Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 4/7/16
Staff Report
After more than half the season, Philly grads Dylan Protesto, Will Gural and Mike Lanham are ranked No.1, No. 2 and No. 9 in the nation in Division I in face-off percentage.
Hartford sophomore Dylan Protesto (Penncrest, NCXT)
Protesto, a sophomore from Penncrest and NXT, has won an amazing 72.8 percent of his draws through 10 games, taking 158 and losing 59. Right behind him at 71.1 percent is Yale (Duke’s L.C.) senior Will Gural, who has won 108 of 152 draws. In ninth place is St. Joseph’s junior Mike Lanham (HEADstrong LC,Jags Lax), who has a percentage of 65.1 and has won 97 of 149 draws.
“It doesn’t shock me at all, as hard as the kid works,” said Penncrest coach Wayne Matsinger of Protesto, a First-Team All-Phillylacrosse.com and All-American a as senior who helped lead the Lions to the PIAA title. “In all my years of coaching I never had anybody as dedicated to his craft. He is a beast at the face-off circle.”
Gural’s success has helped Brown to an 8-1 start and ranking among the top teams in the country.
Below is a listing of NCAA stats of Philly players among the leaders in Division I and Division III.
NCAA Division I face-off leaders by percentage, as of April 5
1 Dylan Protesto (Penncrest, NXT) Hartford So. 10 158 59 217 246 .728
2 Will Gural (Haverford School, Duke’s LC) Brown Sr. 8 108 44 152 256 .711
Brown’s Will Gural (Haverford School, Duke’s LC)
3 Sam Talkow Boston U. Jr. 11 127 55 182 240 .698
4 Zachary Melillo Marquette So. 8 102 48 150 154 .680
5 Alex Daly Army West Point Sr. 10 64 31 95 234 .674
6 Dan Grabher Army West Point Jr. 10 78 39 117 234 .667
7 Trevor Baptiste Denver So. 9 145 73 218 232 .665
8 Domenic Massimilian Cornell Jr. 7 98 51 149 177 .658
9 Mike Lanham (Garnet Valley, XXX) Saint Joseph’s Jr. 8 97 52 149 217 .651
10 Jason Murphy Virginia So. 11 105 57 162 253 .648
11 Kyle Rowe Duke Jr. 9 146 82 228 335 .640
12 Austin Henningsen Maryland Fr. 9 95 56 151 196 .629
13 Stephen Kelly North Carolina Jr. 10 140 85 225 257 .622
14 Brady Dove Navy Jr. 9 95 58 153 180 .621
15 Luke Palmadesso Villanova So. 9 127 81 208 250 .611
Others
30 Will Fox (St. Augustine Prep) Fairfield So. 11 95 80 175 248 .543
42 P.J. Finley (Malvern Prep/Lawrenceville) Notre Dame Jr. 8 75 75 150 168 .500
Division III
2 Fernando Gutierrez (Manheim Township) Emerson – 6 97 26 123 177 .789
5 Tyler Bollard (Archbishop Ryan) Stockton Fr. 8 118 41 159 200 .742
Others
16 Zach Bowe (West Chester East) Rosemont Jr. 8 104 48 152 183 .684
38 Matt Lee (Cherry Hill East) Eastern Sr. 9 91 57 148 175 .615
44 Matt Tordone (Owen J. Roberts) Delaware Valley Fr. 7 82 53 135 138 .607
46 James Fairchild (Malvern Prep) Ursinus Sr. 8 88 57 145 181 .607