2023 Men’s Lacrosse Season Preview
2022 Record: 11-5 (7-3 KCAC)
Starters returning/lost: 8/2
Letterwinners returning/lost: 32/7
Top Returners
Boston Romero (Jr., Las Vegas, Nev.)
(Letterwinner, 40 goals, 14 assists)
Breck Putzier (So., Minneapolis, Minn.)
(First-team all-KCAC, 46 goals, 31 assists)
Tim Pennington (Jr., Boise, Idaho)
(Honorable-mention all-KCAC, 24 goals, 8 assists)
Marcus Davis (So., Sacramento, Calif.)
(Honorable-mention all-KCAC, 22 caused turnovers)
Key Players Lost
Jeremy Smith
(Second-team all-KCAC)
Top Newcomers
Wyatt Christensen (Fr., Madison, Wis.)
Aiden Johnson (Fr., Oregon City, Ore.)
Kenny Bohney (Fr., Moorhead, Minn.)
Bradley Howell (Fr., Clearfield, Utah)
The Statesmen men's lacrosse program looks to continue to climb the ladder as it enters the 2023 campaign.
Head Coach Luke Christiansen, in his fourth year, led WPU to an 11-5 record (7-3 KCAC). The squad was ousted in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference quarterfinals by Columbia, just days after defeating the Cougars in the regular-season finale.
The new year brings a wide variety of changes, headlined by the Statesmen, and five others, now playing as a Heart of America Athletic Conference sport. WPU is joined by full-time Heart schools Benedictine, Clarke, and Missouri Valley, as well as associate members St. Ambrose and Mount Vernon Nazarene.
Four all-conference performers return to the field for the navy and gold, paced by Breck Putzier (So.., Minneapolis, Minn., Kinesiology).
Faceoff Specialist
Ryan Swarts (Jr., Boise, Idaho, Industrial Technology) will start things off in the circle. He garnered honorable-mention all-KCAC laurels a year ago after winning 67.4% of his faceoffs (124-for-184). The junior also tallied three goals and one assist.
Attacker
Putzier, who was also picked as the KCAC's Co-Freshman of the Year in 2022, headlines the offensive attack after recording 46 goals and 31 assists last spring.
Boston Romero (So., Las Vegas, Nev., Business Management), with 40 goals and 14 assists, and Brady Treloar (Jr., Portland, Ore., Business Management), with 20 goals and 13 assists, should be strong complements to Putzier's game.
The additions of Wyatt Christensen (Fr., Madison, Wis., Biology) and Jeff Kohl (Fr., Gilbert, Ariz., Business Management) give the Statesmen great depth up top.
Midfielder
A year after collecting honorable-mention laurels, Tim Pennington (Jr., Boise, Idaho, Biology) is at the top of the list for the midfielders. He notched 24 goals with eight assists, but also topped his crew with 57 ground balls.
Like Putzier, Nate Blasingame (So., Portland, Ore., Business Management) is looking to build off a successful freshman campaign where he finished with 16 goals and 20 assists.
Collin Baliva (Jr., St. Louis, Mo., Mechanical Engineering) (10 goals, 7 assists) and Eli Dillon (Jr., Portland, Ore., Business Management) (7 goals, 2 assists) are also back, while Romero is expected to play in the midfield this season as well.
Kenny Bohney (Fr., Moorhead, Minn.) will also fight for time at the position.
Long Stick Midfielder/Defensive Midfielder
Marcus Davis (So., Sacramento, Calif., New Media) caused 22 turnovers last year en route to honorable-mention all-league laurels. He will receive a push from incoming freshman Aiden Johnson (Oregon City, Ore., Business Management)
Defender
The William Penn defense, which permitted just over seven goals per outing a year ago, will be led by returners Peter Hebenstreit (Jr., St. Louis, Mo., Nursing) and Christopher Lauderdale (Jr., Oakland, Calif., Human Resources). Both players forced eight turnovers in 2022.
Bradley Howell (Fr., Clearfield, Utah, Psychology and Business Management) is projected to also find a spot in the lineup, while newcomers Chace Witherow (Sr., Murfreesboro, Tenn., Sports Management) and Nathan Taylor (Fr., Bountiful, Utah, Biology) are in the mix for extended minutes as well.
Goalkeeper
Eric Garigan (Jr., Tucson, Ariz., Political Science) has the inside track to stand in front of the cage. He was 5-1 last season with a 4.97 Goals Against Average; the junior tallied 40 saves.
Freshman Nolan Kennedy (Waterloo, N.Y.) and Dillon Woods (Council Bluffs, Iowa, Industrial Technology) are waiting in the wings as well.
Schedule/Conference
For the second year in a row, William Penn will open its campaign at the MidAmerican Energy RecPlex in West Des Moines, hosting Missouri Valley in a non-conference battle Sunday at 5 p.m. The Statesmen will then host Cornell in another non-conference matchup on February 4 in West Des Moines, while having six regular home games at Statesmen Community Stadium.
WPU's league slate begins on March 25 against Mount Vernon Nazarene in Ohio. The Statesmen are unofficially ranked #13 in the league and open the season tied for second in the six-squad conference.
