The Castleton men’s lacrosse team is looking to have a bounce back season this year under the new reigns of head coach Ed Stephenson. 

After a season that had its fair share of ups and downs last year, the Spartans ended with a 4-13 record and missed out of playoff action. 

However, this season the team looks to make strides in the right direction and has started the season 1-1 with a handful of more games to play before they kick off conference play March 19. 

“I have only been with the team for three weeks now after coming over from hockey and I feel as though the entire team has bought in to what coach Stephenson has been preaching. Coming off a few tough years, this team is hungry for success, and I think a change of leadership has been what we needed to light a spark under us and make the changes we need,” said senior Hunter Sarro.

The team kicked off the season against SUNY Delhi where they fell 16-6. But the Spartans bounced back three days later against New England College taking the victory 12-10 on the road. 

The team followed that up against Utica University in which they lost 8-6 which is an improvement from their previous meeting with Utica last season where they fell 10-5. 

As the Spartans continue to try and find the success on the field, Stephenson has had a plan since the beginning with the team for what he wants the team to be built on. 

“I want them (the team) to learn how to play selflessly with discipline and toughness. My mission is to develop a team culture based on these core values,” Stephenson said. 

Sophomore Carter Frankenhoff echoed what Stephenson said about getting the team to build a proper culture. 

“Coming in at the start of the fall, there was a lot more structure and having a new coach allowed our team to adjust by changing the culture of the team,” Frankenhoff said. 

As the team prepares to improve on the field under the new head coach, it also has much more experience at the college level having only five first-year players out of the 26 on the team. 

“I think we have a great group of guys this year with a strong group of leaders as well as a group of young guys hungry to make change. I think we will find success this year by playing with more trust in each other and playing the game at a faster pace,” Sarro said. 

Moving forward the team faces off against Massachusetts Maritime for their first Little East Conference matchup of the season on what day? 

“Finding success this season is going to be getting better as a team and focusing more on the process than the results,” Frankenhoff said.