BALTIMORE – Lehigh men’s lacrosse seniors Matt Poillon, Dan Taylor and Lukas Mikelinich were all selected in the 2015 Major League Lacrosse Collegiate Draft on Friday night in Baltimore. The first goaltender selected, Poillon was drafted 28th overall by the New York Lizards while Taylor was picked 38th by the Denver Outlaws and Mikelinich was selected 58th by the Lizards as well. All three have been named All-Patriot League honorees at Lehigh while Poillon is a three-time All-American and Taylor was a 2014 All-American. The draft took place during the 2015 US Lacrosse National Convention in the Hilton Baltimore.
Poillon, Taylor and Mikelinich become the fifth, sixth and seventh Mountain Hawks to be selected in the MLL Draft over the last three seasons. The three draft picks were tied for the second most selections overall (only Syracuse had more) and tied a school record, originally set in 2013. Ty Souders was selected 22nd overall by the Outlaws last season while Dante Fantoni, Noah Molnar and David DiMaria were all selected in 2013.
Poillon is a three-time All-American who’s developed into one of the best goaltenders in the country. He owns a dominant 37-11 career record with a 7.25 GAA And .589 save percentage. A two-time Patirot League Goalie of the Year, Poillon has won 11 or more games each season with no more than five losses in a single year. He began his Lehigh career with a bang, posting a 6.75 GAA, .597 save percentage and 14-3 record to lead the Mountain Hawks to their first-ever Patriot League Tournament Title and NCAA Tournament berth. He’s posted a GAA below 8.00 and save percentage over .575 each and every season.
Taylor emerged in 2014 as one of the nation’s top attackmen, ending the season with 76 points (top ten in the nation) behind 37 points and 29 assists. The point total led the Patriot League and stood tops among Canadians in Division I lacrosse. Taylor played his best lacrosse down the stretch, posting multiple points in his last eight games and earning Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week the last three weeks of the regular season. Taylor had seven or more points on five occasions as the Mountain Hawks were 5-0 in those games. His 76 points were good for fifth in Patriot League history and second in school history during the Patriot League era.
Mikelinich has played an integral role in the emergence of Lehigh as one of the nation’s elite defensive units. He was named a second team All-Patriot League honoree in 2012 when he had 17 groundballs and 11 caused turnovers. However, his impact has gone far beyond on-field statistics. That year, he held Tewaaraton Award winner Peter Baum to a season-low one goal. Mikelinich and the Lehigh’s defense allowed just 6.82 goals per game in 2012. Last season, Mikelinich posted career highs in groundballs (37) and caused turnovers (18) as the Mountain Hawks advanced to their third straight Patriot League Championship Game. This season, he will be counted on as a co-captain (with Taylor) and leader of the defense.
Lehigh’s presence in Major League Lacrosse continues to increase as Molnar, Cameron Lao-Gosney and Roman Lao-Gosney all played at least one MLL game last summer. Cameron Lao-Gosney and Souders were selected second and third, respectively, in last month’s MLL Supplemental Draft as Lao-Gosney returned to the Florida Launch while Souders was picked up by the Ohio Machine.
Poillon, Taylor, Mikelinich and the rest of the Mountain Hawks remain hard at work in preseason practice as the squad prepared for the season opener on Feb. 7 vs. Marquette. Opening faceoff is set for 12 p.m. at the Ulrich Sports Complex.
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Justin Lafleur
Lehigh University Athletics
Assistant Director, Sports Media Relations
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