BERLIN- With a friendly rivalry that began as young boys and continued through their high school and now college lacrosse careers, two former standout players from the resort area last week were named All-Americans and ranked second and third in the nation in faceoff percentage for Division II.
Former Stephen Decatur lacrosse standout Dryden Brous last week was named to the NCAA Division II All-American Third Team. Pictured above in Brous in action earlier this season at Lynn University.
Photo courtesy of Lynn University
Former Worcester Prep faceoff specialist last week was named to the NCAA Division II All-American First Team. Dickerson is pictured above in recent action at the University of Tampa.
Photo courtesy of University of Tampa
The parallels between former Worcester Prep standout faceoff specialist Ross Dickerson and former Decatur faceoff specialist Dryden Brous are uncanny. Both grew up in their family’s hotel businesses in the Ocean City area and became friends at an early age on the youth lacrosse fields around the lower shore.
When it came time to go to high school, Dickerson landed at Worcester Prep while Brous went to Decatur. Both were midfielders and faceoff specialists at their respective crosstown schools and dominated the position across. When the Seahawks played the Mallards once a year in the annual neighborhood rivalry games, their faceoff battles were epic.
The similarities are far from over, however. When it came to continuing their academic and lacrosse careers in college, Dickerson chose the University of Tampa while Brous chose Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida, both Division II schools and both in the Sunshine State Conference.
When the Division II men’s lacrosse All-American awards were handed out last week, Dickerson was named to the first team, while Brous was named to the third team. Brous ranked second in the nation in faceoff percentage, while Dickerson ranked third. Brous was also first in the Sunshine State Conference in ground balls per game, while Dickerson was second.
In their head-to-head matchup this year in April, Tampa beat Lynn 13-6 and Dickerson and Brous, of course, were right in the middle of the action.
For the season, Dickerson won 267 of 354 faceoffs attempted for a percentage of around 75 percent. He also tallied a team-leading 153 ground balls and was named first team All-Sunshine State Conference. Brous won 197 of his 259 faceoffs attempted for a percentage of about 76 percent.
