The St. Lawrence University men's lacrosse team is set to open the 2023 season with a short trip over to SUNY Potsdam this Wednesday.
 
The Saints, who advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament last season, finished the 2022 season 14-5 overall and 5-2 in Liberty League action. They defeated nationally-ranked Union in the conference semifinals to advance to the championship game against RIT and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, defeating SUNY Cortland 15-14 in the second round of play to advance to the third round.
 
Under the guidance of head coach Mike Mahoney '93, P'22, '24, who enters his 26th season with the Scarlet and Brown this year, the Saints were selected to finish third in the highly competitive Liberty League and were ranked 10th in the Inside Lacrosse preseason poll and 14th in the latest USILA Coaches Poll, released on Monday.
 
After graduating eight seniors last season, the Saints will look to a talented group of returners and are also fortunate to welcome back graduate students Stew Hutchinson, Mark Mahoney and Joe Scarfi, who still hold eligibility following COVID.
 
Last season, Scarfi earned First-Team USILA/Dynamic All-America honors and First-Team All-Liberty League honors, while Mahoney was tabbed a Scholar All-America selection.
 
Last season, Scarfi ranked sixth in the conference with 1.41 caused turnovers per game and finished with a team-best 24 caused turnovers on the season. He also picked up 51 ground balls scored two goals and tallied one assist. Mahoney ranked fourth on the Saints' squad with 28 goals and 26 assists for 54 points, picked up 29 ground balls and caused four turnovers.
 
Along with Mahoney, another highlight to the Saints' offensive unit this season is Judge Murphy, a dominant force who earned Third-Team All-America honors last season, he ranked third on the squad with 39 goals this season and added 19 assists for 58 points, picked up 23 ground balls and caused three turnovers.

With 41 returners and eight newcomers in Canton, the Saints are looking to make their way back to the postseason.
 
Other attackmen in the rotation will be Chase Malatesta, Charlie Graves, and Ben Kniskern, along with newcomers Cam Croasdaile and Ceron White.

At the midfield, senior captain Stew Hutchinson and his brother Ben Hutchinson also return for the Scarlet and Brown. Last season Ben Hutchinson recorded 10 goals and six assists.
 
Other players who are expected to make key contributions from the midfield are senior captain Zadoc White, Cody Sipher, juniors Brian Souza, Connor Woolley, John Mahoney and Carter Flanagan, as well as sophomores Bobby Wells, Zack Corsi, and Nate Stevens. First-year offensive middies include David Herlihy, Ted Wilson and Sean Wiseman.

"I am excited to see the offensive unit in action," said Mahoney. "They have proven to be an unselfish, team oriented group in the pre-season and we will look for that approach to carry over to the start of the regular season."

At the short stick defensive position – sophomore Caleb Torres, junior Owen O'Brien, along with seniors Alex Fowler and Christian Warren bring back a great deal of experience. ­­­­

Leading the Saints with the long pole this season are seniors Hayes Huwiler and Xander de Roetth, while sophomores Sam Smith, Bobby Bartlett, and Griffin Marx all return with significant knowledge and minutes under their belts. First-year Sam Wade will also be in the LSM mix.

Face offs this season will be taken by Paddy Condon, Brendan Brigham, Jackson Lalonde and Lucas Podvey. As a first year, Condon earned Second-Team All-Liberty League honors. He ranked sixth in the Liberty League with 4.47 ground balls per game and seventh with .632 faceoff percentage, the best of all rookies with over 100 faceoffs. He went 148-for-234 from the faceoff circle, picked up a team-high 76 ground balls, caused four turnovers, scored two goals and added three assists on the season.

Along with Scarfi, defensively, St. Lawrence will be led by seniors Conor Temple, John Dundon and Henry Schibli, along with juniors Tripp Clark, Alex Bechard and Will Phinney and sophomores Charlie Miele and Henry Hoyt. In 2022, Clark caused 15 turnovers for the Saints.

Also holding down the defensive end are first-years Charlie Higgins and Quin Fedor.

Returning as the most seasoned goaltender for the Saints is sophomore Michael Marinello and along with senior Elliott LaGorce and junior Andrew Vona, all three will be vying for time between the pipes.

"We have a good amount of experience on the defensive end, which we will lean on early in the season. It has been a competitive battle for the goaltending position, and I look forward to seeing how that plays out. Across the board we want to establish our identity early, as a hard-working, ground ball hungry team."

After opening the season against Potsdam on Wednesday, the Saints will host St. John Fisher in their home opener on Saturday, March 4th. The team will take trips to SUNY Geneseo, host Nazareth, travel to Maryland over spring break for the Mustang Classic at Stevenson and play Western New England in a neutral site matchup in Boston, before opening league play.

On the tail end of spring break, the Saints will play the nationally-ranked Union Dutchmen, before returning home to host Ithaca. Following a quick mid-week matchup at Plattsburgh, the Scarlet and Brown will then face Middlebury, Vassar, Clarkson, RPI and RIT.
 
"As much as winter still wants to linger in the North Country, we are anxious to the 2023 spring campaign underway," Mahoney added. "I have been very impressed with the preparation and attention to detail of the team and we look forward to seeing who we are and how we can continue to make positive strides, beginning with our opener vs. Potsdam."

Follow the links to check out the Saints' latest news, roster, and schedule for the upcoming season.

2023 Liberty League Men's Lacrosse Preseason Poll

Place. Team, Points
1. RIT, 49 (7)
2. Union, 41 (1)
3. St. Lawrence, 38
4. RPI, 28
5. Ithaca, 27
6. Clarkson, 20
7. Vassar, 12
8. Skidmore, 9
(First-place votes are in parentheses)