RIVERDALE, N.Y. – The 2023 Manhattan men's lacrosse season gets underway on Saturday with a clash with St. John's at 1 p.m. The reigning MAAC Champions will meet the Red Storm at West Islip High School.
John Odierna takes over as head coach for the Jaspers. Odierna spent the last seven seasons on staff at Manhattan, with the last three as associate head coach. The Jaspers were picked second in the Preseason MAAC Poll. Marist edged Manhattan by two points to claim the top spot.
"We're very excited to start the season and test ourselves with a tough non-conference schedule," said Odierna. "We've got a special group with a great opportunity to build off last year's success and continue putting Manhattan Lacrosse on the map."
Odierna added, "We're very fortunate to have such a special group of upperclassmen that have helped establish a championship culture that we're bringing into the 2023 season."
The Jaspers will play their first three games away from Gaelic Park. After playing St. John's on Saturday, the Jaspers will visit Navy on Saturday, Feb. 18, and Princeton on Tuesday, Feb. 21.
Princeton appeared in the Final Four last season, losing to Maryland in the national semifinal. Both teams received votes in this week's USILA Poll. Princeton was ranked sixth in the preseason Inside Lacrosse Poll.
NJIT visits Gaelic Park for Manhattan's home opener on Saturday, Feb. 25, at noon.
Kyle Gucwa returns after leading the offense last season in goals and points. The First Team All-MAAC selection tallied 31 goals and nine assists for 40 points. Gucwa was also a Preseason All-MAAC selection.
Liam Walshe was second on the team in goals (28) and points (37).
Sophomore
Scott O'Connor and freshman
Sean Shelko are expected to be offensive contributors this season. O'Connor played in six games as a freshman last season.
James McCoy,
Christian Lyons,
Kelly DuPree,
Kevin Jaffe, and
Rhys Porteous will be looked upon to supply secondary scoring for the Jaspers. Lyons chipped in five goals on offense last season, and McCoy logged eight starts.
Tadhg O'Riordan leads the midfield for the Jaspers. The short-stick defensive midfielder was named to the Preseason All-MAAC Team this week.
Quinn Bowler will be featured in the midfield more this season. Other short-stick midfielders for the Jaspers will be
Matthew Scully,
Louden Sheehan, and
Nikolus Nickerson. Coach Odierna mentioned
Spencer Moore,
Lukas Adams, and freshman
Andrew Giandonato.
Transfer
Liam McDonough joins
Sean Baudille at the faceoff x. Baudille won 83 faceoffs last season for the Jaspers, and McDonough owned a 53-percent win rate over his four seasons at UMass Lowell. The duo hopes to give more chances to the Jaspers' offense so the team can be more balanced this season.
The Jaspers had its starting three defensemen last season earn All-MAAC honors.
Blake Lothian and
Luke Pacher graduated.
Christian Clifford was a Preseason All-MAAC selection this year. Clifford returns for the Jasper defense after earning Second Team All-MAAC honors in 2022. The graduate student was T2 on the Jaspers in caused turnovers and fourth in ground balls a season ago. Sophomore
Damien Blando returns after picking up MAAC All-Rookie Team honors last season. Hunter Neuman played 12 games as a freshman a season ago and is expected to take on a more significant role in 2023. Michael Schaffer, a freshman from Pennsylvania, is expected to help out on the back end too.
The Jaspers will be breaking in a new goalie after the graduation of
Brendan Krebs. Krebs helped the Jaspers reach back-to-back MAAC Championship Games in 2021 and 2022. Krebs was also the MAAC Co-Defensive Player of the Year in 2021.
Joseph Persico and
Connor Hapward are the two upperclassmen of the four goalies on the roster this season.
Bryce Morris and
Ethan Barlag are the two underclassmen. Persico and Hapward have been battling throughout fall and spring practice to see who will get the starting nod.
Manhattan will welcome a pair of grad transfers this season,
Dan MacKinney from Binghamton and McDonough from UMass Lowell. MacKinney, the brother of former Jasper Sean, will help bolster the attack. McDonough was a four-year faceoff specialist for the River Hawks.
The Jaspers also welcome 13 freshmen to the program. The class features three attackmen, four on defense and in the midfield, one goalie, and one faceoff specialist.
For the latest on the Manhattan College men's lacrosse program, follow the Jaspers on Twitter @ManhattanMLAX and Instagram @Manhattan_Lacrosse.
