It is not the BCS, but the preseason ranks are in...

Well Happy New Year everyone, I hope that the first 13 days of 2012 have brought nothing but pleasant things to you all. Let us all enjoy the 341 days, 8218 hours, 493082 minutes, 29584957 seconds (to this moment) that we have left until the "Apocalypse". I am kidding people, lighten up.

There is nothing like starting a new year with all new things. For this blog, I have conjured up a list of 'all new Plattsburgh everything' to tell you guys about. Before we jump in and get our hands dirty, I must take a moment and talk about this winter, or for that matter lack of. I think you definitely know what I am talking about. We are 3 days away from being home for an entire month and there has not been the slightest sign of winter. Sunny clear blue skies with temperatures in the upper forties and fifties has been the consistent weather for the duration of this break. Hey, maybe this 2012 end of the world prophecy stuff is not too far off. Seriously though I can not complain, it has been great for anything outdoors, like running, surfing, practicing outside and what not. I am sure all the guys have been taking advantage of this opportunity and enjoying it as much as I have been.

Alright, so you read the title of this blog and might be wondering what I am talking about. Every year Inside Lacrosse, yes the same Inside Lacrosse that proud alumni and previous captain Dan DeFrancesco blogs for, releases a preseason ranking for all conferences in division three lacrosse. Heres how it lines up for the SUNYAC this season.

SUNYAC

Rankings

1. Cortland
2. Geneseo
3. Potsdam
4. Plattsburgh

5. Brockport
6. Oneonta

7. Oswego

As you can see we landed the 4th spot behind our close rival Potsdam. We beat them 11-6 in the regular season but they proved to be a strong team after stunning Geneseo 18-17 in the SUNYAC tournament, but falling to Cortland 16-3 in the SUNYAC finals. As well as the preseason rankings, Inside Lacrosse also creates a preseason All-Conference team which consists of the real stand out players from the prior season. The team and I are honored that one of our own for another consecutive year has made the list. I want to congratulate Nick Travers, whose 18 goal, 13 assist, 31 point season stats earned him this impressive achievement.

Preseason All-Conference

A Mike Tota, Cortland
A Peter Pike, Potsdam
A Greg Wright, Cortland
M Robbie Ashlaw, Potsdam
M Joe Slavik, Cortland

M Nick Travers, Plattsburgh
F/O Jimmy van de Veerdonk, Oneonta

LSM Jack Kennedy, Cortland
D Rashaun Durden, Potsdam
D Brian Winterfeldt, Cortland
D Derek Drance, Geneseo
G Scott Tota, Cortland

Traveling into some not so new news, coach Cavanagh wanted me to remind everyone of the gear package that is made available for additional orders unlike years prior. You can just print this sheet out, mark down the sizes and numbers you want next to the item (s). Mail all checks payable to Plattsburgh State Lacrosse. I know this gear is going to look awesome and I am anxious to see everyone sporting it at our games.

So here is the part you have all been waiting for. If you have not decided to follow @Platts_Lax via Twitter you probably have not seen the new Maverik bags that we will be using this year while traveling. Take a look at these bad boys...

As well as the bags, a decision for the new sticks and heads has been made. All black STX Professor heads with red STX Sabre shafts. Glad to see these mad the cut and not the bamboo shafts. Take a look...

I can certainly assure you that in the thirteen years of this programs history we have never looked so fresh before. From head to toe this team has been completely transformed. I know this sounds all great and dandy but these changes are just a small speck of the changes really being made to this program. With the new coaching changes along with the leadership of some familiar and some new faces, we are forming a team that is going to bring this program to that next step. With an exciting and tough schedule ahead, the preparation and hard work has already begun for most of us. We are going to have work extra hard this season with the lose of senior captain Danny Caufield who started every game in net for us last season. Danny suffered an unfortunate injury during the last practice of fall which kept him out of our fall ball game and unbeknown to him, the rest of the season. Danny is going to work with the younger goalies as well as the entire team to help us become the team he would of wanted to have for his last season. We owe him a great deal and we will certainly play our tails off for him.

Alright well I hope everyone loved all the new equipment and I can not tell you how excited I am to get back up there to start this spring semester. Once again I really want to urge everybody who follows Plattsburgh Lacrosse, and supports this program to please create a Twitter account and follow @Platts_lax. I really have some great ideas for the season pertaining to Twitter and its capabilities. DeFran is the one who originally came up with the idea of creating an account for fans to follow. I took that same idea and expanded it by creating a strictly Plattsburgh account, identical to the ones of many division 1, 2, and 3 teams all over the nation. It is going to allow Plattsburgh as an organization to gain more recognition nationally and show everyone how large our fan base is. If you have not read prior blogs, I already update images of new gear and equipment first hand before any of the blogs I write. I also keep followers updated with things we are doing on and off campus, such as community service and events done together as a team. For the season I have hopes on keeping updated scores at games that you guys might not be able to make. I know first hand that my old man gets very aggravated when the home team does not keep live stats and will even go so far as to paying for a live feed. So hopefully this will save money and some headaches.

Well I hope everyone enjoys the rest of the break, I will probably blog the weekend after our first week of practice to keep all you guys updated on how things are going. Take care and enjoy this weather and time with family and friends.

-Mike Santi

Some country music to change it up a little bit... I know Kilderry and Travers will enjoy this