Mercer Men's Lacrosse Earns Multiple Region and Conference Honors
Mercer men’s lacrosse earned multiple All-Region 19 and All-GSAC (Garden State Athletic Conference) honors for the 2023 season. The Vikings were Region 19 Champions following a 12-8 win over Sussex and finished the season with a 6-5 record.
Sophomore attacker Luke Vando (Yardley, PA/Pennsbury) was named the Region 19 Co-Player of the Year and Region 19 Offensive Player of the Year. Joining Vando on the All-Region 19 First Team were sophomore goalie Thomas Casuccio (Staten Island, NY/Tottenville HS), sophomore defenseman Joe Eible (Ledgewood, NJ/Roxbury HS), freshman attacker Jack Kalinowski (Yardley, PA/Pennsbury), freshman faceoff specialist Izzy Miranda (Tampa, FL/Tampa Catholic) and freshman midfielder Braden Travaglini (Berlin, NJ/Eastern Regional HS).
Vando finished the season with 9 goals and 9 assists and 12 ground balls. Vando finished in the NJCAA top 50 (41 st) in assists and just outside the top 50 (56 th) in points, with 18 on the season. Vando helped lead a Vikings offense that finished in the top 10 nationally in multiple offensive categories. The Vikings had the top shots on goal percentage in the nation (70.8%), the second best shooting percentage (49.8%) and third in shots per game (20.9 per game). Mercer also finished 10 th in total goals (104), 10 th in assists (54), 10 th in goals per game (10.40 per game), 9 th in shots on goal (148) and 11 th in ground balls (190).
Attacker Kalinowski helped Mercer’s offense finishing the season with 36 goals, which was 10 th best in the nation. Kalinowski also had 12 assists, 10 ground balls and finished his rookie season with 48 points, good for 15 th best in the nation.
Faceoff specialist Miranda was another reason for the Vikings’ stellar offense. Miranda won 67 of 100 face offs this season, which was 10 th best in the nation. Miranda had 50 ground balls (13 th best in the nation) and also had 2 goals and 1 assist.
Another key contributor to the Vikings offense was midfielder Travaglini. Travaglini scored 16 goals (40 th best in the nation) and had 3 assists and 9 ground balls. Travaglini finished the season with a 72.7 shooting percentage.
The Vikings defense was led by goalie Casuccio who had 77 saves on the season. Casuccio finished with the best save percentage in the nation at 71.3% and the best goals against total with 31. His 7.18 goals against average was second best in the nation.
Defenseman Eible helped anchor the Vikings defense, finishing the season with 7 ground balls. Eible led a Mercer defense that had the fifth best goals against average (7.80) and goals against (78) in the nation.
Kalinowski, Miranda, Travaglini, and Vando were also named 1 st Team All-GSAC. Teammates freshman Xavier Ferren (Franklinville,NJ/Clearview Regional), sophomore Anthony Petracca (Hamilton, NJ/Steinert) and freshman Ryan Callahan (Hamilton, NJ/Steinert) also earned All-GSAC honors.
Midfielder Ferren had 4 goals, 3 assists and 6 ground balls this season. Defenseman Petracca had 19 ground balls this season and fellow defenseman Callahan had 4 ground balls and 1 assist.
Head Coach Rob Siris was named the Region 19 Co-Coach of the Year. This marks the second time in four seasons of competition that Siris has earned this honor. Siris finished the 2023 season with six wins, second most in program history.
Sophomore attacker Luke Vando
Freshman attacker Jack Kalinowski
Freshman faceoff specialist Izzy Miranda
Freshman midfielder Braden Travaglini