PUEBLO, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo men's lacrosse begins its 2024 season this Sunday, Feb. 4 as the ThunderWolves host Dominican University of California for a 12 p.m. game at ALG Stadium.
The Pack finished its ninth season of intercollegiate competition in 2023 with a 1-13 overall record and went 1-5 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play. The Pack's lone win a season ago came at home against Adams State as the Pack earned an 11-6 win.
Sean Blair, who enters his 10th season as the Pack men's lacrosse coach, welcomes back four starters from last year's team, including three of its top six goal scorers from a season ago. Those top returning goal scorers are sophomore attacker
Lane Lessley (Lakewood, Colo./Lakewood), sophomore midfielder
Nate Liederman (Bend, Ore./Summit) and sophomore midfielder/attacker
Chris Easley (Southington, Conn./Weber).
Those three players combined for 39 goals, 17 assists and 56 points last season. In fact, the Pack scored a total of 90 goals in 14 games in 2023.
Lessley and sophomore defender
Alex Kragen (Pleasanton, Calif./Armador Valley) are both returning All-RMAC selections from last season.
The Pack roster is relatively young this season as it features just four seniors, five juniors, 15 sophomores and 11 freshmen.
One position Blair needs to replace this season is in goal as the team's starter between the pipes the past three-plus seasons
Ethan Ferrie completed his collegiate eligibility last season. Ferrie, who was a two-time First-Team All-RMAC selection, is the program's all-time leader in both saves (568) and save percentage (.523). Last season, he led the RMAC in both save percentage (.524 percent) and saves per game (15.8).
ABOUT DOMINICAN
Dominican, who opens its 2024 season with a game on Friday at Adams State before traveling to Pueblo, is entering its first season of playing NCAA Division II men's lacrosse after competing at the club level since 2015 in the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA) in the Western Collegiate Lacrosse League (WCLL). The Penquins will play as an independent this season before joining RMAC as an affiliate member in men's lacrosse next season.
The Penguins went 7-8 last season in their final year of playing club lacrosse and they welcome back 28 players from last season's squad.
Among the key returning offensive returners for the Penguins are junior attacker Kenny Seiler, who finished last season with 30 goals and 23 assists for 53 points. In addition to Seiler, graduate student attacker Brennan Krebs scored 26 goals and added 14 assists for 40 points.
Senior long stick midfielder Noah Gibson returns after named an Honorable Mention MCLA All-American after leading Dominican in ground balls with 68.
The Penguins also return three players with game experience in the net and those three returners are senior goalie Brandon Stuckey, sophomore goalie Tristan Hunter and senior Matt Padilla. Stuckey had a 5.67 goals allowed average and 41.4 save percentage last season, while Padilla had a 57.8 save percentage and an 11.57 goals allowed average.
Dominican is coached by Samuel Vogel-Seidenberg, who is entering his eighth season leading the Penguins' men's lacrosse program. He was named the WCLL DI Coach of the Year in 2022 and prior to working at Dominican, he was the head coach at the University of Idaho, where he was the head coach of the MCLA Division I program.
Sunday's game marks the first-ever meeting the two schools in men's lacrosse. In addition, it also marks the 10th season opener for the Pack as they are 3-6 all-time in season openers but have lost four straight season openers since collecting a 12-11 win at home against Adams State. Last season, the Pack opened the season with a 9-7 loss at Tusculum.
UP NEXT
Following Sunday's season opener, the Pack will take about 13 days off before returning to action on Saturday, Feb. 17 for a 12 p.m. home game at ALG Stadium against Rockhurst.
