Despite losing a key field leader and finishing last season with just three wins, the Binghamton University men’s lacrosse team may be more experienced than ever this year, and the Bearcats will look to translate that experience into victories.

The squad’s key returners include the three senior captains: midfielder Drew Wichmann, defender Griffin McLoughlin and attack Jeff Rurey. The team also returns dynamic scorers in seniors Andy Cook and Steve Carlson, first-team All-Conference defender Derrick Danieu, and All-Rookie defender Ben Waldron.

“We’re very athletic at the midfield, we’re very skilled at the attack,” said Binghamton head coach Ed Stephenson. “We have guys that really worked hard in the offseason … Certainly our front line is very strong.”

The Bearcats’ most significant loss from last year was the departure of Larry Kline, who was a three-year starter in net and a team captain.

The goalies on the Bearcats roster include junior transfer Dan Solazzo, who was a second-team junior college All-American, sophomore Jordan Marra and freshman Kraig Heston.

“We’ve got three guys battling for the position, and they’re all very good,” Stephenson said. “All three of our goalies have played this past week in scrimmages, and I couldn’t be more proud of all of them.”

But not having the game-changing Kline between the pipes will make this a different kind of team. McLoughlin sees the leadership being made up in other areas.

“Larry was amazing, on and off the field,” McLoughlin said. “Game-wise and for team chemistry, he was just an awesome guy. I think this senior class has really taken it upon itself to take that burden and try to push the team and get the most out of them. I think we’re a better-led team than we were in years past, so we feel confident.”

“We’ve got a relatively experienced group this year; we’ve got a lot of seniors and juniors in key positions,” Stephenson said. “I like our leadership, I like our experience and our academic image; it’s all probably better than it’s ever been this year.”

As far as the recruiting class, the Bearcats have several freshmen that have the potential to make an immediate impact, including midfielder Matt Moynihan and attackers Tyler Perrelle and Matt Springer. In conjunction with the upperclassmen, Binghamton has a dynamic set of young and old players at every single position.

“Also, the leadership we have across the board has [helped] the freshmen to be able to mesh,” Wichmann said. “We have seniors and more experienced guys at every position, so we can mentor the younger guys and assimilate them into our program pretty easily.”

Stephenson’s words added even more weight regarding the young talent.

“This is probably our best recruiting class ever,” he said. “Those guys certainly have made an immediate impact … We feel real good about our young guys.”

Other changes for the Bearcats have surfaced in more intangible ways, such as being in better shape and being more confident.

“For the first time since I’ve been here, I think there’s some swagger on the offensive side,” McLoughlin said. “For the first time, I think we really realize we can score some goals. Defensively, that always makes you happy, but I think on the defensive end, we know what level we’re capable of playing up to. I mean, we’re just as equally confident.”

“I feel like we’re a lot more balanced this year, especially on offense,” Cook said. “We’re attacking from everywhere now; last year we were a bit more centered on one more than the other, and the defense looks good too, so we have a lot of balance this year.”

The Bearcats, as always, will play a harsh schedule this year. Not only are some difficult non-conference matches scheduled, but the America East is a conference that gets tougher and tougher each year.

“Our conference has gotten better and better every year, and this year it’s no different,” Stephenson said. “I think every team will be highly competitive. It will be the toughest conference year that I’ve faced in my tenure here.”

Despite finishing with a 3-12 record last season and only having won more than four games twice in the history of the program, Stephenson has put together another highly competitive team that has the ability to contend with some of the best in the nation.

“I feel really good about our future with the commitment from Binghamton University and the America East Conference,” Stephenson said. “I feel like we will be one of those teams at the next level.”