Men's lacrosse: Army hopes to sustain during rebuild
WEST POINT – Army men’s lacrosse lost 15 seniors who played considerable roles last season, making the graduation of 18 in all perhaps the most turnover since 2007.
Head coach Joe Alberici believes he has the talent to sustain, including a solid recruiting class, so the question is how long will it take for the returnees to adjust to new roles and get used to playing with one another?
The Black Knights (12-4 in 2022) usually gain a preseason ranking or honorable mention notice in the major polls but not this year, even coming off a second-place finish (6-2) and loss in the Patriot League final to Boston University. Army was picked for fourth in the preseason coaches’ poll, behind B.U., Loyola (Md.) and Navy and just ahead of Lehigh.
Army dropped its season opener at Massachusetts, 10-8, last weekend and face No. 8 Rutgers in its home opener on Saturday and Wagner on Tuesday, the first of seven games at Michie Stadium.
“There’s a different vibe to it, a different tone and that comes with less experience,’’ Alberici said. “Now the guys want to prove something.
“It's been fun coaching them and they’ve been extremely coachable and a hard-working group. I think guys have really bought in, all of us being better than any one of us.’’
The defensive ranks took the biggest losses and All-American attackman Brendan Nichtern is gone. Army does have two preseason Patriot League all-stars: junior midfielder Jake Morin and sophomore defender A.J. Pilate.
“There's some good players in this program that didn't necessarily play huge roles or, in some cases, did, that are ready to play bigger,’’ Alberici said, “and there's some other guys that were in the wings and now they’ve got a good chance (to play). There’s a couple good freshmen that are going to help us. And when we put it all together we’ve very optimistic.’’
Nichtern produced 41 goals and 101 points last season but three of the top scorers are back: juniors Reese Burek (29 G, 15 assists), Paul Johnson (26 G, 11 A) and Morin (27 G, 2 A). Jackson Eicher and Gunnar Fellow will contribute on attack, with Ryan Sposito, Andrew Kelly, Ryan Sellew, Bailey O’Connor, Evan Plunkett and Alex Gekas in the midfield.
Whereas Nichtern was the usual end-of-shot-clock option, Alberici expects to spread those responsibilities, making Army harder to defend.
Knox Dent is a solid goalie replacement for graduate Wyatt Schupler. On defense, A.J. Pilate returns as a starter and Deacon Donaldson will increase his time; the rest will be by committee with Kyle Atherton, Ned Lynch and freshman Johnny Sullivan. At long stick there will be junior Joey Stillings and sophomores Ryan Nixon and Christian Fournier.
Army has played a truly up-tempo game in recent seasons – Alberici said he would like to create some quick offense off faceoff wins by standout Will Coletti but is uncertain whether his offense will play fast or more deliberate. “I think that that just will find itself throughout the year,’’ he said. He also expects Army will play in a lot of contests decided by one or two goals – the Black Knights were 6-2 in those margins last season (scoring in double digits in all 16 matches), 2-2 in 2021 and 6-2 in 2019.
The NCAA tournament features 10 automatic qualifiers and eight at-large entries. Army has made the NCAA tournament only twice since a three-year run from 2003-05 (as playoff champs in 2010 and 2019).
Twitter: @KenMcMillanTHR
Army lacrosse schedule
February
Sat. 11 - at Massachusetts L 8-10; Sat. 18 - vs. Rutgers, noon (ESPN+); Tues. 21 - vs. Wagner, 3 p.m. (ESPN+); Sat. 25 - at Mercer, noon
March
Sat. 4 - at Holy Cross*, 3 p.m. (ESPN+); Fri. 10 - vs. Lafayette*, 6:30 p.m. (ESPN+); Sat. 18 - at Lehigh*, 1 p.m. (ESPN+); Sat. 25 - vs. Loyola, Md.*, noon (ESPN+)
April
Sat. 1 - vs. Bucknell*, noon (ESPN+); Sat. 8 - at Colgate*, 3 p.m. (ESPN+); Sat. 15 - vs Cornell, noon (CBS Sports Network); Sat. 22 - at Navy*, 7 p.m. (CBS Sports Network); Fri. 28 - vs. Boston Univ.*, 8:15 p.m. (CBS Sports Network)
May
Tues. 2 - Patriot League quarterfinal; Fri. 5 - Patriot League semifinal, at highest Final Four seed (CBS Sports Network); Sun. 7 - Patriot League final, at highest Final Four seed (CBS Sports Network)
Army roster
Seniors (6) - No. 2 Knox Dent, GK; No. 5 Quinn Binney, MF; No. 8 Deacon Donaldson, D; No. 13 Jackson Tyler, DMF; No. 17 Stevie Grabher, faceoff; No. 47 Andrew Kelly, MF
Juniors (19) - No. 0 Bailey O'Connor, MF; No. 6 Brayden Duncan, A; No. 7 Ryan Sposito, MF; No. 9 Anthony Seymour, A; No. 11 Alex Gekas, MF; No. 12 Trevor Kelly, MF; No. 24 Reese Burek, MF; No. 25 Joey Stillings, LSM; No. 26 Mike Tangredi, MF; No. 28 Paul Johnson, A; No 36 Ned Lynch, D; No. 40 Eamon Murphy, DMF; No. 41 Jack Rigley, D; No. 48 Jack Szalankiewicz, LSM; No. 54 Cole Biggins, D; No. 55 Hunter Mazur, faceoff; No. 58 Brandon Gibson, LSM; No. 60 Matt Chess, GK; No. 90 Jacob Morin, MF
Sophomores (22) - No. 3 Jackson Eicher, A; No. 10 Will Coletti, faceoff; No. 15 Mitch Gutgsell, GK No. 19 Johnny Devino, MF; No. 20 A.J. Pilate, D; No. 21 Dylan D'Agostino, MF; No. 27 Kyle Atherton, D; No. 29 Finn McCullough, A; No. 30 Brian King, D; No. 31 Bennett Ong, GK; No. 32 John Manero, MF; No. 33 Christian Fournier, LSM; No. 34 Austin Groce, D; No. 35 Christian Mazur, DMF; No. 37 Alec Vaccaro, faceoff; No. 43 Billy Adams, MF No. 45 Tim Johnson, D; No. 66 Mark Schroeder, D; No. 77 Ryan Sellew, A; No. 79 Ryan Nixon, LSM; No. 85 Patrick Dunleavy, MF No. 88 Casey Reynolds, DMF
Freshmen (15) - No. 1 Sean Byrne, GK; No. 4 Evan Plunkett, MF No. 14 Avi Mehl, A; No. 16 Patrick Ferguson, D; No. 18 Alex Petrignani, MF; No. 22 Cal Lambert, faceoff; No. 23 Evan Richardson, GK; No. 41 Gunnar Fellows, A; No. 42 C.J. Monturio, DMF; No. 46 Brendan McCrary, D; No. 50 Mack Carter, MF; No. 81 Dawson Clark, A; No. 91 Luke Stratton, D; No. 98 Keagan Treacy, D; No. 99 John Sullivan, D
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Army college men lacrosse Patriot League NCAA
