Griffins Draw No. 18 Rockhurst in Season Opener
The 2017 men's lacrosse season gets underway on Saturday as Westminster welcomes No. 18 Rockhurst to Dumke Field for an important Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference game. The opening faceoff is slated for 1 p.m. MST and tickets are available at WestminsterGriffins.com/tickets.
 
The Griffins will open its season with a conference game as they begin their second season in the RMAC. Rockhurst already leads the conference after an 11-10 win over then-No. 20 Colorado Mesa last Friday.
 
About the Griffins
Westminster heads into Saturday's opener with 25 players returning from last season's squad that tied for the RMAC regular season title. They finished 7-1 in conference play with a 9-3 overall record. The team has 10 RMAC games on the schedule this season and a trip to Florida in March.
 
The group of returners includes six of the top eight scorers from 2016. That team averaged 12.83 goals per game and attempted 41.58 shots per contest. The team converted on 28.2 percent of man-up chances with 11 man-up goals.
 
Thomas Sarjeant returns for his junior season after leading the Griffins with 31 assists and 51 points last season. He added 20 goals scored and has at least one point in the last 13 games he has played. Cole Flinders was second on the team with 25 goals and finished third with 29 points as a freshman last season.
 
As a team, the Griffins won 59.3 percent of faceoffs last season and had a 84.8 clearing percentage. They picked up 28.17 ground balls per game and forced 15.25 turnovers with 7.67 caused turnovers per outing.
 
Jake Berard is back after taking the majority of faceoffs for the team last season. Berard won 58.4 percent at X last season with 136 wins. He also secured a team-best 56 ground balls. Nathan Wade leads all returners with his nine Caused turnovers in 2016 while Grant Phillips is back after recording eight CTs.
 
In goal, the Griffins posted an 8.79 goals-against-average as a team last season. They tallied 136 saves with a .560 save percentage. The Griffins held six of last season's 12 opponents under 10 goals and never gave up more than 11 goals in a game.
 
Conner McFarlane and Ian Sime return after each seeing limited time in cage last season. McFarlane appeared in four games with an 11.06 GAA and .529 save percentage. Sime posted a 14.40 GAA and .500 save percentage in his four appearances.
 
Sarjeant Leads the Charge
Thomas Sarjeant was the Griffins leading scorer last season after recording 51 points. He scored 20 goals on the year with at least one goal in 10 of the team's 12 games last season. Sarjeant led the team with 31 assists with multiple assists in eight contests. He led the RMAC by averaging 2.58 assists per game, which would have ranked third in the NCAA if the team were eligible for national rankings. A 2016 first team all-conference selection, Sarjeant was named to the preseason all-conference team earlier this month.
 
Flinders a Threat
Cole Flinders returns to the Griffins after being second on the team with 25 goals as a freshman. He scored in nine games with multiple goals in a game eight times. Flinders was fourth in the RMAC by scoring 2.08 goals per game and seventh at 2.42 points per game. He took 45 shots on the season with 31 of them on cage.
 
All-Conference Defensive Duo
The RMAC head coaches voted Grant Phillips and Chase Flinders to the preseason all-conference team. Flinders was chosen at LSM after playing in all 12 games least season and placing second on the team with 43 ground balls. Phillips made the team at one of the four defender spots. A starter in all 12 games a year ago, Phillips finished with 10 ground balls and eight caused turnovers.
 
Berard at X
Jake Berard is coming off a 2016 season that saw him win 58.4 percent of the 233 faceoffs he attempted. That percent would have placed Berard 18th in the NCAA and was second in the RMAC. He starts the season second in team-history with a career .588 faceoff percentage and 411 total wins at X. Berard was second in the RMAC and 30th in the NCAA by getting 4.67 ground balls per game last season. His 209 career GBs are second most in school history and just 37 shy of breaking the record.
 
Team Chosen to Finish Third
Westminster received 19 points in the Men's Lacrosse Preseason poll to secure a third-place finish in the poll that was released on February 8. They earned one first-place vote in the poll of the league's six head coaches. Colorado Mesa, the defending RMAC Tournament champions, is the favorite to win the conference after receiving 24 points and four first-place votes. Rockhurst was chosen second with 20 points and one first-place vote.
 
Opponent Info: No. 18 Rockhurst
• Rockhurst enters Saturday at 5-0 on the season and 1-0 in RMAC play.
• The Hawks are No. 18 in this week's USILA Coaches' Poll and No. 23 in the Lax Power ratings.
• Grant Vanoverbeke leads the team with 11 goals and 21 points.
• Westminster leads the all-time series with the Hawks 3-0.
• All three meetings took place on neutral sites last season, including a Griffins 16-11 win in the RMAC semifinals.
 
Looking Ahead
The Griffins will head for Florida next weekend where they will play a pair of games against team currently ranked in this week's USILA Coaches' Poll. They visit Saint Leo on March 11 and then play at Tampa on March 14.