WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes University men's lacrosse team kicks off their 2024 campaign this Sunday, as they travel to take on Manhattanville College. Curtis Jaques leads the Colonels in his ninth season as the team moves into the Landmark Conference.

In 2023, the Colonels went 4-13 overall with a 2-6 record in the MAC Freedom. The team played three teams last season that will now be conference opponents in Susquehanna University, Juniata College, and Lycoming College, but remain focused on the impact they can make in the Landmark.

"I think the travel, new locker rooms, new fields, new faces, obviously is going to be a fun new chapter for us, but we try to keep the distractions at a minimum," Jaques said. "We want to focus on us."

"As a coach, it's my goal to take my players to places they've never been before both mentally and physically, but physically we'll be taking them to some new places so I'm fulfilling that goal. We're excited for it."

Wilkes fields a 29-man roster comprised of one fifth-year, nine seniors, seven juniors, four sophomores, and eight first-year student athletes.

Dillon Kadis (McSherrystown, PA/Delone Catholic) is the lone fifth-year on the roster, contributing 13 goals and 10 assists last season. He was second on the team in points with 23, and was one of two players with double-digit assists.

The senior class is made up of midfielders Colby Opromolla (Patterson, NY/Carmel), Austin Seames (Newton, NJ/Kittatinny Regional), Matthew Warns (Cutchogue, NY/Mattituck), Henry O'Connor (Baltimore, MD/Dulaney), and Blake Billingsley (Ephrata, PA/Ephrata), as well as defenders Brendan Keegan (Middletown, NY/Pine Bush), Tucker Parmer (Ephrata, PA/Ephrata), and Tyler Haasis (Mountain Top, PA/Crestwood). Anchoring the senior class is goalkeeper Joseph Marino (Swedesboro, NJ/Kingsway Regional), headlining a group that Jaques holds in high regard.

"We're definitely going to see some veterans here who have played together quite a bit," he said.

"(Marino)'s done a fantastic job through preseason and held the defense down, he's a very dynamic player. He brings a full-on transition offensive element to that side of the field which we're really excited about. Moving forward from that, Warns and Keegan holding it down down low, and with Opromolla running between the midlines, Seames and Parmer, we're gonna get out pretty fast."

"I think it's going to be exciting to watch," Jaques continued. "Our senior class has been through quite a bit and I think it's only fitting that they're coming into the season ready to go."

Opromolla led the team in goals, assists, and points last season with 18 goals and assists for 36 points. Warns was second on the team last year earning 62 ground balls, and Keegan led the team with 28 caused turnovers.

The junior class consists of attackers Joseph Kozlowski (Binghamton, NY/Chenango Valley), Anthony DelDuca (Westchester, NY/Westlake), and Jackson Casper (Bel Air, MD/Bel Air), as well as midfielder Justin Wawrzynek (Harleysville, PA/Souderton Area) and his brother, face-off specialist Luke Wawrzynek (Harleysville, PA/Souderton Area). Charles Gordon (Pompton Plains, NJ/Don Bosco Prep) is the lone junior defenseman, while Nicholas DeVitis (Conshohocken, PA/Plymouth Whitemarsh) rounds out the class in net.

The sophomore class is headlined by attacker Tim Hartka (Phoenix, MD/Calvert Hall), who led the team with 96 shots last season and tied Opromolla for the team lead in goals with 18 in his first year of collegiate lacrosse. He is joined by midfielder Joseph Markey (Lebanon, NJ/North Hunterdon), defenseman Michael Rauch (Jackson, NJ/Jackson), and goalkeeper Caleb Miller (Mohrsville, PA/Schuylkill Valley).
 
Joining the team this year are attacker Austin Sosnovik (New Tripoli, PA/Northwestern Lehigh), as well as midfielders Bradley Smith (Northampton, PA/Northampton Area) and Vinny Santoro (Massapequa, NY/Massapequa Park). The Colonels also welcome five first year defenders to learn under a veteran defensive group, including Nicholas McManus (Annandale, NJ/North Hunterdon), Owen Peters (Oreland, PA/Roman Catholic) and Mac Jackson (Long Valley, NJ/Seton Hall Prep), as well as J'Vier Johnson (Easton, PA/Easton Area) and Jaylen Dixon (Livingston, NJ/Livingston) who Colonel fans may recognize from their Cape Henry Bowl-winning exploits with the Wilkes football team last fall.

Jaques has high expectations for this first year class, and has already been impressed by how quickly some have taken to the college game.

 "I think we'll see some good faces down on offense and between the midlines from our new guys," Jaques said.

"Sosnovik had a great fall and we'll be expecting him to put some numbers up. We've had some additions coming over from football, Johnson is an absolute ground ball-hawk and so I think he's going to be exciting on every face-off and between the midlines. All of our first years have done a great job transitioning to college lacrosse, and with the transition to the Landmark it's a fresh new look for them and a good four years of growth ahead of them."

The Colonels kick off their season on the road at Manhattanville on Sunday at 1:00 p.m., a fixture Wilkes was victorious in last season 11-9 at Schmidt Stadium.

"This is the final tuning week here before we see some outside competition and the games matter," Jaques said.

"It's been a good week of practice, good adjustments after our scrimmage on Sunday, but once this Sunday hits it's every Wednesday and Saturday from here on out and it's really just preparing for those game days and performance and fine tuning things here and there.

"I'm really excited about the growth we've had through preseason, and it's an exciting bunch of guys. It's fun to work with them every single day."