ALFRED, NY -- The Alfred University men's lacrosse team gets set for its upcoming 2026 campaign at Yunevich Stadium. Head Coach Jason Lockner will continue leading the ship in his 21st season, keeping his reign as the coach with the most wins in the program's history. 

AU made the Empire 8 tournament for a fourth consecutive season last season, but fell to SUNY Geneseo in the opening round. It came off the back of a 6-9 record overall, going 4-5 in Empire 8 play. The Saxons are ready and hungry for more and better after a hard working offseason with over 30 returning players.

"I think the guys did a good job with their winter conditioning coming in," Lockner said. "We've been spending a lot of time on the fundamentals and getting the new guys acclimated."

10 new players join the fray for AU Men's Lacrosse. Mason Dressler (Selinsgrove, PA/Selinsgrove Area) will look to get some time in the midfield alongside another first year Colin Kinsley (Walden, NY/Valley Central). On the defensive end, guys like Collin Wilcox (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas) and Stephan Meier (Waynesville, OH/Waynesville) will also get some playing time under their belts.

Along with the new players in the midfield, veterans such as Brady McGowan (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park) and three-time all-conference senior Brendan Riley (Fairport, NY/Fairport) will continue pushing the Saxons forward. They'll be looking to set up senior attacking captain Cole Loewke (Hilton, NY/Hilton) who led the scoring for AU last season.

"Cole is working on being a leader down there and running the offense and not only is he an excellent scorer and a great ballplayer, but just a good person," Lockner said. "He's going to lead these guys both on and off the field and that's what we're asking of him, and he's doing a really good job."

In the defensive zone, the other two Saxon captains will look to keep opponents out of the net. Ben Cunningham (Dover, MD/The Gunston School) and Josh Funk (Newton Square, PA/Maple Newtown) both enter their senior years trying to continue the trend of solid defense. 

Offense is the best defense, as Alfred University outscored their opponents in the 2025 season 173-141 averaging over 40 shots per game. Solid goaltending helped their case as well, and they'll enter the new year with a young duo. Freshman Alex Petrangelo (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna) will play alongside sophomore Max Sigmund (Basking Ridge, NJ/Ridge) who played limited minutes in 2025.

"Max is a very good goalie out of New Jersey," Lockner said. "Max is a pretty good stopper. We've got some areas we can improve on in that area, and Alex comes from a good high school program where he was a starter. We're young there, but we've got some pretty talented guys."

AU will kick off its season with four straight on the road starting on February 21 at Penn College. But they'll have a test in the next rendition of the Alfred Cup across Main Street at Alfred State in game two of the season.

In a tight and competitive Empire 8 conference, Lockner's group knows what's ahead of them. With four straight postseason appearances, they'll be striving for more and a hot start to the year can help their case.

"We're striving for a conference championship and first making it back to the playoffs," Lockner said. "We're shooting for a higher seed and hoping to get some home-field advantage with that. But now's the time to get on the field and get going as we push for the playoffs and getting past the first round."