Coach Kevin Dugan's University of Scranton men's lacrosse team will participate in the third annual Nick Colleluori Classic on Sunday, October 11, at Ridley High School in Ridley, Pennsylvania. This tournament is hosted by the HEADstrong Foundation to aid in the fight against blood cancer.

The event is held in honor of the late Nicholas "Head" Colleluori, a graduate of Ridley High School who was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma in his sophomore year at Hofstra University in 2005 and passed away 14 months later. Admission is $10.00, with the proceeds to benefit the HEADstrong Foundation.

The Royals will play York College of Pennsylvania at 11:30 a.m., Widener University at 1:30 p.m., and Ursinus College at 3:00 p.m.

"This is going to be an exciting weekend for our guys. The Nick Colleluori Classic supports a great cause, and has quickly become one of the top fall tournaments in the country, we feel lucky to be part of it. We have several key offensive players injured or studying abroad this fall, so a lot of the young midfielders and attackmen have a great opportunity to prove themselves at this weekend's fall event."

This weekend's games will give Dugan an opportunity to see another talented recruiting class in action. Twelve newcomers will join a solid nucleus that includes 29 returnees from last year's team that posted its second straight winning season and advanced to the championship match of the Landmark Conference tournament.

"Similar to last year's class, Tim Marshall, our recruiting coordinator, deserves a lot of credit for helping put this group together." says Dugan, now 41-36 (.532) in six seasons as a head coach on the collegiate level and 26-21 (.553) in four years at Scranton.

"I am really happy with the pedigree of this year's class. We have talent coming in from some of the top high school programs in the country, including several players that served as captains in their senior year, and several boys that lettered in more than one sport. I am specifically excited to have a good deal of football – lacrosse players in this class. Generally speaking, I am really pleased with the improvements we are making in our overall team speed and athleticism at each position."

The following newcomers will be joining the Royals this year:

Timothy Cleary, a long-stick midfielder from Shrewsbury, New Jersey, and graduate of Christian Brothers Academy. In addition to serving as team co-captain and being selected the team's co-most valuable player (MVP), he was a two-time first-team all-Shore Conference selection, earned all-America honors by US Lacrosse, was selected to the NJ Under Armour all-American team, was a second-team all-state selection by the Newark Star Ledger, and was named honorable mention all-state for non-public schools. He was a member of two Shore Conference championship teams (2008, 2009) and state runner-up for non-public schools (2007) under head coach Dave Santos.

"Tim is one member of this year's class that really jumps off the field at you," says Dugan. "His speed is really impressive and makes him an offensive threat in between the lines. If he can continue to develop his stick work he will have the ability to create a lot of transition offense for us."

Tom Hall, a defenseman from Northport High School in Northport, New York. His high school coach was George Searing, and this past summer he played club lacrosse with the Long Island Sting. He also lettered in football in high school.

"Tom is a quick left handed defenseman with good cover skills and the ability to throw quick, controlled checks," says Dugan.

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2009-10-09