WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes University men's lacrosse team is set to begin its fifth season of competition since the program rebirth with the start of the 2020 season. The Colonels reached the Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) postseason tournament for the first time last season under the guidance of head coach Curtis Jaques and finished with a 9-8 overall record for the program's first winning season since the rebirth in 2016.
 
The new season will bring added challenges for Wilkes to step up to including the addition of a new team to the conference and increased non-conference competition.
 
"It's going to be a major challenge in front of us," said Jaques. "I think our strength of schedule has certainly gone up. We will just stay focused on the process and take every day as it comes and keep growing every day."
 
Jaques is excited for the prospects of the defensive unit to have a big 2020 season with experience returning and youth coming in.
 
Senior defender Jack O'Connell (Linwood, NJ/St. Augustine Prep.) and senior midfielder Michael Gallagher (Lansdale, PA/North Penn) make for a strong one-two punch at the long-stick mid position for the Colonels according to Jaques. O'Connell is the leading returner for Wilkes with 43 ground balls and 16 caused turnovers last season and was an Honorable Mention All-MAC Freedom selection at the long pole midfield position. Senior defender Joseph Papa (Edison, NJ/St. Joseph-Metuchen) and graduate-senior midfielder Jacob Kadis (Westminster, MD/Delone Catholic) help form the Wilkes defensive unit that has a lot of chemistry during the preseason. Junior defender Timothy Madden (Levittown, NY/Island Trees) and sophomore defender Jake Chittem (Stratford, CT/Stratford) also bring plenty of experience to the defense with a combined 15 starts over their careers.
 
"We have a lot returning on the defensive side of the field," Jaques commented and expanded his praise of the back end to the goalkeepers saying that they are deep at the position and have been keeping the Colonels shooters constantly honest in practices.
 
The goalkeeping competition will be between senior Cody Geidel (Warwick, NY/Warwick Valley), and sophomores Daniel Cox (Stratford, CT/Stratford), Ryan Lasher (Warrenton, VA/Liberty), and Anthony Scafuro (Ringwood, NJ/Lakeland Regional) all of whom have experience in goal for the Colonels.
 
Adding depth and talent to the defensive unit will be freshmen Hunter Riley (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) and Kain Turner (Telford, PA/Souderton Area) who Jaques described as gifted at the take-away game.
 
"We have a strong freshman class, they are going to come in right out of the gates and make some waves," Jaques said.
 
Freshman Jacob Kudysch (Stratford, CT/Frank Scott Bunnell) will be a two-way midfielder for the Colonels. Midfielder Connor Champagne (North Scituate, RI/Scituate) and Dillon Kadis (McSherrystown, PA/Delone Catholic) on attack and in the midfield round out the freshman class.
 
On the offensive end senior John Luna (San Diego, CA/Valley Center) returns after a year hiatus due to his Air Force ROTC commitment and has been linking up with senior midfielder Connor Daly (Oakhurst, NJ/Ocean Twp.) during the preseason. Luna recorded 53 points on 30 goals and 23 assists during the 2017 and 2018 seasons. Daly has recorded 64 points on 51 goals and 13 assists over three seasons, including ranking 13th among MAC Freedom players with 27 goals last year.
 
Junior midfielder Nico Lorenzo (Howell, NJ/Howell) has had a strong start to his career with 81 points on 52 goals and 29 assists. A strong class of sophomores make up the midfield and attack. Alex Myers (Cortland, NY/Cortland) earned Second Team All-MAC Freedom honors in the midfield as a freshman last season with 39 points on 25 goals and 14 assists. Ethan Weaver (Olney, MD/James Hubert Blake) with 17 goals and 27 assists (fourth in the conference), Eric Ormsby (Warwick, NY/Warwick Valley) with 17 goals and 13 assists, Luke Palladino (Wantagh, NY/Wantagh) with 17 goals and seven assists, along with Gavin Scofield (Stratford, CT/Stratford), Kyle Sokol (Queensbury, NY/Queensbury), and Owen Grigas (Mountaintop, PA/Crestwood) make up the group along with graduate-student Jack Moyer (Mechanicsburg, PA/Mechanicsburg).
 
Play will start with face-off specialists, senior Evan Stolicker (Baldwinsville, NY/Charles W. Baker) and junior Jamison Shaw (Marmora, NJ/Ocean City). Stolicker earned First Team All-MAC Freedom recognition as a freshman and he totaled 316 faceoff wins and 88 ground balls during the 2017 and 2018 seasons. Shaw won 12-of-14 face-offs and collected nine ground balls in limited action last season.
 
The season will start on Wednesday, February 26 at Utica College at 4:00 p.m. The game will mark the first of seven non-conference games on the schedule. The Colonels will host Southern Virginia University for their home opener at the Ralston Athletic Complex on Saturday, February 29 at 1:00 p.m. Also on the non-conference schedule are Marywood University, Gordon College, Morrisville State College, the University of Scranton, and the United States Merchant Marine Academy.
 
"I think the non-conference schedule is going to set us up for April to peak and play our best lacrosse," Jaques said.
 
Wilkes, who was selected sixth in the MAC Freedom Preseason Coaches' Poll, will open conference play at Eastern University in St. Davids, Pa. on Wednesday, April 1 and complete the seven-game league slate on Saturday, April 25.