Army Men’s Lacrosse finished the 2022 season ranked 17th in the nation following a 12-4 campaign. They beat perennial Patriot League bully Lehigh twice, plus #14 Syracuse in the dome in the season’s early-going, and then #4 Cornell in Ithaca later in the year. Alas, despite having put some impressive scalps in the trophy case, the Army Team never quite lived up to the lofty expectations set by last year’s standout senior class. They dropped a bad loss to the Mids at Michie Stadium in overtime late in the season and then, despite having beaten then #15 Boston University to close out the Patriot League regular season slate, the Black Knights lost to the Terriers in Boston in the Patriot League Championship Game. With that, they missed making the NCAA Championship Tournament despite boasting an impressive overall resume.
It’s what the @USArmy does, finds a way to victory. Grind, grit, resilience, determination! Incredible game and incredible men on both sidelines. Congratulations to @CoachJeffMonken and @ArmyWP_Football America’s finest were on display today. #GoArmy #FamilyToughnessTradition https://t.co/HjMMT9UGlP
— Kyle Georgalas (@LaxCoachKG) December 11, 2022
First Look at 2023
For better or worse, 2023 promises to be a very different kind of season from 2022. The Black Knights graduated nearly all of their known playmakers on both sides of the ball, so that the team now must replace players at almost every position. Notable losses include All-American Attacker Brendan Nichtern, All-Patriot League Midfielders Bobby Abshire and James Pryor, and All-Patriot League Goalie Wyatt Schupler. And those are just for starters.
The Black Knights return Firstie Attackers Reese Burek (29 goals, 15 assists) and Paul Johnson (26 goals, 11 assists), but one does not simply replace an All-American like Nichtern, who went on to become the Academy’s all-time leading scorer.
“We don’t have the next Brendan Nichtern waiting in the wings,” Army Head Coach Alberici said during fall ball. “We probably don’t have the next Bobbie Abshire waiting in the wings, either.”
The Black Knights will need to find or develop some new players on offense while maintaining their characteristic hard-nosed defense and — hopefully — finding a new standout goalie in the process.
All in all, this is a big ask.
The good news is that Army has recruited well over the past few years, and Coach Alberici has a well-earned reputation for developing high quality college players from the kids he recruits.
Perhaps 2023 will wind up being something of a rebuilding year for Army Men’s Lacrosse, and if that happens, well, we’ll all survive it. The team has had its share of big moments in the last few years. However, the last time we thought Army would head into a rebuilding phase, the team wound up debuting Nichtern for a plebe campaign that ended in a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Hope springs eternal, friends, and Army Men’s Lacrosse is perennially one of the Military Academy’s most successful programs.
The Rookie of the Year checks in at 3️⃣1️⃣ in the Players Top 50 List!
— Chrome Lacrosse Club (@PLLChrome) December 6, 2022
What a season for Brendan Nichtern ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/FxtcxwCKaE
2023 Schedule Preview
This team is gonna have its chances to excel. If they can find a way to beat a resurgent Navy team and earn yet another berth to the Patriot League Championship Tournament, they’ll at least be on track to getting back to where we’re all used to seeing them. Beyond that, it’s a little early to set expectations with a team that will boast as many new faces as Army will.
The Patriot League is chock-full of quality collegiate lacrosse programs. We’re not going to preview them all in this space, but some of this season’s critical match-ups are as follows:
Our 2023 schedule is here ‼️
— Army Men's Lacrosse (@ArmyWP_MLax) December 1, 2022
A look at the full 13-game slate ⤵️?
? https://t.co/VixCnteJRC#GoArmy pic.twitter.com/VVNjCYPC2h
February 11th: at UMass (8-6 in 2022, ranked 26th overall)
Army has opened against UMass every year for the past nine, having won the last seven in a row. This despite the fact that these games are almost always close and indeed, UMass is almost always very good overall.
Back at it ?
— UMass Men's Lacrosse (@UMassMLacrosse) January 11, 2023
Our 2023 campaign begins ONE MONTH from today when we host Army at Garber Field!#GorillaLacrosse? X #Flagship? pic.twitter.com/p7cF7USiaW
February 18th: Rutgers (15-4 in 2022, ranked 5th overall)
The Black Knights won’t play Syracuse in the dome this year for the first time in a very long time. And why should they? They’ve got the previously #5 Scarlet Knights coming to Michie Stadium for an early-season showdown that ought to show us a lot about where Army’s ceiling might actually be this season.
It was an incredible 2022 season for #RUMLax!
— Rutgers Men's LAX (@RUmlax) July 26, 2022
⚔️ First Ever Final Four
⚔️ Program Record 15 Wins
⚔️ Program Record 6 Ranked Wins
⚔️ 3 Top-10 Wins
Take a look back at all the highlights from the year with our comprehensive season review: https://t.co/mYovB7R0i6 pic.twitter.com/NWR01fXUFn
March 18th: at Lehigh (8-7 in 2022, ranked 28th overall)
Patriot League foe Lehigh has developed a hard-nosed defense similar to Army’s and used it to beat the Black Knights in an extremely physical contest last season. Moreover, the Mountain Hawks have won four of their last five contests against Army, making them a perennial threat to win the Patriot League outright, though they’ve yet to get all the way over the hump.
Congrats to our guy Mike Sisselberger for being named a @USALacrosseMag preseason third team all-american.
— Lehigh Lacrosse (@LehighLacrosse) January 10, 2023
?: https://t.co/GHwbwZnbGD pic.twitter.com/BkyYE15On0
March 25th: Loyola (8-8 in 2022, ranked 23rd overall)
The Greyhounds haven’t been quite as good over the past couple of years as they were in the ten years prior, but they are still the best team in the Patriot League, year-in and year-out. The Black Knights have won the last two match-ups and four of the past five overall since 2019. Before that, though, this series — and indeed, the Patriot League generally — belonged to Loyola.
Payton Rezanka was named to the Preseason All-America First Team by @USALacrosseMag, and defensive teammate earned All-America honorable mention.https://t.co/Wj9x2lk6S5#gohounds | #patriotmlax | @PatriotLeague
— Loyola Men's Lacrosse (@LoyolaMLAX) January 10, 2023
April 15th: Cornell (14-5 in 2022, ranked 6th overall)
The second half of Army’s home-and-home series with Cornell happens this year at Michie Stadium. After last year’s upset, you best believe that the Big Red are gonna come ready to deliver some high-quality payback.
With the season just around the corner, @USALacrosseMag released its preseason All-American list. Check out which @CornellLacrosse athletes got the call at the link below!#YellCornell ?https://t.co/fdIQMEn3Db
— Cornell Big Red (@CornellSports) January 10, 2023
April 22nd: at Navy (9-6, 32nd overall)
Friends, the Mids are almost certainly going to start the season ranked this year. They’ve had a young but talented team for the past two seasons. Now all that talented youth is just plain old talent. Worse, Navy won the last two in this series despite being heavy underdogs, and like Lehigh, they’ve won four of the last five overall.
Think what you want about Xavier Arline as a quarterback; the guy was a legit difference-maker in last year’s showdown at Michie Stadium.
College Football over➡️It’s officially lacrosse season!#GoNavy⚓️??
— Navy Men's Lacrosse (@NavyMLax) January 10, 2023
April 28th: Boston University (12-5, ranked 12th overall)
BU beat Army to win the Patriot League Tournament last year, and that really sucked a lot. Worse, they’ve returned damn-near their entire team from last year.
As a team, the Terriers have been improving steadily since 2017. We’ll see how they look in 2022, but closing the season against the Terriers won’t be an easy task regardless, especially coming immediately after games against Cornell and Navy.
.@TerrierMLAX returns 98.6% of their production from last year (as measured by EGA), according to @laxreference.
— USA Lacrosse Magazine (@USALacrosseMag) January 13, 2023
"They just play with such a bravado that is contagious."https://t.co/h9jvE5uI0Z
Final Thoughts
Overall, this ought to be an interesting season. The Black Knights have some big questions to answer and some big shoes to fill, but they have a terrific coach in charge of a high-quality program overall. As fans, we have every reason to be optimistic about the future of this team.
Great to officially be ????!#GoArmy | #FamilyToughnessTradition pic.twitter.com/QKOwmNVPLu
— Army Men's Lacrosse (@ArmyWP_MLax) January 10, 2023
Go Army! Beat UMass!
Cover image via the incomparable Donna Tamasitis (Follow on IG; Photo on Smugmug).
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