Cefalu Named Preseason Honorable Mention All-American

Patrick Cefalu (East Islip, N.Y./East Islip), a senior face-off specialist on The University of Scranton men's lacrosse team, has been named preseason honorable mention all-American in the 2011 Face-Off Yearbook.

Cefalu is the Royals all-time leader in ground balls (301) and highest face-off percentage (.630). Last season, he tied and broke the NCAA single-game record for fastest goal to start a game. In a 16-3 victory over Moravian College on April 21 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, he tied the mark by winning the face-off and scoring six seconds into the first period.

Three days later, in an 18-1 win over Penn State-Abington, Cefalu set the new mark by scoring five seconds into the game. For the season, Cefalu finished with five goals, an assist, and a face-off percentage of .673 (152 of 226). He also won more than 50 percent of his face-off attempts in 12 of 15 games. In his three-year career, he has yet to miss a game.

Cefalu will serve as one of four captains for the Royals this year, joining fellow seniors Stephen Bruestle (Holland, Pa./Archbishop Wood), Jeremy Dowiak (Hackettstown, N.J./West Morris) and Sean Milde (Succasunna, N.J./Roxbury).

The Royals, under the direction of first-year head coach Jim Rogalski, will open their 2011 season on Saturday, February 26, against DeSales University at Fitzpatrick Field at 1:00 p.m.

2010-12-23