Army Begins Three-Game Homestand Saturday

Saturday, February 10

West Point, NY

12 PM

Army West Point

Massachusetts

Army Begins Three-Game Homestand Saturday

February 09, 2018 | Men's Lacrosse

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The 16th-ranked Army West Point lacrosse team will start the 2018 season at Michie Stadium this Saturday against UMass at 12 p.m. The Black Knights will begin a three-game home stand to start off the season.

NJIT will visit the banks of the Hudson on Tuesday for a 3 p.m. contest. Army will then host #7 Rutgers the following Saturday at Michie. The first three games are non-ticketed events for fans.

ARMY (0-0, 0-0 Patriot League)

Army looks to start the season on the right foot with three home wins.
The Black Knights had five straight home wins in 2017, which was the most successful season under head coach Joe Alberici.
Army returns a wealth of its roster for 2018 including Inside Lacrosse Media Preseason All-Americans Johnny Surdick and David Symmes.
Surdick was also picked as the Patriot League Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, while Symmes was named to the preseason All-League team.
The Cadets were picked to finish second in the Patriot League Preseason Poll.
Army has been recognized in multiple preseason polls including a 15th ranking in the Nike/US Lacrosse Magazine Poll, 16th in the Inside Lacrosse Maverik Media Preseason Poll and 17th in the Inside Lacrosse Poll.

HOW TO FOLLOW – UMASS
VIDEO • Patriot League Network
LIVE STATS • sidearmstats.com/army/mlax
TWITTER • @ArmyWP_MLax
GAME NOTES • GoArmyWestPoint.com

UMASS (0-0, 0-0 CAA)

For the eighth year in a row, Army and UMass will open the season opposite one another.
The Black Knights have won the past three meetings against the Minutemen including a 9-2 decision in 2017.
UMass graduated its top three point scorers from last season. Jeff Trainor returns to the squad after producing 22 points on 10 goals and 12 assists during his freshman campaign.
Faceoff specialist Noah Rak returns to the team after winning 148 faceoffs and led the team with 69 ground balls.
The Minutemen will also look to replace their goalie who graduated. UMass went 7-8-0 last year and were picked to finish third in the Colonial Athletic Association Preseason Poll.

HOW TO FOLLOW – NJIT
VIDEO • Patriot League Network
LIVE STATS • sidearmstats.com/army/mlax
TWITTER • @ArmyWP_MLax
GAME NOTES • GoArmyWestPoint.com

NJIT (0-0)

The Highlanders will be two games in once they face the Black Knights on Tuesday.
NJIT fell to Lehigh 13-8 in its season opener.
The team will face Lafayette on Saturday before heading to West Point.
Army and NJIT will meet for the third time in program history Tuesday.
The series began in 2016 and the Black Knights are 3-0 opposite the Highlanders.
Ryan Darrow and Cole Robillard each boast three points on the year so far.
The pair have tallied two goals apiece along with Aaron Forster. Nicholas Irwin leads the team in assists with two.
Nick Marzullo has seen the full time in net for NJIT and boasts 16 saves.

CONTINUING THE MOMENTUM

The Black Knights are looking to build on its momentum from last season.
Army defeated Notre Dame in its season finale in an overtime thriller.
The Black Knights' Symmes charged through a defender on the Fighting Irish and beat their goalie with a bounce shot to secure the team's second win over a top-five opponent that season.
Army just missed the postseason, but looks to bring that drive and momentum into the 2018 season.

PRESEASON HONORS

Surdick has headlined the preseason awards for Army. The junior defender was named to the Inside Lacrosse Media Preseason All-American second team earlier this week.
Surdick was also voted the Patriot League's Preseason Defensive Player of the year.
Symmes joined his teammate on the All-American list on the honorable mention.
He was also named to the All-Patriot League Preseason Team.

NATIONAL RECOGNITION

The Black Knights have been recognized in four preseason polls.
They were slated 15th in the Nike/US Lacrosse Magazine Poll, 16th in the Inside Lacrosse Maverik Media Preseason Poll and 17th in the Inside Lacrosse Poll.

FILLING THE GAPS

Although it returned a wealth of its roster, Army will have to replace some key players from last season.
On offense, the Black Knights will look to make up for Cole Johnson's point production.
Johnson tallied 48 points for the Cadets on 29 goals and 19 assists.
Nate Jones and Conor Glancy will look to fill Johnson's shoes on the attacking end.
Perhaps the main loss to the Black Knights' is on the faceoff where specialist Dan Grabher had a .628 efficiency.
On the defensive side of the ball, Reaves Klipstein was the gel that kept them working as a well-oiled machine.
Dom Ricca has stepped into the communication role, while Jon LaMonica will play a key role with matchups.
AJ Barretto returns to net for the Black Knights behind the strong defensive unit.

LUCKY NUMBER 13

Head coach Joe Alberici enters his 13th season at the helm of the Army West Point lacrosse team.
The 2017 season's 12-4 record and .750 winning percentage.
It was only the second team in its history to reach 12 wins in a season with the other coming in 1993.
Alberici led his team to victories over #6 Syracuse at the buzzer and a win over #4 Notre Dame in overtime.
The two wins were half of the team's one-goal victories last season.

NATIONAL AUDIENCE

The Black Knights will play on CBS Sports Network for three contests this season.
The first matchup on national television is at Boston University on April 7 at 3:15 pm as part of tripleheader of Patriot League action.
The following week, the greatest rivalry in college lacrosse, Army-Navy, takes center stage at Michie Stadium with a noon faceoff on April 14.
The final regular season game for the Black Knights on CBS Sports Network will be the final Patriot League matchup of the season at Loyola at 7 p.m. on April 20.
The semifinal and championship rounds of the Patriot League Men's Lacrosse Championship will be televised by CBS Sports Network for the 10th-consecutive season.
The semifinal round is set for Friday, April 27, with the championship game scheduled for Sunday, April 29.
All three games will be hosted by the tournament's top overall seed.
The Patriot League Women's Lacrosse Championship will also be televised live by CBS Sports Network on Sunday, May 6 at noon.

For more news and information about Army men's lacrosse, please follow @ArmyWP_MLax on Twitter and Instagram.