Wyoming Area’s growing lacrosse program arrived at the .500 mark in the Wyoming Valley Conference boys standings last year.
The Warriors don’t plan on stopping there.
“We’ve been preaching in practice the last 2 ½-3 weeks that this team, we’re ready to get past the development stage,” said Shaun Rohland, who has built the program quickly in just two seasons as a WVC member. “That’s what the JV team is going to be for.
“The varsity is playing to win this year.”
Juniors Jake Urban, Justin Joseph and Curtis Hager, all second-team, all-star choices by the Times Leader, lead a long list of returnees on a 46-player roster that includes 23 on the varsity.
Urban, the team’s leading scorer, was selected as an attack.
Joseph, who was picked for the all-star team as a faceoff specialist, plays midfield.
Hager is the goalie.
“We’ve improved this year, but so have all the other teams in the district,” Rohland said.
The sport is growing fast in the Wyoming Valley Conference. Two more teams, Wyoming Seminary and Coughlin, joined the conference this year with Coughlin joining Wyoming Area and others in Division 2.
Wyoming Area jumped from 1-9 to 5-5 last year when it finished second out of four teams in the division. The veterans are in place to create the chance to continue improving at a faster rate than the rest of the conference.
Seniors Dylan Kostak, who is working his way back from an injury, and Dante DeLuca are three-year starters on the defense.
Andrew Bartoli, another senior, made the transition from goalie to defense last year and could be ready to join them in the starting lineup.
In addition to the three all-stars, the junior class is loaded with experience. Midfielders Rob Trottini and Sam Greenfield, defender Connor McCormick, attack Alex Hawk and attack/midfielder Anthony DeAngelo all have seen significant playing time.
Another junior, Alex Gonzalez, joined the program last year and saw a lot of playing time on the junior varsity. After continuing to work on his stick skills in the offensive, he could be ready to contribute as a defensive midfielder.
Rohland expects three freshmen – attack F.J. Braccini and midfielders Dominic DeLuca and Jacob Switzer – to figure into the lineup.
