“Dirty Work” Lacrosse Players

So last week I spent a lot of time analyzing which lacrosse players are the most efficient with the ball. I looked at which players are the most consistent in turning possessions into points. However, offensive efficiency only tells a portion of the story, and only highlights a few players. Offensively efficient players are great once they get the ball, but some one has to get the ball before it can reach them. Which brings me to today’s topic. Which players in NCAA lacrosse earn their teams the most possessions?

For simplicity, I assumed that a player can earn a possession either by forcing a turnover or by getting a ground ball. Second, I only looked at players that played 75% of their teams games, and ranked in the top 150 nationally in both ground balls and caused turnovers. By only looking at players ranked in both categories, I eliminated most face-off players. While winning face-offs is a huge factor of lacrosse, it skews the statistics and type of players I wanted to look at for this study. Here are the numbers for the 55 “Dirty Work” players that I found.

Name	Team	Games	Possessions Earned	PEPG
Sean McMahon	Manhattan	15	114	7.60
John LoCascio	Villanova	16	113	7.06
Sean Meagher	Robert Morris	14	97	6.93
Brendan Hynes	Richmond	17	113	6.65
Joe Fletcher	Loyola Maryland	17	111	6.53
Tyler Prasnicki	VMI	14	81	5.79
Phil Hession	Dartmouth	12	69	5.75
Jackson Place	Bucknell	14	80	5.71
Derek Braig	Vermont	13	74	5.69
Michael Ehrhardt	Maryland	15	85	5.67
Alex Spring	Bucknell	15	80	5.33
Larken Kemp	Brown	14	74	5.29
Pat Kiernan	Navy	14	71	5.07
Will Farrell	Saint Joseph’s	15	72	4.80
Jackson Cabot	Richmond	17	81	4.76
Ryan Dennis	Richmond	17	81	4.76
Tripp Telesco	Lehigh	17	80	4.71
Andrew Newbold	Sacred Heart	15	70	4.67
Maxx Meyer	Penn	15	69	4.60
Robert Schmitt	Bellarmine	12	55	4.58
Zachary Rogers	Providence	15	68	4.53
Ryan Rielly	Hofstra	16	72	4.50
Mark DiFrangia	St. John’s (NY)	14	63	4.50
Jordan Stevens	Cornell	16	71	4.44
Liam Byrnes	Marquette	16	71	4.44
Tanner Scales	Virginia	16	71	4.44
Seth Mackin	UMBC	15	65	4.33
Bobby Lawrence	Colgate	16	69	4.31
Luke Duprey	Duke	13	56	4.31
Shawn Needham	Binghamton	15	64	4.27
Kevin Boyle	Colgate	16	68	4.25
Patrick Resch	Dartmouth	12	51	4.25
Michael Quinn	Yale	13	55	4.23
Garrett Virtue	Vermont	12	50	4.17
Ryan Horsch	Monmouth	13	54	4.15
Derick Raabe	Princeton	13	54	4.15
Jeremy Noble	Denver	17	70	4.12
Dennis Foster	Dartmouth	12	49	4.08
Jimmy Craft	Yale	14	57	4.07
Joseph Lisicky	Virginia	16	65	4.06
Kyle O’Brien	Air Force	17	69	4.06
Matt Dusek	Drexel	17	68	4.00
Patrick Eaker	Marist	15	60	4.00
Jack Breit	Harvard	13	51	3.92
Casey Carroll	Duke	17	65	3.82
Eric Rankel	Robert Morris	14	53	3.79
Jack Murphy	Fairfield	16	60	3.75
Steven Bogert	Penn St.	13	48	3.69
Harris Levine	High Point	16	59	3.69
Robert Osgood	Dartmouth	12	44	3.67
Lyle Thompson	Albany (NY)	17	62	3.65
Robby Haus	Ohio St.	14	51	3.64
Brett Shukri	Mt. St. Mary’s	16	58	3.63
Anthony Joaquim	Saint Joseph’s	15	52	3.47
Ben Kellar	Bucknell	15	51	3.40

Topping the list are Big East Defensive Player of the Year John LoCascio and MAAC Co-Long Stick Midfielder of the Year Sean McMahon. These players earn their teams over 7 possessions per game, which means 7 more opportunities to get the ball to those efficient offensive players discussed early. Also near the top of the list are Tewaaraton Award Finalist Michael Ehrhardt, and 4th Round MLL pick Jackson Place. All those goal scorers make the headlines, but without these guys, they may not ever see the ball.