The College of Wooster men's lacrosse team returns its top four defensive players and starting goalie from a year ago, and that should bode well as the Fighting Scots look to once again feature one of the nation's most up-tempo teams and extend its rein in leading the North Coast Athletic Conference in caused turnovers per game to a fifth-straight year.

"We like what we have returning on defense," said head coach P.J. Kavanagh, who enters his fourth year at Wooster. "There's a lot of experience, especially with the poles, and we have a goalie in his second year starting. We think that their athletic ability and stick handling will lend well to starting and finishing transition opportunities."

Senior Jack Gilio leads the talented group and is a three-time all-conference long-stick middie. Gilio, the fourth Scot with over 200 career groundballs since that became an officially tracked NCAA statistic in 1999, ranked second in the NCAC in caused turnovers per game last year at 2.22, a total 34th nationally.

Senior Ryan Harms and junior Ethan Scully form a formidable lengthy duo and each are well tested with multiple years of starting experience to their credit. Rising sophomore Noah Plotkin fit in seamlessly with the unit last year with his 30 caused turnovers ranking as the third-most on the team. In fact, this talented quartet was responsible for 198 groundballs and 120 of the Scots' 216 caused turnovers in 2017.

Two new guys in the mix to significantly contribute this year defensively as well are first-year short-stick midfielder Matt Natelli and junior long-stick midfielder James McElroy, who "both had great offseasons," according to Kavanagh.

Other returnees to keep an eye on defensively include junior Sam Delano and senior Tyler LaCroix. Delano saw time in 11 games, primarily in a reserve role, while LaCroix transitioned from goalie to a close defender and is in the mix to see time in a defensive role this year, per the staff.

Should the opposition get past the Scots' talented defenders, rising sophomore Wesley Wagner will serve as Wooster's last line of defense. Wagner emerged as the starting 'keeper starting with Wooster's third game of the year in 2017, and he posted a fine 9-7 mark between the pipes over the final 16 games of the season while allowing less than 11 goals per game.

Offensively, Kavanagh will need to reload on the offensive end with the graduation of the top two playmakers in the scoring column in Josh Herold and Matt Parmelee from last year's team. Since the Scots typically look to generate a lot of full-field scoring opportunities, Kavanagh projects to shift the bulk of his experience offensively to midfield roles.

Senior Sam Kuhn leads the way among the returnees offensively, and he's one of those projected to be even more impactful this season. Kuhn ranked fourth on the team last year with 29 goals, and his 44 points are the most among those back on the team for this year.

Classmate Alexander Bloom moving to the midfield "should add some scoring punch," according to Kavanagh, and the senior was one of three players on last year's squad with 30 goals. Senior Ian Brim and junior Joe Altieri both saw time in each game last year, and will now be counted on for more prominent scoring roles.

Rising sophomore Cullen Kuhn is another returnee Kavanagh's forecasting an expanded role for this year. The younger Kuhn primarily spent his rookie season as a short-stick defensive midfielder and one of the wings on the faceoff, and his contributions landed the newcomer third on the team with 56 groundballs. This year Kuhn will be featured in more of a two-way role to "take advantage of his wide variety of skills," per Kavanagh.

Among the other returnees, Rob Driscoll is in the mix for an up-tick in time after contributing as a key defensive midfielder in all but four games last year.

Shifting to the attackers, Wooster could have three first-years starting when the Scots open the season on Feb. 25 as that was the case this fall when Jack Galle, Shaun Peirce, and Ted Wells saw the majority of the first looks.

"They've evolved into a nice cohesive unit," said Kavanagh. "We think that with further development there, they can really anchor the offense, which will be led primarily by a slew of athletic dodging midfielders in Sam, Ian, and Joe. The new influence of assistant coach Will Campbell has already provided a spark for a unit with a tremendous amount of potential."

Senior Aidan Crowe headlines the returning attackers with 19 goals over the last two years.

The faceoff-x will be a spot to keep an eye on as "there's a number of guys competing there," per Kavanagh, who expects it to "be an effort by committee this season, but there's a lot of versatility and depth there."

Sophomore Rob Hunt won the most faceoffs (53) among the returnees, while classmates Nick Gargaro and Luke Liljenstolpe also saw action at that spot last year.

Wooster's challenging schedule opens with a 6 p.m. tilt versus Albion College on Sunday, Feb. 25, at Detroit Country Day School. The Britons are the first of four teams the Scots will play this year that advanced to the 2017 NCAA Div. III Championships.