Men’s Lacrosse voted sixth in SAC; Butler & Cetrone land preseason all-league nods

ROCK HILL, S.C. – The Catawba College men's lacrosse team was projected to finish sixth in the South Atlantic Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll released by the league office on Thursday morning. Jack Butler and Frank Cetrone garnered spots on the preseason all-conference teams, becoming the first two Catawba representatives on the list since 2022.

Lenoir-Rhyne, the defending SAC champion and national runner-up, took the pole position with seven first-place votes. Fellow NCAA Tournament entrant Limestone appeared close behind in second place, taking the other four No. 1 nods. Wingate and Newberry are expected to host SAC Championship quarterfinal games at the third and fourth slots, respectively. Rounding out the postseason qualifiers are Anderson and Catawba, forecasting the latter's first tournament berth in three seasons. Coker and Lincoln Memorial are projected to be on the bubble for playoff contention, while Mars Hill, Tusculum, and Emory & Henry complete the poll.

In his fourth year in Salisbury, Butler bagged his first piece of SAC recognition with an appointment to the first team at short-stick defensive midfielder. In 2024, Butler found the back of the net on both of his shots on goal in addition to dishing out two assists. The Waxhaw native gave offenses headaches, ranking second among Catawba midfielders with eight caused turnovers and third with 18 ground balls.

Cetrone is coming off a sensational sophomore season in which he bagged 30 goals with 11 assists, posting the program's highest single-season goal count since Matt Mitchell's 31 in 2021. The attackman from Greensboro was lethal in SAC play with the seventh-most goals (19) while burying 33.9% of his shots. Cetrone stepped up in big games, notched three hat tricks against conference opposition including No. 1 Limestone and No. 6 Newberry.

The program begins its 2025 season on Saturday, Feb. 1 at Chowan. Opening faceoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.