WILKES-BARRE, PA (February 21, 2020) – The King's College men's lacrosse program has been led by Andy Orlowski over the past 18 seasons, and the one constant over his tenure has been the culture and mentality of a hard-working, blue collar group that does all of the necessary little things before games to be successful once there.

The Monarchs, coming off a 4-11 season in 2019, will continue to craft that mentality this season but it will be a younger group that is looking to use those traits going into a year where the Monarchs were picked to finish seventh in the MAC Freedom Preseason Coaches Poll. Despite the preseason prognostication, the Monarchs have started to revamp things to focus on getting better each day, especially from a skill perspective.

"We have a different structure this year…we've taken a step back and are trying to build our skill and guys have bought into that," said senior captain and defender Jacob Wrede. "It's a different type of practice set-up but guys understand that this is a process. We know we can't win a championship today, but we can get better today."

That structure of working on the fundamentals and drilling them home will be an asset late in contests, as both teams get tired. Being able to fall back on making the right and consistent play has been a message that the coaching staff is trying to hammer home, and the message seems to of set in for the squad.

"We start off every practice, breaking off to offense and defense, trying to isolate one specific skill and by the end of practice we integrate," said junior captain Chris Surina. "It's been nothing but hard competition, pushing each other to get better every single day."

The 2020 season is an important one when it comes to culture and laying the foundation, as the Monarchs graduated a formidable senior class last year, including their second-leading scorer and All-MAC performer Brian Steiger along with three-year starting goalkeeper Matt Basile. In total, King's graduated four of its top nine point scorers but two starting defensive players.

The Monarchs are fortunate to have 10 new players on the squad this season, including seven freshmen and three players joining the team from other programs or transferring in. "We've got some new faces...all talented guys…but we have a style of focus that's exciting for us coming into the year," said junior midfielder and captain Michael O'Brien.

King's will also look to improve on their focus and leadership this year, something that the squad has really worked on throughout the fall into the spring practices. "The team last year had a lot of great guys and players, but the biggest thing I've seen is that instead of a couple guys being leaders everyone is stepping up into a leadership role," said Surina. "The biggest thing is we're here to get better every day, we're not focusing on the end goal but focusing on the objectives set out for today and how we can accomplish them.

Below is a position-by-position look at the 2020 Monarchs.

ATTACK
King's will look for the improve skill training to translate into more goals in 2020, as the Monarchs finished with 118 goals in 2019, eighth in the conference.  King's took a sizable amount of shots last year, but it's shooting percentage of .219 ranked seventh in the MAC Freedom. The good thing is that the Monarchs return five members on attack who all had a sizable role in 2019 and should come back looking to make big games in 2020.

The main go-to players on attack last year for the Monarchs was junior Gabe Vansuch, who came into the year having not scored as a freshman but ended up exploding on the scene with a team-best 28 goals in 2019. Vansuch has great hands in front of net, and his ability to catch and finish inside was one of the highlights of last year. In fact, his 1.87 goals per game were 10^th best in the MAC Freedom, while his shooting percentage of .412 led the league.

Along with Vansuch, senior Jared Gambino returns after finishing second on the team in goals with 21. Gambino is a shift, quick attack who moves the ball well through "X" but also can roll the crease well, while possessing a strong shot. Brendan Gambino is also back after playing in just seven games due to injury, but will try to work into a group that has gotten deeper in 2020.

Junior Zach Anderson worked hard last year to earn a role on attack, and he did just that as he moved into a role on the starting extra-man opportunity line. Anderson scored once last year, and he will look to improve on that as well in 2020. Junior Charlie Alessi also had a strong sophomore campaign, posting 20 points on seven goals and 13 goals and will be a leader for the attack due to his experience and knowledge. Paul Trabucco will play attack as well this year, transitioning over from his midfield position a season ago.

The attack group has added two new faces, and both look like they should be strong additions. Freshman Nolan Reape has an agile, speedy attack who will bring a solid passing and scoring option to the Monarchs attack, and sophomore Alex Acosta came to King's as a men's ice hockey player but will also play lacrosse for the Monarchs. Acosta played for Edge Lacrosse as a Canadian prep, and looks like another strong addition to the team's goal-scoring crew this year.

MIDFIELD
The Monarch midfielder group has a strong balance of offensive talent and defensive toughness, perfect for sustained success in the MAC Freedom. Looking at the returning group, King's brings back six players that are listed as midfielders, including fifth-leading scorer on last year's squad in O'Brien. O'Brien is a strong, physical down-hill dodger that can shoot on the run with a heavy shot.

O'Brien is joined in the midfield by fellow junior Alec Martin, who scored some big goals as a sophomore and will look to improve on his 12 tallies from a season ago. Martin is great with both hands, moves well and has strong dodging skills. Freshman Nick Solinsky comes to town this spring from local Dallas High School, where he joins high school teammate and fellow newcomer Hunter Landon.

Both players have been working hard to work into the offensive midfield rotation, and both have good size, speed and skill sets ready to for the collegiate game. Senior Sean Morrissey will also look to have a big year offensively for King's, as his season got side-tracked early last season due to injury. When healthy, he's another athletic middie who can do some good things with the ball. 

Junior Trevor Douenias will get some offensive runs as well, but will focus on his role as a face-off man mainly. Also facing off this year will be O'Brien, thanks to his strength on the ball, while Surina will be a change-of-pace long-stick face-off man for the Monarchs as well.

On the defensive side of the midfield, King's will look for a group of four players to provide sound and aggressive play. Freshman Tyler Sindel comes to King's from Brick High School in New Jersey, and he brings athleticism and physicality to the position as he was a three-sport standout in high school.

Sophomore Ryan Candelori has moved from goalkeeper to midfield this year, and his high lacrosse IQ and knowledge of defense should help the Monarchs. Senior Gene Gibbons was a starter for the King's football team this fall, but the senior will replace his football helmet for a lacrosse bucket this spring. Gibbons is another player that doesn't mind the physicality of playing as a short-stick midfielder, as he looks to carve out a role for King's. Sophomore Andrew Trainer is also back this year in the defensive midfield, as he played in one game for the Monarchs in 2019.

At long-stick midfield this year, the Monarchs will rely on the pair of Surina and junior Patrick Burnham as the main contributors. Surina was a constant for the Monarchs last season, as the now-junior posted 19 ground balls along with 14 caused turnovers for the season. Surina was third in caused turnovers, whiles starting all 15 games for King's. Burnham played in nine games as a sophomore, adding three caused turnovers and two ground balls.

DEFENSE
The Monarchs have a very deep group of defenders coming back in 2020, as what looks to be the most experienced group on the team in 2020. King's returns two full-time starters at close defense in Wrede and Sam Moyer, each of whom had very strong campaigns last year.

Wrede brings one of the best sticks on the team, as he caused 16 caused turnovers in 2019, while Moyer also posted 16 caused turnovers and added 29 ground balls for the Monarchs. Both were full-time starters in 2019, and each should have a pivotal role again this year in 2020. King's also returns a strong group of sophomore defenders, as Brent Cassium and Aaron Olsovsky both saw significant playing time as freshmen.

Olsovsky played in all 15 games last year as a freshman, getting one start while adding nine ground balls and three caused turnovers. Expect those numbers to increase this season. Cassium is a big defender that brings a long reach that makes it tough on defenders to get by him. Cassium finished with two caused turnovers last year as a freshman. Fellow sophomore John Shaffer played in one game as a newcomer last year, and will look to work into the rotation this year as well.

A familiar face to McCarthy Stadium, senior August Axtman has picked his lacrosse stick back up after a strong high school tenure as he transitions from one of the best King's College men's soccer careers to the lacrosse field. Axtman is one of the most athletic players on the team, and will be used to matchup on athletic midfielders and attackmen this year.

Sophomore Austin Leone appeared in two games as a freshman, but will be working back from an injury during preseason throughout the spring.

GOALKEEPING
The Monarchs will go into the 2020 season with an unknown at the goalkeeping position or the first time in years, as Matt Basile had started and played in pretty much every games for King's over the last three seasons.

The good thing is that King's brought in three young and hungry goalkeepers this year as freshmen to compete for the job. All three bring something different to the table, and the competition should continue throughout the season most likely. The group has gotten better collectively, and will give King's a luxury with superior depth at the goalkeeping position as Jackson Campbell, Matt Wall and Joe Plachcinski each battle for time in between the pipes.

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King's gets their season underway Saturday afternoon at noon at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, PA in non-conference action.