Taking a Look: GRLC West 2015 season preview

(Photo: Mizzou Lacrosse)

The Great Rivers Lacrosse Conference should be on the rise after last season’s transitional year for many of the conference’s teams. The conference-favorite Indiana Hoosiers could reign supreme, but don’t overlook Missouri and Illinois as potential GRLC champs. Here’s a look at how the chips might fall in 2015, with an extensive look at the conference as part of our Taking a Look series focusing on each conference in the MCLA.

~WCSN lacrosse editor Trey Lanthier

Looking back at 2014

Mizzou, the undefeated winners of the GRLC’s West division, snagged a bye in the conference tournament before falling at the hands of the second-place finisher in the East, the Fighting Illini. Beyond that, there were two teams at or above .500 in regular season play, despite a very clear-cut top two teams in Iowa and Missouri. If teams can improve upon their non-conference record in 2015, national recognition for the conference will follow.

Looking ahead to 2015 (2014 results in parentheses)

University of Missouri (8-4, 5-0 GRLC West)

After finishing the regular season with an undefeated record in conference play, the Tigers dropped their first game of the conference tournament to Illinois. With 24 out of 26 players from last year’s roster returning, chemistry will be key in 2015. Senior attackman Ryan Biek will once again be the anchor on an offense with four of its top five goal-scorers returning. In a weak West division, Missouri is in a prime spot to nab another first round bye in the conference tournament, except this time, they hope their more experienced roster will help them win it all.

University of Iowa (9-6, 4-1 GRLC West)

Iowa will lose all four of last year’s captains to graduation, and that’s not including the loss of starting goalie Brandon Warshawsky. Losing so many key contributors will be hard to overcome for a Hawkeyes team that won nine games last year. Attackman Austin Patrick and midfielder Frank Recchia are two of the conference’s elite offensive players and will be returning to the Hawkeyes in 2015. They will be looked upon to provide the same leadership that last year’s captains brought.

University of Nebraska (8-8, 1-3 GRLC West)

Nebraska led the GRLC in scoring, accumulating 171 goals over 16 games. However, the high-powered offense wasn’t enough to make up for the 146 goals the Cornhuskers defense gave up. This year, don’t be surprised to see Nebraska shock a lot of teams. With three of their four top point getters returning and a group of long-poles who are all coming back for another season, Nebraska has the potential to be a vastly improved team in 2015.

Kansas University (3-8, 2-3 GRLC West)

There really isn’t a good word to describe the Jayhawks defense last year, so here are some numbers that will help you understand the way they played in 2014. Kansas gave up a conference high 183 goals last season in only 11 games. The team that gave up the second-most goals, Nebraska, allowed 146 goals (but that came in 16 games). Kansas allowed over 20 goals each in five of the 11 games that they played. With two long-poles graduating, it’s going to be hard for the Jayhawks’ defense to improve enough for them to be competitive. A bright spot is attackman Zac Listen, one of the best players in the conference, who finished with 42 points during his freshman season.

University of Arkansas (2-4, 0-2 GRLC West)

The Razorbacks only played six games in 2014 including just two games against teams in the conference. It’s going to be tough for them to make any sort of impact on the outcome of the GRLC standings if they don’t play more games. Arkansas does have an extremely young roster, one that didn’t have a single senior on it last season.

Kansas State University (2-6, 0-4 GRLC West)

The Wildcats have a shallow amount of depth on this year’s roster. They only had two players with more than 10 points and not a single player eclipsed 20. Captain midfielder Scott Sadick will return for his senior season but he’ll need somebody to step up and claim another leadership position. This will be KSU’s second year in the GRLC West, and the team is hoping that finally it’s on the path to building a unit that finishes above .500 like the program has done in the past.

All-Conference Watch

Attack: Ryan Biek, University of Missouri

Since being announced as a captain at the beginning of the 2014 season, Biek has proven his leadership not only in the locker room but also on the field. With six career assists heading into last season, Biek began getting his teammates involved immediately, dishing out four assists in the season-opener against Ole Miss. He went on to finish the season with a team-high 15 assists to go along with his team-leading 19 goals, earning a spot on the GRLC First Team All-Conference. The area in which Biek struggled was against the conference’s top teams. Through three games against Indiana and Illinois, he was only able to tally up one point, a goal against Indiana in a 10-5 defeat. If the senior from Minnesota can step up his game against elite competition, he has a chance to win offensive player of the year in the GRLC.

Midfield: Brandon Toller, University of Arkansas

When you look at Toller and the 18 points he had last season, his numbers don’t exactly jump off the page. But when looking at the amount of games Arkansas played last season, it becomes a lot easier to understand why he was named Third Team All-Conference. In the five games Toller played, he averaged 3.6 points per game, a dramatic increase from his freshman year’s total (2.13 ppg). With the Razorbacks set to play at least nine games in 2015, we can expect to see a lot more points from the 6-foot-2 junior.

Defense: Michael Cesena, Kansas State University

Cesena was a leader on the defensive side of the ball for a Kansas State team which only mustered two wins last season. With all starters returning on defense, Cesena and company look poised to grow as a unit. After earning Third Team All-Conference honors during his freshmen season last year, the pressure will be on for Cesena to avoid the sophomore slump.

Goalie: Max Jordan, University of Nebraska

In 2014, the University of Nebraska played a conference-high 16 games. With such a long schedule and a young defense, the starting goaltender for the team was bound to see a lot of shots on net. That’s exactly what happened to Max Jordan. As a junior last season, the netminder saved the second-most goals in the conference (while also allowing the most goals). Although the goal total may have been high, Jordan enters his second season as a starter and with it comes more experience. He will command a defense that won’t lose any players from its 2014 roster and if we can see an improvement from their long poles, Jordan can become the best goalie in the western division.

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