After a 0-11 finish last season, the men’s lacrosse team is back in action. They began their season with a scrimmage that was not scored but gave the Leopards pre-season exposure to a Big Ten Conference team, playing against Ohio State this past weekend in Columbus, Ohio.

“We competed hard and our sideline brought a ton of energy,” junior midfielder Macklin Fitzpatrick said.

The Leopards face off against Penn State, University of Virginia, Rutgers, the Virginia Military Institute and other non-conference schools along with Patriot League teams.

“I’m excited to compete and continue to get better every day with my teammates and enjoy every moment we get together,” Fitzpatrick said.

The Leopards welcomed a large freshman class this past year with 18 new faces replacing last year’s five seniors.

Fitzpatrick expressed that one thing they can improve on from last season is their implementation.

Execution will be key as the Leopards will look to compete against highly-ranked teams in the country throughout the year, yet Fitzpatrick remains confident.

“One of our strengths is the fact that we’re underdogs going into the season and will play with a chip on our shoulders,” Fitzpatrick said.

The future of the men’s lacrosse program seems promising as Head Coach Patrick Myers has also welcomed 12 future Leopards to the program’s 2022 signing class as announced on Jan. 10.

These 12 players include Aiden Best, Tighe Cummiskey, CJ Lauretani, Lukas DiGiovanni, Nick Muller, Zach Zukowsky, Jack Irish, Aiden Kopek, Lee Frazer, Jeremy Koren and Eric Ward.

These future Leopards hail from all over the country and Canada, coming from Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, California and Ontario, Canada. This group contains multi-sport athletes, members of their high school honor rolls, and many other accolades and awards.

The season will officially kick off next Saturday, Feb. 5 at 12 p.m. as Lafayette will head to University Park to take on the Penn State Nittany Lions.