Maine Highlands News

The Bates men's lacrosse team will have new leadership patrolling the sideline for the first time in over two decades as head coach Dan Annino, along with assistant coaches Thomas Klosowski and Andrew Smistad, lead the Bobcats on to Garcelon Field this season.

Annino, who became the fourth men's lacrosse coach in program history with his hire last June, takes over for Peter Lasagna, who retired in May after 22 years at the helm.

"I'm incredibly grateful to have come into a group of young men on this team who were willing to jump in with two feet to a new way of doing things," said Annino. "I think their buy-in and enthusiasm has been incredible. They've been so willing to commit themselves to the process that we're preaching, put aside the fear of failure that comes with any change, and just soak up as much coaching as we can give them. That's all you could ever hope for as a new coach."

With an entirely new staff, this would not be just any other preseason for Annino and the Bobcats.

"As a staff, we had a lot of catching up to do in terms of getting to know our team on the field," said Annino. "Our focus through much of the preseason was really on keeping things simple. Focusing on fundamentals and doing the little things right, as we tried to learn about who could best fit where in our systems. That's a process that will always be on-going, but our focus going into our opener against USM is just to execute on the simple things -- being competitive, fundamental, and selfless in the way we play."

Regarding the personnel on the field, Annino likes what he sees.

"We're fortunate to be returning quite a few guys who made significant impacts on the field last year. We have six of our Top-10 scorers from 2022 returning with guys like Wil Masterson (Jr.-York, Maine),  senior captain Malcolm Klingbeil (Powell, Ohio), and Will Schinabeck (Sr.-Shaker Heights, Ohio)."

Masterson paced the Bobcat offense a year ago with a team-best 33 points, which included 16 goals and a roster-topping 17 assists. Schinabeck added 15 goals and 19 points of his own during his junior campaign while Klingbeil contributed 13 tallies and four assists. 

"We also have a good amount of experience on the defensive side of the ball in guys like Alex Neville (Sr.-Manchester, N.H.), Max Patterson (Jr.-Cape Elizabeth, Maine) and Ben Miller (So.-Scarsdale, N.Y.)."

Miller anchored Bates' back line with 35 ground balls and a program-leading 11 caused turnovers in 2022. Patterson scooped up 27 grounders over his 13 outings last year.

As for newcomers, there appears to be plenty of talent waiting in the wings as a handful of young Bobcats turned heads during preseason action.

We have a few first-years who have been really impressive through the first couple weeks -- attack Brian Hart (Atlanta, Ga.) and midfielder Connor Hartman (Hingham, Mass.), in particular. I've also been really excited for a handful underclassmen who have made big jumps in their game, and seem ready to make an impact in their second year, specifically sophomores Denzel Evans (Baltimore, Md.), Colton Curtis (Charlotte, N.C.), and Henry Bruininks (Seattle, Wash.).

Annino has a solid grasp of what lies ahead for his squad as the Bobcats prepare to navigate a NESCAC conference calendar that represents four nationally-ranked opponents (T#11 Wesleyan, #15 Amherst, #7 Bowdoin, #3 Tufts), not to mention top-notch non-conference showdowns at #1 RIT and vs. #10 St. Lawrence.

"The NESCAC is the most competitive conference in Division III, and potentially in all of college lacrosse," said Annino. "There are no easy games on our conference schedule, and it's truly an "any given Saturday" type of league. That's what is so special about it. Iron sharpens iron every week, and you need to bring your best to each and every game in order to compete; I expect the same in 2023."

Goal-setting is always essential when developing a plan, both individually and as a team. The Bobcats' current mindset? Win Maine.

"Through our discussions with our leadership group, the first goal that we set out for this 2023 team was to win the state of Maine. We have four in-state opponents on our schedule this year -- two NESCAC rivals and two strong out-of-conference opponents. Before we can start talking about what we want to do in our league, in our region, or beyond, we have to take care of business here in our own backyard. And to that end, I couldn't be more excited to be opening up our regular season schedule here at home against an in-state opponent on Wednesday afternoon!" 

While it has been, admittedly, a whirlwind of a preseason for Annino, that certainly has not diminished the expectations and anticipation for the new year. 

"At times, this offseason has felt like the longest I've ever experienced with how excited we are to finally get on the field with this group. At the same time, it also felt like there wasn't enough time in the day to do everything we wanted to do as we got things up and running for the first time. Thankfully, I've been blessed with an incredible pair of assistant coaches in Thomas Klosowski and Andrew Smistad, and thanks to their hard work and dedication, we have positioned ourselves as well as we can to hit the ground running in our first season." 

Any last words, Coach?

"It's a GREAT day to be a Bobcat!"  

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