Newburgh, N.Y. – Coming off a program record 12 wins in 2018 and the program's first ever appearance in the Skyline Conference Championship Final, the Mount Saint Mary College Men's Lacrosse team will commence the 2019 season on Saturday when it welcomes local foe Bard to Kaplan field for a 4:00 p.m. face-off.
 
At A Glance: The Mount posted a single season program record 12 wins in 2018 and posted four wins in six outings against Skyline Conference rivals. The Mount topped Maritime in the Skyline Conference Semifinal round before finishing as the league's runner-up after a 21-15 loss to top-seeded USMMA in the final.
 
The Mount looks to replace the most decorated class in program history as the all-time leading point producer, goal scorer and goalie were all lost to graduation. First Team All-Skyline Conference selection Dylan De Meo graduated as the Mount's all-time leader in points (334) and assists (185) and rounded out his career with 149 goals, 177 groundballs and 63 caused turnovers.
 
2018 Second Team All-Skyline Conference honoree Danny Kugler, finished off his senior season with 62 goals and graduated as the program's all-time leader in markers with 174 goals and finished off his career with 204 points, joining De Meo as the program's only 200-plus point producers.
 
Christopher Doerr won a program record 32 games in goal for the Knights over the course of his career and wrapped up his career as the Mount's all-time leader in saves with 671 to go along with a .484 save percentage and a 12.64 goals against average.
 
The Knights also look to replace 52 points lost to graduation from Second Team All-League selection Tristan Earle, as well as 32 tallies from Nicholas Graziano and a single season program record 107 groundballs and 260 face-offs wins from Kenneth Gallagher.
 
Attack: The Mount returns six payers to the position group from the 2018 season, including the team's top returning goal scorer Ryan Maraio (Staten Island, N.Y.). Maraio potted 26 goals and totaled 40 points for the Knights as a sophomore to go along with 18 groundballs and four caused turnovers.
 
Senior Vincent Escudero (Bridgewater, N.J.) appeared in 19 games as a junior and totaled 11 points for the Mount, with Billy Holland (Pearl River, N.Y.) scoring five times in eight games played in 2018. Also returning for the Knights are R.J. Maher (Mount Sinai, N.Y.) who totaled 19 points as a freshman, James Desrochers (Watertown, Conn.) and Trevor Cannella (Wantagh, N.Y.).
 
A pair of talented newcomers will look to support the attack in freshmen Matt Tellekamp (Oakdale, N.Y.) and Colby Martin (Huntington, N.Y.).
 
Midfield: The deepest position group for the 2019 season, the Mount returns 12 players from last season's roster. Sophomore Anthony Kearns (Clinton, N.J.) finished off a strong freshman season with 13 goals and 20 points in 19 games, adding 58 groundballs on the season.
 
Sophomore Thomas Bahmer III (East Brunswick, N.J.) added six assists and 10 points in his first collegiate season, while Marco Spagnuolo (Staten Island, N.Y.) won 19 face-offs, adding one goal and seven groundballs.
 
Also returning for the Knights in the midfield are Anthony Benavidez (White Plains, N.Y.), Michael Gallucci (Northport, N.Y.), Jack Santaroni (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.), Brian Schneider (Hicksville, N.Y.), Christopher Lane (Newburgh, N.Y.), Jake Camerino (Shelton, Conn.), Joe Schfield (Modena, N.Y.), Brandon Holloway (Garden City, N.Y.) and Kamil Sudol (Mahopac, N.Y.).
 
Adding depth to the position group in 2019 are newcomers Dennis Dowd (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.), Brian Esposito (Floral Park, N.Y.), Sean Nertney (Lynbrook, N.Y.), Michael Darcy (Islip, N.Y.) and transfer Vinny Vaccaro (Floral Park, N.Y.).
 
Defense: A stout defense in 2019 is headlined by Second Team All-Skyline Conference selections Matthew Martino (Watertown, Conn.) and Danny Marshall (Oceanside, N.Y.) and also features senior Peter Beidl (Clifton Park, N.Y.), James Farrell (East Brunswick, N.J.) and A.J. Bolger (West Milford, N.J.).
 
Martino led the team in caused turnovers with 22 a season ago and added 44 groundballs in 18 starts, while Marshall started nine games and collected 30 groundballs and caused 10 turnovers.
 
Beidl finished off a strong junior season with a 62 groundballs and added 16 caused turnovers in 19 starts, while Farrell Farrell appeared in 18 games and finished his freshman year with 19 groundballs and 10 caused turnovers. Bolger appeared in eight games for the Knights a season ago and chipped in two groundballs and a pair of caused turnovers.
 
Joning the backline in 2019 are talented newcomers Chris Maggio (Valley Stream, N.Y.) and Chris Montenegro (Fairfield, Conn.).
 
Goalie: Junior Eli Laikin (Oak Bluffs, Mass.) is the lone returning player for the Knights between the pipes after playing 169:05 covering nine games in 2018. Laikin made 41 saves as a sophomore and finished up the season with a .554 save percentage and an 11.71 goals against average.
 
Joining Laikin in 2019 is freshman Devin Kelley (Hebron, Conn.). Kevin Leonard (Stony Brook, N.Y.) will miss the season due to injury.  
 
The Schedule: The Mount will play 10 home games in 2019, including home conference games against Purchase, the College of Mount Saint Vincent and Maritime. The Knights host a season-long four game home stand from March 12-23 and play two straight road games twice, traveling to Vassar (3/5) and Albright (3/9) and St. Joseph's-L.I. (4/18) and USMMA (4/24).
 
What's Next: The Knights play their first road game of the season on February 26 when they travel to Western Connecticut for a 6:00 p.m. face-off with the Colonials.