Sacred Heart Men's Lacrosse Season Preview
2/10/2023 1:02:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
The Pioneers open their season tomorrow on the road
FAIRFIELD, Conn.—The Sacred Heart University men's lacrosse team opens the 2023 season this weekend. The Pioneers are on the road for the first four games of the season, starting tomorrow, February 11th, at 3:30 PM at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia, Pa. on ESPN+.
Sacred Heart enters its first season in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), where they look forward to making new rivalries and the competitiveness of the conference, game in and game out.
MAAC competition kicks off with back-to-back road games, first at Siena on March 11th and then at Manhattan on March 18th.
Head Coach Jon Basti will rely heavily on his veteran group of seniors and fifth years to lead the team this year. "This group is extremely competitive, they play very hard, but they also have a very lighthearted way about them," Coach Basti described the group. "Our senior class and fifth years have done a really good job of setting the tone for the program this year."
The team has always rallied around the words: courage, grit, and resolve, to describe the culture of the program and use those words to find a an identity each year. This season, the Pioneers will focus on their compete level and use their courage, grittiness, and resolve in their culture to have a high competitive level as part of the team's mentality and identity this year. "We want to continue to compete hard and approach everything with good, constant energy," said Coach Basti. "A lot of the energy stems from the veteran group, which is infectious throughout the team," Coach added.
Along with the group of leaders in the senior class and fifth years, Coach Basti announced in the fall, the selections of captains. Graduate student Thomas Houlihan, and seniors Nick Handy and Ryan Stout were chosen to lead the Pioneers this year.
Houlihan earns the honor as team captain for the second straight season and Handy, who served as an assistant captain last season, will join the ranks as captain along with Stout, a first-time captain for the team.
Along with the veteran leadership on the team, the Pioneers also return the Northeast Conference Rookie of the Year from last year, Jake Ward. A sophomore now, he was the second NEC Rookie of the Year in program history, setting a program and conference record with seven Rookie of the Week nods. The Highlands Ranch, Colo. native ranked third in the conference and seventh nationally among first-year players with a .410 shot percentage. Ward accumulated 17 goals and nine assists on attack and had a career performance in SHU's 14-10 victory at UMass Lowell with four points off three goals and one assist.
Sacred Heart will open the season with four road games, beginning with Saint Joseph's University on February 11th. The following Saturday, the Pioneers will head to Lafayette University of the Patriot League for a 3:00 PM matchup. On Wednesday, February 22nd, Sacred Heart will battle with crosstown rival, Fairfield University at 7:00 PM. The four-game road trip will conclude at Stony Brook on Sunday, February 26th.
The Pioneers will return for the home opener in their final non-conference battle of the season when they host Drexel on March 4th at 12:00 PM.
Sacred Heart will host its annual Military Appreciation and Mental Health Awareness game on Saturday, March 25th against Virginia Military Institute at noon.
Another game that the Pioneers are looking forward to is its Team Impact game on April 15th versus Mount St. Mary's at noon. The Pioneers have a great relationship with Team Impact and are looking forward to honoring the non-profit and the connection to the program.
2023 Men's Lacrosse Preseason Coaches' Poll
Marist 95 (6)
Manhattan 93 (4)
Siena 74
Mount St. Mary's 64
LIU 55
Quinnipiac 53
Canisius 41
Sacred Heart 31
Virginia Military 27
Wagner 17
