The University of Scranton men's lacrosse, women's lacrosse and baseball teams are all slated to open their season over the next week as both lacrosse teams get underway tomorrow and the baseball team will host RIT on Saturday, Feb. 24.

Check out a preview and Landmark Conference preseason poll for each sport below.

Men's Lacrosse

The defending Landmark champion Royals return two of their top goal scorers from a season ago in senior attackers Joe Boyle (Huntington, N.Y./St. Anthony's) and Matthew McAree (Manhasset, N.Y./Manhasset). McAree ranked second on the team in both assists (34) and points (70) and third in goals with 36, while Boyle added 49 points on 31 goals and 18 assists.

Scranton returns a total of four All-Landmark selections from a season ago in Boyle, McAree, graduate student Colin Pierce (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) and senior Alex Eglitis (Randolph, N.J./Randolph).

Pierce started all 20 games on defense as he led the team and ranked tied for second in the conference with 34 caused turnovers. For Eglitis, the Randolph, N.J., native recorded 53 ground balls, six goals, four assists and six caused turnovers.

Sophomore goalie Declan Allen (Garden City, N.Y./Millbrook) returns in goal for Scranton after ranking in the top three of the conference in both goals against average (9.35, 2^nd) and save percentage (.561, 3^rd).

The Royals will host defending national champion Salisbury in the season opener on Feb. 17 and will play a total of seven home games at Weiss Field.

Landmark Conference Preseason Poll

T1) Scranton – 77

T1) Elizabethtown – 77

3) Catholic – 63

4) Susquehanna – 59

5) Moravian – 45

6) Drew – 37

7) Goucher – 35

8) Lycoming – 27

9) Wilkes – 16

10) Juniata – 14

Women's Lacrosse

Coming off the first Landmark title in program history, Scranton brings back the top five scorers from 2023 including junior Grace Lane (Long Beach, N.Y./Sacred Heart Academy) who led the team in goals (65), assists (18) and points (83) and senior Erin Reich (Rockville Centre, N.Y./South Side) who added 45 points on 35 goals and 10 assists.

The Royals return a total of four IWLCA All-Region selections in Lane, senior defender Grace Dabulas (Scotch Plains, N.J./Westfield), senior midfielder Devyn Tanajewski (Ringwood, N.J./Lakeland Regional) and junior goalie Lauren Boldis (Merrick, N.Y./Sanford H. Calhoun).

Tanajewski started all 20 games as a midfielder and tallied 40 points on 27 goals and 13 assists to go along with 38 ground balls, 44 draw controls and 24 caused turnovers. A defender for the Royals, Dabulas ranked among the team's top three in ground balls (40), draw controls (37) and caused turnovers (29).

In goal for Scranton, Boldis led the Landmark with 176 saves and ranked second in save percentage at .543.

Head coach Chrissy Trescavage's team will open the season on Saturday at No. 15 Messiah and the home opener is slated for Mar. 2 versus Haverford. The Royals will take on a total of three 2023 NCAA Tournament teams in Messiah, TCNJ (Mar. 6) and Stevens (Apr. 21).

Landmark Conference Preseason Poll

1) Scranton – 78

2) Catholic – 76

3) Moravian – 64

4) Susquehanna – 58

5) Juniata – 46

6) Drew – 44

7) Lycoming – 30

8) Elizabethtown – 27

9) Goucher – 16

10) Wilkes – 11

Baseball

The Royals tallied 26 victories a season ago, which is tied for the second-most in a single season in program history and posted a Landmark runner-up finish. Head coach Mike Bartoletti's team returns a trio of All-Conference honorees in senior utility player Jack Heineman (Abington, Pa./La Salle College), graduate student RHP Daniel Johnson (Whitehouse Station, N.J./Immaculata) and senior infielder John Zarnowski (East Brunswick, N.J./St. Joseph's).

Heineman appeared in 40 games for Scranton, hitting .304 with five doubles, a home run, 30 RBI, nine stolen bases and 33 runs scored. The Abington, Pa., native also made just one error in 113 total chances.

Zarnowski hit .333 in 37 games with six doubles, two home runs, 33 RBI, 21 walks and 17 runs scored, while senior outfielder Nick Reposa (Factoryville, Pa./Tunkhannock) is also back for the Royals after hitting .376 with eight doubles, a triple, home run, 25 RBI and 16 stolen bases.

On the mound, Johnson went 4-0 with a 5.12 ERA in 11 appearances (10 starts) and fanned 48 batters in 58.0 IP. The Royals also return senior lefty Matthew Moreira (Union, N.J./Saint Peter's Prep) who posted a 4-1 record with a 4.87 ERA and graduate student righty Hunter Ralston (Duryea, Pa./Pittston Area) who tallied a 4-2 mark and a 5.96 ERA on the season as both served as members of the weekend rotation.

Scranton will host RIT in a pair of non-conference matchups on Feb. 24 & 25 before taking on 2023 national runner-up Johns Hopkins in Baltimore on Mar. 2. Along with the Blue Jays, the Royals will take on five other NCAA Tournament teams in Elizabethtown, Susquehanna, Penn State-Harrisburg (Apr. 7), Keystone (Apr. 5) and Misericordia (Apr. 8).

Landmark Conference Preseason Poll

1) Elizabethtown - 57

2) Catholic – 56

3) Susquehanna - 54

4) Scranton – 46

5) Moravian – 37

6) Wilkes – 23

7) Lycoming – 20

8) Drew - 16

9) Juniata - 15

--ROYALS--