Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 11/12/16
From Press Release
Following strong fall seasons on and off the field, Lehigh men’s lacrosse seniors Ian Strain (Episcopal Academy), Cody Triolo, and Donny Stires have been named team captains, as announced by head coach Kevin Cassese on Friday. The three bring a wide breadth of experiences into their senior seasons.
Ian Strain
Strain has run on one of Lehigh’s top midfield lines throughout his career with the Mountain Hawks. The two-way midfielder and Springfield, Pa. native sat out his freshman season due to injury, then posted three points, 18 groundballs and six caused turnovers as a sophomore. He’s developed into a key two-way midfielder and has continued to up his play, last season recording eight goals, six assists, and 31 groundballs (fifth on the team) and nine caused turnovers. Strain has also been strong in the classroom, owning a cumulative grade point average over 3.0 in Finance.
Triolo has been a model student-athlete, on and off the field, for the Mountain Hawks. The Burlington, N.J. native has emerged as one of the team’s top midfielders, while also sporting an impressive 3.96 GPA, working on an Integrated Civil Engineering and Finance degree. Triolo has scored two goals in each of the last two seasons, while also adding 17 groundballs in that span. He missed one month due to injury last year, but returned in strong fashion, posting a goal and assist at Princeton.
Stires has served as a backup goaltender his entire career, but has made a mark on his teammates. The former walk-on and Martinsville, N.J. native has played in eight career games and owns a strong 7.14 goals against average and .538 save percentage in over 100 minutes of work. He earned a win against Princeton as a sophomore and went on to play the final 43:12 in relief in the Patriot League Quarterfinals. A Materials Science and Engineering major, Stires owns a GPA over 3.0 as well.
“It is an honor to announce these three men as team captains for the 2016-17 campaign,” said Cassese. “Our entire senior class has elevated their level of leadership so far this year, and Ian, Cody and Donny have emerged as high level leaders within their class and on this team. I look forward to working with them as we prepare for an extremely challenging 2017 game slate in the Patriot League and overall.”
Lehigh’s 2017 schedule includes two of last season’s final four teams, including defending National Champion North Carolina along with Loyola. The Mountain Hawks also face Stony Brook, Princeton and Cornell in the nonleague while facing an always challenging Patriot League slate as they will vie for their seventh straight Patriot League Tournament appearance.
Among last season’s standouts, and the top returnees in 2017, are long-stick midfielder Craig Chick, the nation’s leader with 37 caused turnovers, and attackman Tristan Rai, who finished 2016 second on the Mountain Hawks in goals (31) and points (41).