2017 Season Outlook: Scots Look to Pair Aggressive Defense with Quick-Striking Offense

A relentless effort at both ends of the field propelled The College of Wooster men's lacrosse team up the North Coast Athletic Conference standings and earn a spot in the four-team league tournament for the first time in four years to cap last season. Now, the Fighting Scots will look to continue to feature one of the nation's signature up-tempo styles with their play in 2017, while sticking to four core principles.

"The staples of our program are character, classroom, community, and competition," stated head coach P.J. Kavanagh, who sports a 73-55 record as a NCAA Div. III head coach. "If we're able to do our best as a team to invest in those four principles, we'll be successful."

In terms of competition, there's no question that Kavanagh wants to couple a high-pressure defense and look to score quickly and effectively on the offensive end.

"We want to invest even more in our dedication to dictating the tempo of the game," summed up Kavanagh.

Wooster's aggressive style led to the Scots ranking 27th in the country and tops in the league with 11.06 caused turnovers per game, and many of the key contributors to that statistical compilation are back in the fold in 2017. Two-time all-conference long-stick midfielder Jack Gilio headlines the group and joins forces with junior Ryan Harms and sophomore Ethan Scully for a formidable lengthy trio protecting the back line. In fact, both Gilio (2.12) and Scully (1.75) ranked in the top four in the NCAC in caused turnovers per game last year, and as a team, the Scots have led the league in that stat for three years running.

"Being the conference leader in caused turnovers and near the top in groundballs is definitely one of our goals," explained Kavanagh, whose squad finished second in the conference in the latter statistical category last year.

Besides Wooster's big trio of defenders, sophomore Sam Delano returns on the back line and will compete for time. Several newcomers figure to factor into Wooster's multi-dimensional defensive unit as well including a pair of long-stick midfielders in Noah Plotkin and Danny Fraser, among others.

Between the pipes, Tyler LaCroix projects to be the starter. The junior LaCroix brings 10 games of collegiate experience, including three starts, to the position.

"Tyler has done a great job of taking some ownership of the position and filling some really big shoes," added Kavanagh. "He's tall, athletic, and has great hands. He can be an explosive impact this season."

In transition, Wooster seeks to generate a lot of full-field scoring opportunities, according to Kavanagh. In fact, senior Matt Parmelee anchors this unit, and the offensive-minded midfielder ranked second on the team last year in points (40), third in assists (16), and fourth in goals (24). Classmate CJ Polak complements Parmelee in helping to kick-start the offense, and ranked second on the team with 18 assists, and he was one of 10 student-athletes with at least 30 groundballs on the season stat sheet.

Junior Nate Goodin provides a third veteran presence in the midfield, and he contributed 12 groundballs and seven caused turnovers while starting in eight contests. The likes of juniors Desmond Hughes, Nathaniel Miller, and sophomores Will Noel, Tommy Peterson, and Danny Renbaum-Koss, give Kavanagh plenty of returning veteran middies to aid in transition and defensively, while several newcomers led by Matthew Hockert and Cullen Kuhn, among others figure to be in the mix for significant roles.

Up front, Wooster features one of the top set-up men in the conference in senior Josh Herold. Herold, coming off a career year, ranked second in the conference in assists (33) and tied for seventh in points (59). In all, Wooster features a talented returning nucleus as the Scots return five of their six leading goal scorers from last year, all of whom found the back of the net at least 19 times. However, Kavanagh is seeking some more consistency from his attackers in 2017.

"We need to develop a third scoring threat at attack while maintaining the productivity of our top two returning student-athletes at that position," explained the Scots' mentor.

Junior Sam Kuhn emerged as a go-to scorer for the Scots, and in fact, led the team in that department with 27 tallies on the year, and figures to form a formidable one-two punch with Herold. Classmate Alexander Bloom delivered a breakthrough sophomore campaign and ended the year with 20 goals, while a third junior, Ian Brim, delivered steady minutes with a 19-score campaign. Also working his way into the mix was junior Aidan Crowe who started 13 games last season and went on to finish with 18 groundballs, 11 goals, and three helpers.

Sophomore transfer Joe Altieri and first-year Luke Liljenstolpe figure to factor in significantly to the offense right away, according to Kavanagh.

Shifting over to the face-off-x, junior Erik Barroso is the Scots' leading returnee in that area, and he won 107 face-offs a year ago.

While Wooster returns a talented nucleus at every position, the Scots have a total of 16 newcomers on the roster for the 2017 season who will complement the leading returnees.

Wooster opens play with a neutral site contest against Albion College on Feb. 18 at Detroit Country Day School.