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Syracuse Lacrosse: Ben Williams Watch 2015, Week 5

Ben Williams is off to a hot start, and possibly a historic season. The Holy Cross transfer is on pace to break school, and possibly NCAA, records. This is your weekly update for week 5.

Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

We will be doing this every week just to keep you up to date on how Ben Williams is progressing through his historic first season as a Syracuse Orange. For the original article and full rundown click the link here.

This week Williams picked up his 100th faceoff attempt of the season, making him eligible for the SU season record for faceoff winning percentage. Although his faceoff winning percentage did fall from .721 to .714 after taking 13 of 19 against St. John's, Williams remains in the top spot for the Syracuse season record. He continues to hold the eighth spot on the NCAA all-time record list and actually moved up to first place amongst all players in division I for the 2015 season.

As for groundballs, another category which Williams has been excelling in, he moved up two places and is now tied for second in groundballs per game in division I in 2015. With 47 total GBs on the year, Williams is still a ways away from placing on the Syracuse all-time list for groundballs in a season. He would need 37 more scoops, or 4.6 GBs in the guaranteed eight games remaining, to enter that list which would put him tied for ninth with three other players.

Here are the full lists:

Syracuse Season Records

Category

#

Player

Year

Faceoff Wins@

274

Bill Dirrigl

1998

253

Chris Cercy

2000

245

Chris Cercy

2001

214

Danny Brennan

2008

212

Kirk Pratt

1989

211

Chris Bickel

2002

203

Toby Price

1996

201

Chris Bickel

2002

186

Chris Daddio

2014

170

Kirk Pratt

1990

Faceoff Winning %^

.714

Ben Williams

2015

.711

Chris Cercy

2000

.697

Bill Dirrigl

1988

.692

Chris Cercy

2001

.667

Danny Brennan

2008

.662

Bob Feisee

1991

.635

Kirk Pratt

1989

.625

Jon Jerome

2007

.623

Kirk Pratt

1990

.611

Toby Price

1996

.607

Danny Brennan

2007

Groundballs*

164

Sam Bassett

2000

126

Toby Price

1996

103

Gary Gait

1989

93

Chris Daddio

2014

91

Paul Gait

1989

91

Jarett Park

2002

86

Ric Beardsley

1995

85

Gary Gait

1988

84

Matt Bontaites

2001

Gary Gait

1990

Pat McCabe

1989

@ Williams currently has 75 wins

^Minimum of 100 attempts (Williams currently has 105 attempts)

*GB statistics kept since 1988; Williams currently has 47

National Season Records

Category

#

Player

Year

Faceoff Winning %

.776

Mark Goers, Towson

1994

.774

Steve Shaw, Delaware

1985

.750

Steve Shaw, Delaware

1986

.740

Donnie McNichol, UNC

1993

.735

Steve Kraus, UVA

1980

.726

Kevin Massa, Bryant

2013

.723

Alex Smith, Delaware

2007

.714

Ben Williams, Syracuse

2015

.711

Chris Cercy, Syracuse

2000

.709

Alex Smith, Delaware

2005

.697

Bill Dirrigl, Syracuse

1988

.696

Ray Ignacio, UMBC

1987

.692

Chris Cercy, Syracuse

2001

.688

Kevin Massa, Bryant

2014

.688

Brian Cole, Mt. St. Mary's

2001

.686

Charlie Raffa, Maryland

2014

2015 Division I Leaders

Groundballs Per Game

10.20

Domenic Massimillian, Cornell

9.40

Ben Williams, Syracuse

9.40

Gabriel Mendola, Georgetown

9.29

Christopher May, Ohio State

9.17

Nick Saputo, Drexel

Faceoff Winning %

.714

Ben Williams, Syracuse

.709

Christopher May, Ohio State

.703

Joseph Nardella, Rutgers

The Orange will take on rival Johns Hopkins Blue Jays as they return to the Carrier Dome on Saturday at 2 pm. The game can be seen on ESPNU and heard on WTKW 99.5 FM. Of course you can also follow me @Orangelax for updates throughout the game.