Season Review: Men’s Lacrosse continues tradition of success in 2023

By Wes Mayberry

ADA — The Ohio Northern men's lacrosse team is no stranger to success. The program has posted a winning record in all eight years of its existence after having finished 12-6 in 2023, which saw the Polar Bears make yet another appearance in the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals under eighth-year head coach Nat St. Laurent.

"The season overall was another successful one for the team and program," St. Laurent said. "We are very proud of the work our seniors have done and will miss those moving on due to graduation. They left the program in a good place, and next year's team is eager to get to work to continue to build on this season's success."

Northern opened 5-0 in 2023 with wins over Alma (Mich.), Adrian (Mich.), DePauw (Ind.), Wittenberg and Bridgewater (Va.) for its best start in program history and finished the year in fourth place in the OAC with a 6-3 mark.

As the No. 4 seed, the Polar Bears defeated fifth-seeded Otterbein 10-3 in the OAC Tournament quarterfinals before falling 10-6 to top-seeded Baldwin Wallace in the semifinals. This year marked the team's fifth straight semifinals appearance in years in which the tournament has been held. That stretch includes a runner-up finish in 2019.

Three Polar Bears earned All-OAC honors in 2023. Senior defender Andrew Reimer (Lancaster, N.Y.) and junior midfielder John Lynn (Cincinnati/Sycamore) were named to the Second Team, and senior goalkeeper Cole Zaferakis (Liverpool, N.Y.) was an Honorable Mention selection.

Reimer started all 18 games this season and led the team with 28 caused turnovers while ranking second in ground balls with 61. Offensively, he had five points on two goals and three assists. He was part of an ONU defense that ranked third in the conference in fewest goals allowed on the season. In 35 career games at ONU, Reimer has 73 ground balls and 33 caused turnovers.

"Andrew had his best season for us this year," St. Laurent said. "He has grown tremendously during his time at ONU. This year, he established himself as one of the top defenders in our league and a catalyst for our defense. He will be returning for a fifth year next season, and his best work is still ahead of him."

Lynn also started all 18 games, finishing the year with 28 points on 16 goals and 12 assists to go with 15 ground balls. He ranked second on the team in assists and third in points. In 35 career games at ONU, Lynn has 57 points on 38 goals and 19 assists along with 27 ground balls and 14 caused turnovers.

"John is a great young man, and we are happy to see him continue to develop as a player. He works hard and continues to develop each season," St. Laurent said. "We are looking forward to seeing that development continue heading into next season, as the sky is the limit for John."

Now a two-time All-OAC honoree, Zaferakis started all 18 games in goal for ONU in 2023 and posted a 12-6 record to go with 142 saves, a .555 save percentage and 7.41 GAA. He ranked third in the conference in GAA and fourth in save percentage and was a three-time OAC Defensive Player of the Week.

Named to the InsideLacrosse.com All-Freshman Team in 2020, Zaferakis is a six-time OAC Defensive Player of the Week selection who owns program records for saves in a game (19), single-season saves (142) and single-season wins in goal (12). He is also ONU's all-time career leader in saves (441), wins (36) and goalie minutes (2,765:52). His career GAA of 8.33 ranks third all-time, and he has a career record of 36-19 with a save percentage of .535.

"Upon his arrival to campus his first year, Cole has earned a starting spot as our goalie. That has not been easy, as the competition at that position is and has been very strong," St. Laurent said. "Cole is one of the best goalies in our league and has continued to develop as a leader of our team. We are very excited to have him back for a fifth year and look forward to seeing what he does in his final stanza in our program."

The team featured several other impact players in 2023, as nine Polar Bears recorded double-digit goals, and 11 had double-digit point totals. Joining Lynn in that group were seniors Riley O'Neal (Dumfries, Va./Forest Park), Tyler Ferguson (Springboro) and Alex Reimer (Lancaster, N.Y.), juniors Aidan Dempsey (Silver Spring, Md./St. John's College), Sebastian Michaud (Springboro), Andrew Caliri (Lexington, Mass.) and Willy Hanson (Black Earth, Wis./Wisconsin Heights), sophomore Caleb Bennett (New Market, Md./Linganore) and freshmen Colin Willits (West Chester/Lakota West) and Nathan Flynn (Springboro).

Dempsey led ONU in goals (31), assists (16) and points (47) and added 21 ground balls in 17 games. He recorded five hat tricks on the season, including a five-goal outing against Wilmington. In 43 career games at ONU, he has 85 points on 57 goals and 28 assists along with 49 ground balls and 19 caused turnovers.

Michaud started all 18 games in 2023 and tallied 35 points on 27 goals and eight assists. He ranked second on the team in goals and points while adding 20 ground balls. He had three hat tricks highlighted by a six-goal game against Marietta. In his 38-game career, he has 80 points on 57 goals and 23 assists to go with 52 ground balls.

O'Neal posted 26 points on 18 goals and eight assists while adding 20 ground balls in 18 games in 2023. In 50 games at ONU, he has 62 points on 28 goals and 34 assists along with 30 ground balls.

Bennett (16 goals, 8 assists), Caliri (16 goals, 7 assists), Ferguson (18 goals, 3 assists), Willits (14 goals, 7 assists) and Alex Reimer (13 goals, 7 assists) also had 20-plus points on the season.

Joining Andrew Reimer and Zaferakis in leading the Polar Bear defense in 2023 were seniors Ethan Hojnacki (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) and Nate Mitchell (Worthington/Kilbourne) and sophomore Joe Keeley (Potomac, Md./Georgetown Prep).

Keeley ranked second on the team in caused turnovers (24) and third in ground balls (40) in starting all 18 games this season. In 35 career games at ONU, he has 33 caused turnovers and 58 ground balls.

Mitchell ranked third on the team with 18 caused turnovers and had 38 ground balls in 14 games this season. He has 43 caused turnovers and 88 ground balls in 51 games at ONU.

Hojnacki recorded 14 caused turnovers and 28 ground balls in 18 games this season. In 51 games at ONU, he has 30 caused turnovers and 67 ground balls.

Juniors Chad Calderwood (West Linn, Ore., Episcopal) and T.J. Smith (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead) and sophomore Luke Dittus (Liberty Township/St. Xavier) led the Polar Bears in faceoffs in 2023.

Calderwood posted a team-best 135 faceoff victories on a 54% success rate while adding a team-high 76 ground balls in 18 games. He ranked fifth in the OAC in ground balls and seventh in faceoff wins. In 45 career games at ONU, he is 298-for-541 on faceoffs for a success rate of 55.1%. He is ONU's all-time career leader in ground balls with 147 and ranks second all-time in faceoff wins.

Dittus was successful on 57.8% of his faceoff opportunities, winning 48 of them, this season while adding 28 ground balls in nine games. In 25 games at ONU, he has 152 faceoff wins, a .559 faceoff percentage and 80 ground balls.

Smith posted 34 faceoff wins and a .500 faceoff percentage to go with 22 ground balls in 14 games in 2023. In 33 games at ONU, he has 68 faceoff wins, a .571 faceoff percentage and 45 ground balls.

The Polar Bears were also recognized for their academic success in 2023. Zaferakis was named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District At-Large Team and joined juniors Bennett Michel (Perrysburg), Michael Duffy (Indianapolis, Ind./Bishop Chatard), Nate Strauf (Pittsford, N.Y./Mendon) and Zachary Krempasky (Allison Park, Pa./Hampton) and sophomores Ian Roy (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Northern), Jack Wasik (Columbus/Worthington Kilbourne) and Matt Wilder (Arlington Heights, Ill./Saint Viator) as Academic All-OAC selections.

Looking ahead to next season, the Polar Bears are focused on continuing their tradition of success in 2024.

"We are very excited for the future of our program as we build off of the solid foundation the previous teams have laid," St. Laurent said. "Next year's seniors are a special group. The team will have a solid mixture of veteran leadership with big-game experience and a very talented group of underclassmen on the rise."