Six Terriers Earn All-Patriot League Accolades
April 29, 2024 | Men's Lacrosse
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Six members of the Boston University men's lacrosse team earned All-Patriot League accolades, the conference announced on Monday.
Graduate students Vince D'Alto, Patrick Morrison and Louis Perfetto repeated as First Team All-Patriot League selections while junior Will Barnes joined graduate students Jake Cates and Roy Meyer on the second team. This is Meyer's third nod to an All-Patriot League squad while Cates secured All-PL laurels for the second time in his career.
This is the third straight year that BU has placed at least six players on All-Patriot League teams. D'Alto is the first Terrier in program history to earn four All-Patriot League honors. He and Morrison also became the first Terriers to secure three First Team All-Patriot League accolades since Cal Dearth did so from 2015-17.
D'Alto finished the regular season ranked second in the Patriot League with 64 points and 29 assists, and his 35 goals was tied for second on the Terriers. He and Perfetto became the first two teammates in at least 15 years to record 60+ points in three straight seasons. D'Alto, who became the program's all-time leading point producer (270) and goal scorer (161) this season, recorded at least one point in all 14 games this season and notched at least three points on 11 different occasions. That includes a nine-point (7g, 2a) effort against Vermont on Feb. 10, which matched his own school record for goals in a game.
Morrison once again proved himself to be one of the top close defenders in the conference during the 2024 campaign. He tied Meyer for the team lead in caused turnovers (22), collected 28 ground balls and also had one assist. Typically tasked with guarding the opponent's top attacker, Morrison helped the Terriers finish third in the nation in caused turnovers per game (10.93) and opponent clearing percentage (.777) in addition to third in the Patriot League in scoring defense (11.14 GA/G). Morrison was a two-time PL Defensive Player of the Week who recorded a season-high four ground balls on three occasions and collected a career-high six caused turnovers at Brown on Feb. 20.
Perfetto turned in one of the finest regular seasons in conference history. He was the only Patriot League player to record at least 30 goals and 30 assists, setting new career highs with 39 goals, 38 assists and 77 points. He led the Patriot League in total goals, total assists and total points, with D'Alto being the only other player to even top 60 points. Perfetto, who scored a goal in all 14 games, was so dominant that he had 21 more points than the closest non-Terrier (Colgate's Rory Connor, 56 points) and had 31 more points than Army West Point's Evan Plunkett, the coaches' selection for Offensive Player of the Year. Perfetto recorded at least three points in all but one game and averaged 5.8 points per game over his last five starts. He enters the postseason ranked fourth in the nation with 5.50 points per game.
Barnes was brilliant in his first year as the Terriers' starting goalkeeper. He enters the postseason as the conference leader in save percentage (.543) and ranks eighth in the nation (and first in the PL) with an average of 13.21 saves per game. A three-time PL Goalkeeper of the Week, Barnes made at least 10 saves in all but two starts. He allowed 10 goals or fewer on seven different occasions, including on March 22 when he stopped 15 shots in a 14-9 victory over then-No. 1 Army and on March 30 at Holy Cross when he made 10 saves and allowed just six goals. Barnes also finished the regular season ranked fourth on the squad with 37 ground balls.
Cates was fantastic in the Terrier midfield this past season, setting new career highs in assists (17) and points (33) while also scoring 16 goals in 14 starts. Cates notched a point in all but one game this season and was terrific down the stretch for BU, averaging 3.25 points per game in April. That includes a three-goal, one-assist effort on Friday at Colgate during which he scored the tying goal from midfield. Cates twice tallied five points, including a career-high five goals in a season-opening victory over Saint Joseph's. He finished fourth on the squad in goals and points and was third on the team in assists.
Meyer was once again one of the top LSMs in the country this past season. The two-time First Team All-American enters the postseason tied with Morrison for the team lead in caused turnovers (22) and second on the squad with 57 ground balls. Meyer also added two assists. He notched at least one ground ball in all 14 games, including a season-high seven in the win over No. 1 Army. He also had seven ground balls and three caused turnovers against No. 8/9 Yale on April 9. That performance against the Bulldogs began a four-game stretch in which Meyer averaged 2.0 caused turnovers per game and 4.0 ground balls per game. He currently ranks first all-time at BU with 140 caused turnovers and third all-time at BU with 240 ground balls.
