ALFRED, NY – The Alfred University men's lacrosse team is eager to return to the field for the 2025 season.
 
Head Coach Jason Lockner enters his 20th season at the helm. He is the winningest coach in program history with a 140-124 record. 
 
The Saxons are coming off the 2024 season with a 10-5 overall record which marked the third straight time they have recorded 10 or more wins in a season. In addition to going 4-2 in Empire 8 play and making their fourth consecutive appearance in the postseason.  
 
This season, Alfred University is setting its sights on winning its first ever E8 title in program history.
 
"It was a good year last year," Lockner said. "We would like to have gone a step further and played in that championship game and go to NCAA's."
 
The Saxons will need to play fast and get all the little things right if they want to win a championship. Lockner mentions the team will have to play at their best against the good teams in the Empire 8 such as the defending champion St. John Fisher and Nazareth. To reach the goal, Alfred University will have to show up and play a clean game by shooting over 30% and limiting turnovers.
 
"You have to play a very clean game and you got to show up to play because I know they will," Lockner said.
 
The Saxons return some talented players to the roster this season. Alfred University selected Kevin Matson (Chenango Bridge, NY/Chenango Forks), Josh Funk (Newtown Square, PA/Maple Newtown) and Benjamin Cunningham (Dover, MD/The Gunston School) as captains for the 2025 season.
 
"These three guys lead by example," Lockner said. "They do what's best for the team. They're selfless. They take extra time to meet with me once a week to talk about the team and any issues that we can address. I applaud their efforts. If your captains are good, your teams are typically pretty good."
 
Matson was the second-leading scorer for the Saxons and was named to the All-Empire 8 First Team for the second time in 2024. He notched 57 points on 42 goals and 15 assists. Matson was ranked third in goals per game (2.8), fifth in points per game (3.8) and total goals in the E8. He is also in the top three in seven categories in the Alfred University program record books, including third in career goals with 130.
 
Joining Matson is last year's third-leading scorer Cole Loewke (Hilton, NY/Hilton) who registered 55 points on 38 goals and 17 assists. Loewke was sixth in both goals (2.5) and points per game (3.7) in league rankings.
 
Cunningham, Funk and Shane Cubala (River Vale, NJ/Pascack Valley) are set to anchor the defense once again this season. Cunningham was an E8 All-Conference Third Team honoree after he led the Saxons with 14 caused turnovers and was second with 37 ground balls. Funk and Cubala caused 13 turnovers apiece which was second best on the team. In ground balls, Cubala picked up 30 while Funk notched 25.
 
Alfred University will depend on faceoff specialist Hunter Cupp (Bath, NY/Haverling) to gain possession for the Saxons. The E8 All-Conference First Team honoree led the league and was third in the program record books for a single season with 244 faceoffs won and 155 ground balls. Cupp is currently third in program history in career faceoffs (492) and ground balls (306).
 
There will be some talented midfielders on the roster, including Brendan Riley (Fairport, NY/Fairport). He has tallied 20 or more points and double figures in goals and ground balls in his first two seasons with Alfred University. Last year, Riley posted 25 points on 17 goals and eight assists along with 17 ground balls.
 
Leading the way for the goalies is Quinn Sullivan (Elmira, NY/Elmira). He produced a 5-3 record while tallying 82 saves and 19 ground balls. In the Empire 8, Sullivan was second in goals against average (10.77) and saves percentage (.539). He produced a fifth-conference best 6.31 saves per game while his total stops were sixth.
 
Lockner brings in 15 newcomers to the 2025 roster. The new players have been working hard in the offseason in practice and the weight room. In addition to heavily studying film in order to prepare for their Saxon debut.  
 
"We've got a nice mix of older guys and newer guys," Lockner said. "There are some pretty talented midfielders coming in here helping us out."
 
Alfred University will play at Yunevich Stadium seven times this season. The Saxons open the season against Alfred State College on Wednesday, February 26 at 5:00 PM. Alfred University will travel to Russell Sage College for its Empire 8 opener on March 22 at 1:00 PM. The E8 Championship Tournament will run from April 29-May 3.
 
"They are a great group of guys," Lockner said. "They worked awful hard. We're going to push forward this year. Our goals are to be hosting a playoff game and working towards a conference championship."