Newburgh, N.Y. – For the second straight season, the Mount Saint Mary College Men's Lacrosse team will begin the campaign against local foe Bard when it travels to Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y. Saturday afternoon for the 2020 season opener against the Raptors. Live stats and Video will be available for those who are unable to attend the 12:00 p.m. face-off.
 
Quick Hitters: Mount Saint Mary is coming off a 2019 season that saw it post a 5-11 overall record and a 2-4 mark against Skyline Conference rivals.
 
The Mount returns its top nine goal scorers from a season ago and a talented defensive unit that includes 2019 First Team All-Skyline Conference selection Matthew Martino (Watertown, Conn.) and 2019 Second Team All-League pick Danny Marshall (Oceanside, N.Y.).
 
Coaching Staff: Head Coach Eric Seideman returns for his ninth season and has amassed 58 wins over the previous eight campaigns.
 
Former Mount Saint Mary standout Nicholas Graziano joins the staff for the 2020 season as do assistant coaches Mark Cameron and Mike Morgan.
 
Attack: Senior Billy Holland (Pearl River, N.Y.) finished off the 2019 season with a team-high 23 goals and rounded out the year second on the team in points with 32 with classmate Ryan Maraio (Staten Island, N.Y.) adding 22 markers to go along with team-highs in assists (20) and points (42).
 
Junior Thomas Bahmer III (East Brunswick, N.J.) closed his sophomore season with 14 goals and 17 points for the Mount with Vinny Vaccaro (Floral Park, N.Y.) potting 13 goals for the Mount in his first season with the program.
 
Sophomores  Michael Darcy (Islip, N.Y.), Brian Esposito (Floral Park, N.Y.) and Colby Martin (Huntington, N.Y.) look to support the scoring attack after combining for 23 goals in 2019, with R.J. Maher (Mount Sinai, N.Y.) returning from injury in 2020.
 
The attack corps adds newcomer Ryan Olmstead (Millbrook, N.Y.), a three-time Poughkeepsie Journal All-Star in Lacrosse to the fold in 2020, but will have to wait on the services of Matt Wodka (Baldwinsville, N.Y.) who will miss the season due to injury.
 
Midfield: The largest position group on the roster, the Mount's midfield features 11 returning players from last season's roster and will turn to five newcomers for immediate impact in 2020.
 
After playing in just eight games in 2019 due to injury, the Mount welcomes back Anthony Kearns (Clinton, N.J.) who registered eight goals and 15 points to go along with 13 groundballs and seven caused turnovers in 2019.
 
Senior Michael Gallucci (Northport, N.Y.) finished the 2019 season third on the team with 13 assists and totaled 19 points and 19 groundballs for the Knights, with Brian Schneider (Hicksville, N.Y.) totaling four points on the strength of two goals and a pair of helpers.
 
Junior Trevor Cannella (Wantagh, N.Y.) returns after registering five points as a sophomore in 2019 as is classmate Brandon Holloway (Garden City, N.Y.) who potted three goals a season ago for the Mount.
 
Mount Saint Mary also welcomes back Matt Tellekamp (Oakdale, N.Y.), Jack Santaroni (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.), James Desrochers (Watertown, Conn.) and Jake Camerino (Shelton, Conn.) to the mix in 2020.
 
Sophomores Chris Maggio (Valley Stream, N.Y.) and Sean Nertney (Lynbrook, N.Y.) both return as long stick midfielders for the Knights in 2020. As a freshman in 2019, Maggio appeared in 12 games, picking up 29 groundballs and causing 12 turnovers. Nertney appeared in nine games in his first collegiate season and caused four opponent miscues for the Mount.
 
New to the position group this season are Matthew Esposito (Manorville, N.Y.), Mike Travers (Staten Island, N.Y.), Sal Gallucci (Massapequa, N.Y.), Frank Mattina (Holtsville, N.Y.) and Nick Gurello (Selden, N.Y.).
 
Face-Off: Senior Marco Spagnuolo (Staten Island, N.Y.) returns after winning a team-high 100 face-offs as a junior, winning 43.2-percent of the draws he took. He collected 41 groundballs for the Mount in 2019 and added a goal and an assist for two points.
 
Zachary Beam (Montgomery, N.Y.) joins the group in 2020 as does freshman Anthony Paggiotta (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) who was part of the 2019 league championship team at nearby Roy C. Ketcham.
 
Defense: Martino and Marshall headline the backline for the Knights that features six returning players from last season's team.
 
Martino paced the Mount in both groundballs with 63 and caused turnovers with 45 on his way to being a First Team All-Conference selection. He rounded out his sophomore campaign ranked ninth in the conference in groundballs per game and led the league with nearly three caused turnovers per outing for the Knights.
 
Marshall also put together a big season on defense for the Mount, earning Second Team All-League distinction for the second straight season. Marshall picked up 32 groundballs for the Mount and caused 15 opponent miscues in 2019.
 
A.J. Bolger (West Milford, N.J.), Dennis Dowd (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.), Christopher Lane (Newburgh, N.Y.) and Chris Montenegro (Fairfield, Conn.) also return for the Knights and look to make an impact in 2020. Bolger appeared in seven games for the Mount in 2019 and scooped 17 groundballs, while Montenegro played in 12 contests as a freshman, recording 10 groundballs and causing four turnovers.
 
Dowd won 65 face-offs for the Knights as a freshman in 2019 and collected 18 groundballs and Lane saw time in a pair of contests for the Knights.
 
The lone newcomer to the position group for the 2020 season is Carmine Comitini (Staten Island, N.Y.). Comitini picked up All-Staten Island and All-CHSAA Defensive Player of the Year honors while playing at Monsignor Farrell.
 
Goalie: The Knights have three goalies on the roster for the 2020 campaign with Devin Kelley (Hebron, Conn.) the lone returner from last season's team. Kelley appeared in seven games as a freshman, making 17 saves in just over 132 minutes of action.
 
Michael McCarthy (Bellmore, N.Y.) is back after missing his freshman season due to injury and Tim Lawlor (Ocean Township, N.J.) joins the group as a newcomer for the 2020 season.
 
The Schedule: The Mount begins the season at Bard before starting a five-game home stand against Western Connecticut on February 25. The home stand also includes non-conference games against Emerson, Vassar, Albright and SUNY Poly.
 
Mount Saint Mary will tussle with Arcadia in Virginia Beach on March 18 and travel to nationally ranked York (Pa.) on March 28.
 
Skyline Conference play commences on April 1 at the College of Mount Saint Vincent with the Knights hosting league rivals St. Joseph's-L.I. (4/4), Farmingdale State (4/18) and the United States Merchant Marine Academy (4/25).
 
The top-four teams in the league standing will square-off in the Skyline Conference Championship that begins on April 29 with the league crown handed out on May 2.