The 2004 season for the University of Mary Washington men's lacrosse team proved to be one of many firsts and continued in a line of consecutive seasons in which the Eagles have continued to develop into one of the top NCAA Division III programs in the region. The Eagles, who finished with a 10-4 record, won at least ten games for the third consecutive year, defeated tenth-ranked Cabrini College, and earned the program's first ever national ranking, as the Eagles flew into the #20 spot in the nation in the final week of the season.
Led by senior all-conference attacker Matt Wiles, who scored a team-high 33 goals and added ten assists, the Eagles finished with a 5-1 record in Capital Athletic Conference play. Junior All-CAC middie Dave Justen was second on the squad, with 23 goals and 15 assists, the highest point total ever by a UMW middie. Junior attacker Mark Fiore was third with 15 goals and 12 assists. Defensively, senior goalkeeper Mike D'Eredita played all 14 games, logging a 7.36 goals-against average to go along with a .561 save percentage.
The 2004 season opened with high expectations after back-to-back seasons that produced eleven and ten wins in 2002 and 2003. The Eagles opened the season with a convincing 11-4 win over Virginia Wesleyan College before falling to twelfth-ranked Hampden-Sydney College. Head Coach Kurt Glaeser's troops rebounded to top Randolph-Macon College and a tough Dickinson College squad before nearly upsetting nationally ranked Washington & Lee University, falling by a narrow 9-8 margin.
The Eagles opened the Capital Athletic Conference portion of their schedule with a 12- 7 win over Catholic University before scoring 13 goals against Goucher College and their All-American goalkeeper in a 13-9 triumph at the Battleground. A 7-6 win at St. Mary's College followed, and a 12-4 win at Marymount University pushed the Eagles' conference record to 4-0. After an 18-5 loss to top-ranked Salisbury University, the Eagles topped York College to gain the second seed in the CAC Tournament. Another decisive win over York in the first round set up a rematch against St. Mary's in the semifinals. In a series in which the past five games had been decided by one goal, the Eagles fell, 9-7, bringing to an end the season with the highest winning percentage in school history (.714).
If the Eagles are to remain among the elite in the CAC, they will have to replace a large portion of their offense, including Wiles and Chris Doddridge; their goalkeeper, D'Eredita, who, after switching positions from midfielder his freshman season, emerged into one of the better keepers in the region; and All-CAC defender Ryan Zdanowicz and speedy ground ball specialist Mark Malone.
Among the returnees at the attack, rising senior Mark Fiore will look to shoulder a bulk of the duty after pacing the offense in assists in each of the past two seasons. Also, back are junior Greg Rose, who saw increased time in 2004, Adam Castellani, and Dave Morris. At the midfield, Justen anchors a strong returning group that includes faceoff specialist Ryan Brown, Lee Thompson, Drew Hebble, Matt RichmanRaphael, and Matt Morrell.
Defensively, the Eagles will look to veteran starters Drew Cartwright and Jamie Stoddard to help fill the void left by the graduation of D'Eredita and Zdanowicz. Manny Niaz returns with the long stick for UMW, as does defender Brad Matson, who saw prime minutes as a freshman in '04.
If the Eagles are to remain one of top emerging programs in the nation, they will have to traverse a very difficult schedule again in 2005. In addition to CAC contests (in which UMW has gone 15-3 over the past three seasons) against Salisbury University, St. Mary's College and Goucher College, top nonconference foes such as Roanoke College, Dickinson College, Washington & Lee University, and Hampden-Sydney College will again appear on the 2005 slate.