The men’s lacrosse team faces Bates Saturday in its home opener. The men have already visited three NESCAC opponents, going 1-2 in conference play. The Jeffs look to bounce back from a tough road loss to 13th-ranked Bowdoin to take a win at home.

The men will rely on returning all-NESCAC second team honoree Tom McDonnell ’10 for offensive production. McDonnell was second in the team in goals last season and already has 17 goals on the season. On defense, all-NESCAC teammate Chris Fitzpatrick ’09 anchors the defense as team captain for the second consecutive year, along with fellow captain Matt Pietroforte ’09 as goalkeeper, who led the NESCAC in saves and saves-per-game last season.

Bates will depend on its own leading scorer, attacker Tyler Moore’09, who leads Bates with 13 goals. Just behind him is junior David Barrett, while rookie Adarm Scharff ’12 holds down the defense in between the pipes.