Mercer Men’s Lacrosse Picked Third, Lands a Trio of Preseason All-Conference Selections

MACON, Ga.(MERCER RELEASE) – Mercer senior Cole Branch, junior Justin Evans and sophomore Chris Baxa picked up Atlantic Sun Preseason All-Conference selections as the league office released its men’s lacrosse preseason coaches’ poll results on Wednesday.

In the predicted team standings, Mercer picked up 26 votes to place third among the six A-Sun teams. Jacksonville garnered five first place votes and was picked to win the league with 35 total points and High Point came in second with 27 points. VMI was tabbed fourth with 16 points while Furman and Richmond tied for fifth with 11 points.

Points are awarded in descending order, with a first-place vote being worth six points and a sixth-place vote being worth one point. Mercer was the only team in the league aside from Jacksonville to attract a first-place vote.

“Being picked third in the coaches’ poll is very fair at this point,” Mercer head coach Kyle Hannan said. “It’s going to be a competitive league and the fight to be in the top four spots to qualify for the conference tournament is going to be a battle. Right now, we know we’ve got a lot of work to do to be among those top four teams at the end of the season.

“In regards to the Preseason All-Conference team, just looking at the players who were selected shows how strong this conference can be,” Hannan continued.

Branch was one of four midfielders selected to the preseason team after racking up 26 points last season on the strength of 15 goals. The senior enters the final year of his career as Mercer’s all-time leader in career points (76), goals (54), assists (22), shots attempted (182), shots on goal (117) and man-up goals (11).

“Cole Branch is a talented player who played midfield and attack for us last year,” Hannan said. “He’s a very skilled guy who works extremely hard, and for him to be among a crowded group of talented players at the position says a lot for Cole.”

Evans earned his spot on the preseason team after ranking fifth nationally with 8.0 ground balls per game and 17th among Division I players with a 0.561 face-off win percentage in 2013. Evans boasts a program-best 196 ground balls for an average of 7.84 ground balls per game.

“Evans being selected as a specialist is exciting as well, very hard worker who’s proud of his craft. He takes pride in what he gives the team at his position.”

Baxa is one of three attackers on the preseason team after having a standout freshman campaign a year ago. The Owings, Md. native finished the 2013 season ranked 10th in the country at 2.75 goals per game, equaling Sony Brook’s Brody Eastwood for the best average among Division I freshmen. His team-leading 43 points in 12 games played also slotted him 30th nationally in points per game.

“Chris Baxa was selected among a very good group of attackers on the team,” Hannan said. “There are a lot of really good attackmen in this league, so for him to earn a spot on the preseason team is an honor.”

Mercer opens its season hosting Boston University on Feb. 8 at Mercer University Stadium. After the opener, the Bears travel for road contests at Michigan (Feb. 14) and Detroit Mercy (Feb. 16) before returning to Macon for their A-Sun opener against Richmond on Feb. 22.