Shannon KeoughThe Cabrini men’s lacrosse team will kick off their season ranked third in the country.
They left last season with an overall record of 17-3, after their loss against Salisbury University in the NCAA quarterfinals, just two games away from a championship.
“Making it that far in the tournament last year showed us the amount of potential that we have,” senior business administration major Mike Dolente said. “We have a group of returning guys this year that are ready to work hard to take it another step further this year.”
Dolente is one of Cabrini’s best returning face off men.
Also returning is Scott Reimer who scored a total of 68 goals last season, the most of any ranked team in Division III.
The Cav’s played in two scrimmages on Sunday, Feb. 7, against Villanova University and University of Maryland Baltimore County.
“It was a good learning experience after three weeks back on track,” senior business administration major Kevin Fahey said. “Playing against good competition shows us where our weaknesses are. Now, we can correct our mistakes and do better in our scrimmages next week.”
“It felt good to get on the field against highly competitive teams and each day at practice we are improving to secure a successful season,” freshman undecided major Ryan Hill said.
Colfer is beginning his ninth season with the Cavaliers. He has a 108-29 career mark and a perfect 65-0 mark versus conference opponents.
“We played well in certain spots and made a lot of good mistakes that are correctable,” head coach Steve Colfer said.
Colfer earned win number 100 of his coaching career last year. It took him just eight seasons.
“Our first few weeks we focused on more conditioning than systems. So, our conditioning was up and it was good to see how well we performed,” junior elementary education major Mark Hamilton said.
With a senior dominating team this season, the Cav’s plan to use the knowledge, experience and hard work to come out on top and win a national championship. Fifteen seniors will be returning to the turf.
“The team has a lot of senior leadership,” Colfer said. “We will change things here and there, but playing up tempo and putting a lot of pressure defensively will continue.”
Returning starting goalkeeper Kevin Chenoweth is anxious to improve on last years success.
“This year we have the highest ranking and will need to work hard at every game, knowing that other teams are going to try to take us out,” senior history major Chenoweth said.
Chenoweth made 108 saves and allowed 81 goals last season, as part of a defense that only allowed 6.2 goals per game.
On the offensive side, the Cavaliers scored 16.1 goals per game on average.
“I expect for the team to do much better than we have in the past and I feel that we can go as far as we decide,” senior business administration major Jeff Moore said.
“We’re all hoping to win a national championship,” senior finance major Pat Grenier said. “We’ve set standards, being ranked third in the country and don’t want to settle for anything less.”
The Cavs will play their first game on Feb. 25 at Fairleigh Dickinson University and their first home game on Feb. 28 against Haverford College.
“I expect our seniors to take us as far as they are willing to work hard for,” assistant coach Brian Felice said.
“As a team, this year nothing short of a national championship is going to be acceptable,” Dolente said.
