Wilkes University men’s lacrosse suffered a 10-6 setback in their season opener against Marywood University on Feb. 22. However, the program has a bright future only being in its second season of revival.

In the season opener, many underclassmen proved themselves.

The team’s first goal of the season was scored by freshman Gerard Setteducato. Setteducato picked up a fumble by Marywood’s goalkeeper and sent it into the back of the net. Not only was this goal the team’s first, but it was Setteducato’s first of his very short collegiate career.

A video of the goal appeared shortly on the men’s lacrosse Facebook page that night saying there were more to come.

The Colonels would only find the back of the net one more time before halftime. Junior Matt LaSorsa tied the game at 2 goals after an assist from freshman Connor Daly.

The Pacers would score four unanswered goals before the halftime intermission.

Sophomore Matthew Bush, junior Glenn Weist,  freshman John Wink, and junior Nicholas Ruggerio rounded out the scoring for the Colonels with one goal each.

Wilkes was penalized five times to Marywood’s two.

Going forward, the Colonels have a lot to look forward to under second year coach Curtis Jaques. The position marks Jaques’ first head coach position at the NCAA Division III level.

In a press release on the Wilkes Athletics website, Head Coach Curtis Jaques said the team worked well in the non-traditional season during the fall. He said the team is looking forward to building off of last year.

“Our mission has not changed,” Jaques said. “We continue to be very on the things that we can control; conditioning, health, and team chemistry.”

This will be the second season Jaques has had to recruit unique students to play for the Colonels instead of seeking students who are already on campus.

With a roster of over 25 players, Jaques has plenty of tools in his arsenal to combat the grueling two-month season. The roster contains only four juniors and two seniors. The rest are underclassman.

Two freshman had the opportunity to compete for the starting goaltending position. Freshman Carter Whittemore played the entire season opener against Marywood in the cage. Another freshman, Cody Geidel, is also listed as a goalkeeper. It is too early to tell if the job will remain Whittemore’s for the majority of the season or if we will eventually see split time between the netminders.

Judging by other position shuffles we have seen in the past, a lot can happen during the course of a season. One thing is for sure, the Colonels hope to improve off of last year’s start and continue forward.

The 16 game schedule features seven conference games including familiar foes like King’s College and Misericordia University.

Hopefully by the time the conference schedule begins to roll around in the beginning of April, the Colonels will be playing at their highest potential.

The schedule features a balanced eight home games this year. That means there are plenty of opportunites to see the Wilkes LAX-ers in action. Notable home games include the Misericordia Cougars matchup on Apr. 12, Eastern University on Apr. 26 and FDU-Florham  University coming to town for Senior Day on Apr. 28.

Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom play begins Apr. 5 in a road game against cross-town rival King’s College.