UMass Dartmouth returns nine starters and plenty of depth as the Corsairs head into the 2002 season

(Dartmouth, MA) - Entering his fifth season with UMass Dartmouth's men's lacrosse program, head coach Jeff Feroce has nine starters back from last season's team which posted a 9-5 overall record and finished third in the Little East Conference at 4-2.

UMass Dartmouth's strength for the 2002 season will be the return four of the Corsairs' top six scorers last season and several younger players who gained valuable experience a season ago.

"We certainly have a lot of depth heading into this season and I think this is the most talented group of players I've had since we started as a varsity program," said Feroce. "It is still a relatively young squad, but we do have a lot of talent, especially up front."

Leading the way for UMass Dartmouth will be sophomore attack Jeff McKee (Ashland, MA), who was honored by the LEC coaches last season as the conference Rookie of the Year. In his first season with the Corsairs, McKee scored 23 goals, plus a team-high 31 assists for 55 points, second most on the squad. McKee appeared in 12 games for UMass Dartmouth and took 40 shots, averaging 4.6 points per game.

Also back for another season are a pair of LEC Second Team All-Stars, senior attack and co-captains Jim Ruggeri (Waltham, MA) and senior defenseman and co-captain Rich Maggio (Winchester, MA). Ruggeri was UMass Dartmouth's leading scorer with 42 goals and 26 assists for 68 points, an average of 5.7 points per game over 12 games. Maggio appeared in 11 games for UMass Dartmouth and led a defense, which limited Corsair opponents to 9.7 goals per game.

Senior midfielder Jared Gray (Weymouth, MA) (16-10-26) was honored following the LEC Men's Lacrosse Tournament last season. Gray was the only member of the Corsairs to be named to the LEC All-Tournament team after scoring a pair of goals and an assist in UMass Dartmouth's 12-10 LEC semi-final round loss to UMass Boston.

Among the other top returners for UMass Dartmouth are senior midfielder and co-captain Dan Salerno (Billerica, MA) (9-2-11) and junior defense Geoff Beckett (Swampscott, MA). The Corsairs had several first-year players who made important contributions return for a second season including, sophomores John King (Ashland, MA) (6-8-14), John Handrahan (Wareham, MA) (10-1-11), Kevin Sawula (Northampton, MA) (3-0-3), Pat Boyle (Liverpool, NY) and goalie Mike Jenkins (Ashland, MA) (5 games, 1.2 goals against average).

"I look at the 2002 season with guarded optimism," said Feroce, who will work with assistant coach Kevin Mahoney this season. "We do have plenty of talent, but the Little East Conference is a tough league and we've toughened up the non-conference schedule this season. We need to continue to improve as a team."

After dropping a 24-15 non-conference season-opening loss to Western New England College on March 11, the Corsairs get back into action with another non-conference game on March 20 at Clark University.

UMass Dartmouth opens Little East Conference competition at Salem State (playing as an LEC team in men's lacrosse) on March 28. The Corsairs will host one of the top teams in the LEC, Eastern Connecticut State University, in UMass Dartmouth's home opener on March 30 at 1:00 p.m.