Youthful Scots’ Goal Is to Qualify for First NCAC Tourney

With 29 of the 36 student-athletes on the roster being freshmen or sophomores, The College of Wooster men's lacrosse team remains a young team, however, the coaching staff believes "the talent level has risen immensely," and with steady development throughout 2013, the Fighting Scots will contend for a spot in the first-ever North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament.

The NCAC has sponsored men's lacrosse since the league's inception in 1984-85, however, the addition of two teams this spring increases the total number to eight, and thus a four-team postseason tourney will take place in April, with the winner earning an automatic berth into the NCAA Div. III Championship field.

"The format this year has helped our players visualize the path of the season. Our goal is to be in the top-four at the end of the year," said Carl Festa, who is entering his third year as the head coach for the Scots.

To get there, Wooster will look for another high-scoring season from senior Matt Ranck and the    offensive unit. Ranck led the league with 45 goals and took a spot on the All-NCAC Team (honorable mention), and he's expected to play a similar role this spring as the finisher on the attack.

Playing a big role in Ranck's success were top distributors Pat Henderson and Tom Herold, and they're both back for their sophomore year. Herold has continued to improve as the "quarterback" of the offense and hopes to build from his 31-point campaign (18 goals, 13 assists), while Henderson is moving to midfield where the coaching staff thinks he can be even more effective than last season (17 goals, 16 assists).

A number of players are vying to join Ranck and Herold on the top attack line. PJ Dallman, who had 12 points (7 goals, 5 assists) as a rookie, is in the running for significant playing time there, as are fellow sophomores Jack Brown and Liam Coll, and freshmen Harry Kemp and Trevor Shoemaker.

One of Festa's goals for the year is to increase the team's transition scoring, and of course, having strong offensive midfielders like Henderson, senior Patrick Schlick, and others will be key. Schlick has played an integral role throughout his career, note 33 points (23 goals, 10 assists), and looks to close with his best season, while others possessing the talent to excel both ways include sophomore Evan Albertson, who tallied 14 points (8 goals, 6 assists), junior Jake Bernard, sophomore Mike Ewanechko, and freshman Nate Weltman.

Also hoping to spark the offense are junior Max Rubin, who will serve as the team's face-off specialist again following a year in which he helped give the Scots possession 52.5 percent of the time, and freshmen middies Jack Crawley, Niall Cronin, Nick Halle, and Taylor Norton.

Wooster is even more youthful on the defensive half of the field, but again, it feels the personnel in place can succeed. Possessing the most experience is junior goalie Matt Magoon, a two-year starter there who posted a .535 save percentage and 10.60 goals against average during 2012. He's being pushed for the position by sophomore Ben Grombala and freshman Aaron Levy.

Sean Hohan, just a sophomore, headlines the team's close defenders after picking up all-conference recognition (honorable mention). Hohan registered the second-most groundballs (62) for the Scots and 16 caused turnovers.

A number of other players are vying for key roles in the backfield. Senior Andrew Holmes has been a part-time starter the last two seasons at close defense, and junior Will Evans, sophomores Robert Friedhoff and Will Ossyra, and highly-touted first-years Mitch Gavin, John McCarthy, and John Trainor are all competing for significant time as well.

Junior Dean Marchitelli returns as the long-stick midfielder after excelling in that role last year with 55 groundballs, 20 caused turnovers, and even seven points, while freshman Patrick Edson will complement him, and adding to the cause will be defensive-minded midfielders like senior Steve Crozier, sophomore John Michael Bogusz, and freshman Seth Brown.

With strong competition and opportunity at most every position, Festa thinks this youthful group will lay the foundation for what the program hopes to become – a top contender for the NCAC championship each and every year – as it hopes to get a taste of the inaugural conference tourney this spring.

"We're very excited for this season, but understand that it is a process. Our goal as a program is to continue our individual and team development by competing on a daily basis. If we can accomplish those things, then there is no question we'll get to where we want to be at the end of the year," he concluded.