After a couple of mediocre seasons, the men’s lacrosse team finally seems poised to deliver the results that have been expected in the past. As a team often subject to hype, which could partially be due to the seven months leading up to their spring season, they have struggled in recent years. The team enters each season with high hopes but perennially falls short of expectations. This season, like most seasons, the Jeffs have an appealing combination of recognized stars and highly touted newcomers. As the Jeffs have found, however, that guarantees nothing.

The Jeffs graduated a class of five seniors last spring. The most noteworthy of the class was 2007 NESCAC Player of the Year Derek Cherney. While short, the attacker’s height belies his overwhelming accomplishments, which last season included USILA Second Team All-American along with numerous NESCAC honors. The team is also without Cherney’s fellow tri-captains, Chris Hoffman and Ryan Madden, both of whom were striking offensive contributors. Rounding out last season’s graduating class are defenders David Beck and Owen Neill. As regular starters, the two anchored the Jeffs’ defensive ranks and provided leadership and stability.

While last years seniors will be missed, the Jeffs return six of their top seven point leaders on attack. Junior Brett Miller, after returning from a semester in Paris, will look to improve upon his seven goals and 14 assists from last season, while senior tri-captain Willy Ferrer and sophomore Thomas McDonnell will also seek to make large contributions. Also looking to make an impact will be sophomore Jordan Gruskay.

Amherst’s midfield remains strong and full of veteran players. Last year’s first line is still intact, with senior tri-captain T.J. Jackson and sophomores Rob Denious and J.T. Milone looking to top last season’s performance. Returning as short-stick defensive midfielders are Nick Gilligan ’09 and Chris Mottau ’08, while Evan O’Roark ’10 and John Armideo ’08 will round out the midfield as long-sticks.

The squad also returns a large group on defense. Beginning with junior tri-captain Chris Fitzpatrick, whose move to defense is fairly recent, the defense will be anchored by senior Brett Larson, junior Clint Marchese and sophomores Mike Greenberg, Kyle Standiford, Franco Aguirre and Nigel Carr. In net, junior Matt Pietroforte and sophomore Andrew Harrison will hold down the fort.

As far as newcomers, the Jeffs welcome a large group of 12 first-years to the team: Parker Holcomb, Zack Zetlin, Gabe Mann, Andrew Alspaugh, Jason DeGiovanni and Matt Rhone, who constitute half of the 12, will try to crack the defensive ranks, while Bailey Conor, Ryan Conti, Matt Levine and Nick Edwards look to do the same in the midfield. Looking to contribute on attack are first-years Luke Arnold and Nick Newman.

In their first contest of the year, the men trounced opponent Mount Ida College, 14-3. The contest featured explosive scoring across all class years, with McDonnell and Newman each netting four goals. “It was a great first game,” said Jackson. “The defense played very solidly and the offense clicked pretty well. We will be looking to improve on this performance on Wednesday when we play Springfield.”

Fitzpatrick expressed hope that the season’s first game was a harbinger of things to come. “After some difficulties with the weather and with our pre-game warm-up music, I was a little bit worried,” he joked.

“However, our team played with pride and confidence when it mattered most, and we pulled out a win. Although this was only our first game of the season, it was a great victory for us as a team.”