Football
Under new coach John Troxell, the football team enjoyed a great opening to the season, as it beat Sacred Heart on a goal-line stand. But there is still a lot upon which the team must improve in order to stay competitive in the Patriot League. The offense struggled throughout the year due to a myriad of injuries, and while defensively the team was solid, it now must look to replace seven of its 11 starters including the newest Baltimore Raven, Malik Hamm. Lastly, the Lafayette special teams unit was one of the worst in all of college football last year with no one who could consistently kick it through the uprights on extra points or get a punt away without it getting blocked.
Men’s basketball
The majority of the regular season was a struggle for the Leopards. They lost consistently throughout much of their both non- and in-conference schedule. However, following the abrupt suspension of Mike Jordan, the team went on a run that saw it go all the way to the Patriot League title. The new head coach, Mike McGarvey, will look to replicate the success he had in the latter part of the season, but it will be tough without top performers Leo O’Boyle, CJ Fulton and Josh Rivera, all of whom are transferring.
Women’s basketball
Coach Damon-Olson will be entering her seventh year this season and expectations are high, having only lost one senior from a team that performed well when not depleted by injuries. Rising senior forward McKayla Andrews is returning from one last year, and so is all-academic first-team rising junior guard Abby Antognoli. With so much talent being lost across the Patriot League, the Leopards could be able to reach the upper echelon of the conference for the first time since COVID-19.
(Photo courtesy of GoLeopards)
Men’s lacrosse
The team took a big step forward this season, making it to the Patriot League tournament for the first time in the five years of Patrick Myers’ tenure. The three-headed offensive monster of rising seniors Kalman Kraham, Peter Lehman and Charlie Cunniffe are all back, which means that the Maroon and White could take another big step next year. There is a tangible direction and upward trajectory for this program even while losing a lot of seniors, making Myers look very worthy of the extension he got last year.
Women’s lacrosse
The Leopards will be losing a lot this season as they say goodbye to six seniors including two-time captain and leading scorer Sarah Bennett. After going 2-15 with only one in-conference win, there are many questions going into next year about what this program can do. However, there are some bright spots with rising seniors Abby Romano and second-team all-Patriot League goalie Lexie Coldiron returning for one more year.
Baseball
A.J. Miller is yet another new coach for the Leopards this season, and despite their lack of pitching depth, the Maroon and White have performed well. They started out slow winning just three of their first 21 games, but since then have come on strong and are primed to finish fourth in the Patriot League. All-time home run leader Pete Ciuffreda will be a big loss for the team at the end of the year. However, the team has shown things it can build on throughout the second part of the season.
Softball
After finishing last in the conference last year and starting out the season with only one win in the team’s first 16 games, the Leopards have begun to turn the program around. The team currently sits with more wins this year in-conference than it had all season last year and first-year Coach Karavin Dew will look to continue the foundation she is building into next year. She will have to fight through attrition, though, as five seniors will be leaving the program.
Field hockey
After an incredible year in 2021, the team regressed in 2022, and with the exit of seniors Simone Hefting, Molly McAndrew and Felicitas Hannes, the team looks to be in a state of transition going into next year. Standout rising junior Lineke Spaans and rising sophomore goalkeeper Raffi Fragomeni among others will look to keep the Leopards’ Patriot League title hopes alive.
Men’s soccer
Seniors Alex Sutton and Marcos Kitromilides graduating will hurt the team a great deal as they have been the team’s goalie and leading goal scorer, respectively, for their entire careers. The team has been consistently good throughout the last five years, including going undefeated in-conference just two years ago. The team is returning a lot of quality players, but the lack of an experienced goalie will be a key hole for the group to fill if it wants to try and get back to where it has been.
Women’s soccer
Mick Statham will be going into his 18th season as head coach, and without a winning season before Covid, there is much room for improvement. The team struggled mightily on offense, tallying three goals only once in its 17-game season en route to only winning one game in-conference throughout the year. However, there is some hope for the future as its defense remained strong throughout the season and the vast majority of last year’s goal-scorers are coming back for at least one more year.
Volleyball
Last year was one Lafayette volleyball would like to forget. Coming in with so much promise after one of the best seasons in the program’s history, the team could not seem to replicate the same success it had in 2022. However, the team will only be graduating two seniors. With five rising seniors coming back, all of whom played key roles on the Patriot League championship-appearing team in 2021, there is a lot to suggest that the Leopards could get back to their winning ways next season. New coach Christian Kiselica will look to bring the Leopards back to the promised land.
Swimming and diving
The losses of seniors Sydney Perks, Aaron Tupper and Matt Cummings alongside captain JJ Wong will hurt the team, but there is great promise for what the Leopards can do in the pool next year. Sophomore Peter Kawash is already one of the best swimmers the Leopards have ever seen; the rest of the men’s team, while young, has already had significant exposure at high-level meets like the Patriot League championship. On the women’s side, the team will have over 10 seniors next year, which will help as it continues to improve and impress in its heats.
Golf
The team struggled to replicate the success it found during the spring 2022 season when Ryan Tall won the entire Patriot League Tournament. After finishing second in the team-wide Patriot League tournament last year, the Leopards finished last this year, 11 strokes behind the two teams tied for seventh. However, the team does have a lot of young talent, with most of its top finishes this year coming from now-rising juniors. If they continue to succeed and blossom, there is hope that the Leopards could return to the mountaintop next year.
Tennis
The men’s team appeared in the Patriot League tournament as a non-alternate for the first time in over 25 years while the women met the same fate they had in the last two seasons by trouncing Holy Cross in the play-in round before losing in the quarterfinals. There is much hope for improvement for the Leopards on the men’s side as the majority of its starting lineup will be back, including four rising sophomores who all saw significant playing time last year. The women’s team is losing four seniors, yet with six rising sophomores, it also looks to be ready to replicate its success.
Running
Cross Country, along with Track and Field — as with many of Lafayette’s other sports — saw significant contributions from its underclassmen this year which inspires hope for the future. Though the loss of Bobby Oehrlein will hurt, both the women’s and men’s teams look to be on an upward trajectory in coach Michele Curcio’s ninth year on the job.
