WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes University men's lacrosse team is set to begin its 2021 season on Saturday, March 6. The Colonels will return to the field under sixth-year head coach Curtis Jaques.

Wilkes went 2-2 during a shortened 2020 season with its final 10 games including all of its Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) contests canceled due to the pandemic. The Colonels were 9-8 overall and 3-4 in the conference back in 2019.

In 2021 Wilkes is slated to play eight MAC Freedom games and also four non-conference games against MAC Commonwealth opponents.

"We will focus on the things we have control over and take this season day by day," Jaques said. "Communication, field time, and facetime are our main focus right now. We start our season with strong MAC Commonwealth opponents at York and home vs Messiah. The MAC Freedom is extremely competitive, but our biggest opponent is COVID. We cannot lose sight of our player's safety and health."

The Colonels roster features 32 players including one graduate student, two seniors, 11 juniors, six sophomores, and 12 first-year players.

Senior attack/midfielder Nico Lorenzo (Howell, NJ/Howell) returns as he stands fourth in program history since the rebirth with 83 career points on 54 goals and 29 assists. Senior face-off specialist Jamison Shaw (Marmora, NJ/Ocean City) and graduate student and midfielder Jacob Kadis (Westminster, MD/Delone Catholic) also return. Shaw ranks third in the record book with a 52.10 face-off winning percentage while Kadis is tenth with 16 caused turnovers.

Kadis and Lorenzo are team captains along with junior attack Luke Palladino (Wantagh, NY/Wantagh) and sophomore defender Hunter Riley (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa).

"Off the field leadership is extremely important this year and this group has a great pulse for the team," Jaques said of his captains.

Palladino ranks second in program history since the rebirth with 2.58 points-per-game, and 1.75 goals-per-game. Riley led the team with eight caused turnovers in four games played last season.

Junior attack/midfielder Alex Myers (Cortland, NY/Cortland) returns after being named Second Team All-MAC Freedom as a freshman in 2019 when he scored 29 goals and had 14 assists for 39 points. Last season Myers was leading the team with eight goals when the season was stopped. Junior attack Ethan Weaver (Olney, MD/James Hubert Blake) is fourth in the record book with 29 career assists and third with 2.38 points-per-game.

Also in the junior class this season for the Colonels are attack/midfielder Gavin Scofield (Stratford, CT/Stratford), midfielder Owen Grigas (Mountaintop, PA/Crestwood), midfielder Kyle Sokol (Queensbury, NY/Queensbury), midfielder Eric Ormsby (Warwick, NY/Warwick Valley), and defender Jake Chittem (Stratford, CT/Stratford).

Three junior goaltenders also return in Ryan Lasher (Warrenton, VA/Liberty), Daniel Cox (Stratford, CT/Stratford), and Anthony Scafuro (Ringwood, NJ/Lakeland Regional). Lasher has made 42 saves with a 7.36 goals-against-average. Cox has stopped 38 shots with a 9.55 goals-against average.  Scafuro has nine saves and an 11.38 goals-against-average.

Joining Riley in the sophomore class are midfielder Connor Champagne (North Scituate, RI/Scituate), attack Tyler Knappenberger (Orefield, PA/Parkland), attack/midfielder Dillon Kadis (McSherrystown, PA/Delone Catholic), defender Kain Turner (Telford, PA/Souderton Area), and midfielder Jacob Kudysch (Stratford, CT/Frank Scott Bunnell).

"We expect our returners to be great teachers and we expect a large number of freshmen to play this year," Jaques commented. "Everyone is a newcomer to college athletics with the challenges of Covid. Our freshmen have done a great job learning all the playbooks."

The 12 first-year players joining the program are goalkeeper Joseph Marino (Swedesboro, NJ/Kingsway Regional), defenders, Ryan Seibert (Chichester, PA/Cardinal O'Hara), Brendan Keegan (Middletown, NY/Pine Bush), Tyler Haasis (Mountain Top, PA/Crestwood), and Bryan Schulcz (Horsham, PA/Hatboro-Horsham), midfielder/defenders Tucker Parmer (Ephrata, PA/Ephrata), Tommy Steffney (West Deptford, NJ/West Deptford), and Henry O'Connor (Baltimore, MD/Dulaney), midfielders Colby Opromolla (Patterson, NY/Carmel), Austin Seames (Newton, NJ/Kittatinny Regional), and Matthew Warns (Cutchogue, NY/Mattituck), and midfielder/attack Bryan Bagley (Baltimore, MD/Baltimore Polytechnic).

The Colonels begin the season on Saturday, March 6 with a non-conference game at No. 9 York (Pa.) at 1:00 p.m. Wilkes opens home action at the Ralston Athletic Complex on Saturday, March 13 at 1:00 p.m. for a non-conference game against Messiah. The Navy and Gold will also play Albright (April 17) and Lebanon Valley (April 21) out of the MAC Commonwealth.

MAC Freedom play begins on Wednesday, March 17 at home against DeSales with a 7:00 p.m. start time. Wilkes will also play conference games against King's (March 20), Arcadia (March 24), Stevens (March 27), Delaware Valley (April 7), FDU-Florham (April 10), Lycoming (April 14), and Misericordia (April 24).

"We were given a strong schedule by the conference and the MAC Freedom gets more competitive each year," Jaques said. "We play seven new teams that we have never played before. The full conference tournament in May will make this season one to remember."

All nine MAC Freedom teams will compete in a single-elimination tournament from April 28 through May 8 with the winner earning the conference's automatic qualifying spot into the NCAA Division III Tournament.