (Calgary, Alberta) was showing dominance with 14 goals. The offense as a whole was balanced with 15 players recording a point and 14 finding the back of the net.
Defensively, senior Ben Gramarossa (Smithtown, N.Y.) was putting on a show in the faceoff circle at times, winning 59-of-93 faceoffs (63.4 percent). He began the year with a career-high 18 faceoff wins versus Northland and had a game against Caroll on March 4 where he won 13 faceoffs and picked up 13 ground balls.
The Falcons were averaging 11.8 caused turnovers per game, with six players having caused five or more turnovers. Seniors Nathan Oekerman (Beaverton, Ore.) and Ryan Voskuil (Flower Mound, Texas) each had a team-high nine caused turnovers. Freshman Jack Gromosky (Danville, Ind.) also had 26 ground balls.
In goal, junior Alex Loding (Mundelein, Ill.) ended the season ranked eighth nationally with a 66.4 save percentage and was 37th with a 8.31 goals-against average. The netminder made a program-record 25 saves in the second game of the season ag North Central and posted double-digit saves in three games. Freshman Adam Nichols (Meridian, Idaho) played 36-plus minutes in the Falcons last game of the season at MSOE and made 20 saves.
Concordia Wisconsin had six seniors on the roster (Ryan Voskuil, Taitum Priewe, Ben Gramarossa, Jacob Leitner, Warner Marquez and Nathan Oekerman). This group helped the program compile a 45-18 (71.4 percent) overall record, 27-3 (90.0 percent) record in MLC play and a 26-4 (86.7 percent) record at home on Fitting Field.
Voskuil ends his career ranked tied for seventh all-time in program history with 56 caused turnovers; Gramarossa was second in ground balls per game (3.94), third in faceoff win percentage (.603) and third in ground balls (213), and Oekerman was fourth in caused turnovers (76).
