After a successful season last year that included a 3–4 North Coast Athletic Conference record and an 8–6 record overall, the Men’s Lacrosse team is heading into their season stronger than ever. Their roster includes 25 returning players, including three of the four top scorers from last season and their entire starting defense from 2013.

Sophomore Nick Lobley, the Yeomen’s Freshman of the Year for the 2013 spring season, feels optimistic about the upcoming season. “Our major goal is to make the NCAC tournament. We think we can realistically go 14–2 this season,” he said.

Lobley has lofty goals for himself, too. “Last year, I ended the season with 46 points, and I would like to score 75 points this year,” he said. Lobley was a major contributor to the Yeomen’s success last year. Although he only played in 12 games, he garnered a team high of 24 goals and 22 assists, leading the NCAC with 3.83 points per game.

Adding to Lobley’s high hopes for the season are first-years Eric Hager and Jake Miller. “Eric is a quick, versatile guy; He will be a good feeder. Jake, a long-stick midfielder from Plandome, NY, I think he’s going to have a good season, as well,” he said.

Sophomore Matt Fox battled injuries last year and is looking forward to this season and hopes to average two points a game.

“Last year, we weren’t good at clearing, which showed significantly versus Adrian College. We also couldn’t finish. Going into the Kenyon College third quarter last year we were up 5–1, but we choked at the end. We wanted the game to end because we were up [in points], instead of finishing through,” he said. “We will play first quarter through fourth quarter this year.”

Fox, like Lobley, looks forward to seeing the first-years’ contributions this season and knows they’ll be sorely needed after losing midfielder Sean Higgins and defender Thomas Cool.

“Our returning players fill in the offense and defense, but we are lacking some depth in the midfield. I do see Kinori [Rosnow] as a great role-player; he’s really for the boys at the moment and he works very hard at practice. [John] Firestone has been hurt for a while, so he hasn’t gotten to perform as much as I would like to see in practice, but he definitely has a lot of potential, too.”

Coach Topher Grossman has similarly big goals for his team. “We have a great opportunity to mature as a program: mentally, physically and emotionally,” he said. “We had a lot of freshmen and sophomores contribute on the field last year, and we hope they can continue to develop and take that next step. One of our major goals is to earn a place in the conference tournament. It will be a big step, but it will be a step that places us two wins from the NCAA Tournament.”

There are fewer first-years on the team than in years past, but the talent of this year’s crop has given Grossman a lot of confidence. “Our freshman class is not deep from a numbers standpoint, but I think we have a lot of talent and a tremendous amount of potential in key spots. We are definitely pleased with what we have seen to this point,“ he said.

The men’s team starts their season on the road against the University of Mount Union Raiders on Feb. 26. Their home opener is against the Albion College Britons on March 5 and their first conference game will be at home versus the Ohio Wesleyan University Battling Bishops on March 22.