Army men’s lacrosse team is locked and loaded for the 2025 season with 22 seniors and a number of preseason all-Americans heading into today’s opener at UMass.
The Black Knights start the season ranked 13th in the nation in the KANE Division I media poll and Army is predicted to win the always-treacherous Patriot League. On top of that, Army has dominated the league’s preseason accolades with senior and three-year starter AJ Pilate picked to be the conference’s most outstanding defensive player, senior Will Coletti named the conference’s outstanding faceoff specialist and junior Evan Plunkett, who had 29 goals and 19 assists last year, named the conference’s most outstanding offensive player.
Army knows only too well that winning the Patriot League tournament—and receiving the conference’s automatic bid to the 17-team NCAA tournament is vital. Last season, the Black Knights started the season off super hot, winning their first seven games including going on the road to upset Syracuse in February and North Carolina in March to earn the top ranking in both college lacrosse polls for two weeks. But, Army lost two regular season games to Patriot League foes Boston University and Colgate and were knocked off in the first round of the Patriot League tournament by BU and did not get selected for one of the eight at-large spots available in the NCAA tournament.
Despite losing Reese Burek (26 goals, 28 assists) and Jacob Morin (eight goals, 35 assists) to graduation, the Black Knights are loaded on offense and in the midfield. Jackson Eicher, who led the team with 37 goals, and Evan Plunkett, another first-team all-American last season and Patriot League offensive player of the year, are going to be joined by Plunkett’s younger brother, freshman Hill Plunkett, as a versatile attack/midfielder, as well as the scrappy and steady junior Gunnar Fellows (8 goals, 34 assists).
Christian Fornier, a long 4stick senior, will also play an enhanced role this season, Alberici noted, as will short-stick defensive midfielder Christian Mazer.
And, of course, it will all start with Coletti, a first-team All-American and Patriot League faceoff specialist of the year last season. Last season, Coletti won 215 faceoffs, scooped up 117 ground balls and scored a career-high eight goals.
Army coach Joe Alberici said the Pilate, Army’s third first-team All-American last season and reigning league defensive player of the year, is the team’s heartbeat. He will be joined by a veteran crew led by long-stick midfielder Ryan Nixon and junior John Sullivan, who will be starting for the third straight season. Freshmen midfielder Aiden Weisenborn and Brandon Fountain should see a lot of action as well.
The team also has a great deal of confidence in junior goalie Sean Byrne, who had 19 saves against both North Carolina and Navy, and started the last six games of the season.
“Preseason awards mean nothing to me or the team,” Alberici said. “There has been zero discussion about them and about where the team is predicted to finish. It just does not matter.
“What matters is how we perform this year and how we finish. We do feel good about the team and how we have approached the season and a lot of that goes back to the senior class and its talent and leadership. These guys are doing all the right things, in terms of their military commitments, in the classroom and on the field and that is very exciting to me.”
So how does Alberici think his team will do
“Our path to the NCAA tournament is very narrow and the team knows that,” Alberici added. “Last year, we went 5-0 out of conference (which includes highly-regard Yale, Rutgers, UMass and North Carolina) and did not make the tournament. Our goal this year is to use the non-conference schedule to put us in a position to be our best come late April for the Patriot League tournament.”
