Nationally fourth-ranked Saints play Pfeiffer in conference tourney semi’s Friday at 1:00 p.m. Gaffney, S.C. — The Limestone College men’s lacrosse team remains No.1 in the latest NCAA Division II South Region Rankings released on Wednesday, April 21. While the Saints at 9-0 within the region lead the way for the second time in as many rankings, Conference Carolinas rival Queens University of Charlotte moves up to No.2. The Royals are 8-2 in the region. Saint Leo is up to third, the Lions are 10-3 versus region foes while another set of Lions, Mars Hill fell from second to fourth and is 9-3 within region action. Catawba has moved up to the No.5 ranking and is 7-5 within the region. Elsewhere, Le Moyne continues to top the North and is followed by Merrimack, Bentley, Pace and Adelphi. As for the Central, Mercyhurst held onto the No.1 ranking as was followed by Dowling, C.W. Post, NYIT and Seton Hill. One team from each of the three regions and one at-large team from any region shall be selected to participate in the 2010 NCAA Division II Men’s Lacrosse Championship. Teams must have a .500 record against Division II competition to be selected for the championship. Championship selections will take place Sunday, May 9 with the selection show airing at 10-11 p.m. Eastern time on the CBS College Sports Network. Limestone has represented its region in the NCAA Division II Men’s Tournament each of the previous 10 season’s. Limestone, 9-1 overall and No.4 nationally in the latest USILA Division II Rakings, returns to action on Friday of this week, April 23rd, as the top-seeded and Conference Carolinas regular season champion Saints square off against fourth-seeded Pfeiffer in the semifinals of the Conference Carolinas Men’s Lacrosse Tournament in Charlotte, N.C. Face-off is set for 1:00 p.m. at the Queens Sports Complex. Limestone has won seven straight and went 5-0 within the conference. Pfeiffer went 2-3 in the league and is 8-8 overall. The Saints and the Falcons just met on Saturday (4/17) with Limestone winning 9-5 at “The Rock”. The Limestone/Pfeiffer winner will advance to Sunday’s (April 25) 4:00 p.m., tournament championship and will play the winner of Friday’s 4:00 p.m., semifinal between second-seeded Queens University of Charlotte and third-seeded Belmont Abbey. The home standing Royals went 4-1 in the conference and are 9-3 overall and are also the third-ranked team in the south region. Belmont Abbey posted a 3-2 mark within league play and is 6-5 overall. Limestone posted road wins at both Queens (3/31) and Belmont Abbey (4/10) during the regular season. The Saints posted a 15-10 decision over the Royals and defeated the Crusaders 13-10. As noted earlier the 2010 Conference Carolinas Men’s Lacrosse Tournament will be played at the Queens Sports Complex at Marion Diehl Park which is located at 2229 Tyvola Road in Charlotte (N.C.).

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Limestone, down 5-0 in the second quarter, got on the board with 1:41 remaining in the half on a goal by Jake Rogalia (Liverpool, N.Y.) assisted by Riley Loewen (Burnaby, British Columbia).  The Saints added a quick goal taking the ensuing face-off with Jeff Santo finding the back of the net with the assist from Mike Poerstel (Annapolis, MD) pulling Limestone within 5-2.  However, the Dolphins (2-0) answered tallying a score with only 0:22 remaining in the half and led 6-2 at the intermission.

Limestone would pull within three goals for second time on the day that at the 8:40 mark of the third quarter when Jackson Decker (Port Moody, British, Columbia) zipped in a shot, the first of his two goals, cutting the deficit to 6-3.  But LeMoyne responded adding goals with 4:34 and 4:24 left in the period to push its advantage to 8-3 thru three quarters.

The Saints tallied the first of their three scores in the fourth quarter with 7:40 to play when Poerstel took a pass from Decker and deposited his shot into the net with getting Limestone to within 8-4.  Then in the final minute the Saints would get goals from Loewen at the 0:30 mark and Decker as time expired to get pulling within the final score of 8-6.

Limestone goalie Steve Gartleman (Seaford, N.Y.) came up with 10 saves on the day.

As for team stats, Limestone was 16-for-19 on clears and 9-of-18 on face-offs.  Le Moyne held a 35-24 advantage in shots and a 23-18 edge in ground balls while turning the ball over eight times as compared the Saints’ 14.

Limestone returns to action on Saturday, March 13 hosting eighth-ranked Mars Hill in a South Region showdown with the face-off set for 1:00 p.m. at “The Rock”.

As usual, expectations are high for Limestone as the squad is ranked No. 5 in the Lacrosse Magazine NCAA Division II national preseason poll and No. 6 in the Inside Lacrosse Face-Off Yearbook Division II national preseason poll.

The Saints will have a strong team on the field, anchored by four preseason All-Americans: defender Spencer Wims, attackman Thomas Langan, midfielder Mike Poerstel, and midfielder Teddy Prager.

Queen’s University of Charlotte men’s lacrosse team has been ranked second in the preseason poll as voted on by conference coaches. For the fourth consecutive year Queens’ men’s lacrosse has been selected in the top three of the coaches’ preseason poll and the selection is a good sign for Head Coach Jim Fritz. “This continued recognition by the members of the conference shows our effort to build a strong, consistent program here at Queens.”

The 2009 Conference Carolinas Regular Season Co-Champions lost some of their key players, including 2009 Player of the Year Steph LeBlanc. The group of returning players is experienced and will make significant contributions while the newest Royals bring depth and talent to the squad.

Belmont Abbey College finished third in the coaches pre-season poll. The Abbey men’s lacrosse team enters the 2010 season with momentum on its side after finishing the year winning four of its last five games and advancing to the Conference Carolinas tournament semifinal for the second-straight season.

The Crusaders return four of their top six scorers from last season, and five of the seven all-conference selections, including Freshman of the Year Austin Whitesell. Senior Dave DiLuigi returns as one of the top scorers and face-off men in the league. DiLuigi racked up 29 points and won 60 percent of his face-offs.

Rounding out the men’s lacrosse preseason poll 4-6 was: Pfeiffer & Lees-McRae and St. Andrews (tied).