By Andy Hutchison

WESTPORT — Staples High boys lacrosse team takes the field for a new season Saturday with a visit to Smithtown High School-West in Smithtown, N.Y. The 1 p.m. matchup is one of many challenging contests the Wreckers will face.

“Our goal every season is to win the FCIAC and state championships,” Coach Will Koshansky said. “We schedule as difficult of a schedule as possible so that we are prepared for the playoffs at the end of the season. We train to be tough physically and mentally and try to prepare our players for every game scenario,” he added.

As if tough FCIAC foes include Darien, New Canaan, Ridgefield, Greenwich and Wilton are not enough, the Wreckers also have dates with Brunswick, St. Anthony’s in New York, Bishop Guertin in New Hampshire, St. John’s Prep in Massachusetts and Archbishop Stepinac in New York.

The Wreckers have the horses, with a variety of skills, throughout their lineup to be contenders.

Senior captains are goalie Josh Marcus, midfielder Tristan Schaefer and attackman Adam Udell.

Udell, a Michigan commit and quarterback of the Wrecker lacrosse offense, is a strong leader, according to Koshansky. And Udell knows what it takes to win — he was a point guard for the Staples FCIAC championship basketball team. He has earned All-State and All-American honors.

Schaefer is a midfielder headed to Colgate and “may be the most physical dodging midfielder I’ve coached — and to stop and two-handed scorer/shooter,” Koshansky said.

Marcus will continue stopping shots at UNC next year. He steals goals every scrimmage/game, great on the outlet and the leader of our defense,” said Koshansky, noting that he was an All-State football player this past fall.

Wreckers lineup has depth, experience

Other players in the Wreckers lineup include:

Junior Charlie Clark is an attack player who Koshansky said added 15 pounds since last spring, is dodging harder and is hungrier as this campaign gets going.

Sophomore Hunter Pallai is described by the coach as a “quick twitch, change of direction attackman who is taking more of an impact role this preseason — recruitable to the top 15 D-I schools, in my opinion.”

Senior Justin DiDonato is another strong attack player in the fold.

Senior Cam Prior, who is headed to Tufts, is described by his coach as a “do-it-all middie, in between the lines, high IQ off ball, knack for scoring big goals in big games.” He registered the OT winner in last year’s FCIAC semis against New Canaan as a sophomore.

Senior midfielder Will Fleming is a slick two-handed, big physical player who is an opportunistic dodger, Koshansky said.

Junior Justin Halky is another middie, described by his coach as a bulldog-style player, who plays between the lines and is a key ground ball player. He had three straight goals, including the OT winner against Don Bosco in 2024.

Junior midfielder Nick Weil is coming off fall as the starting football team’s quarterback, and has been filling up the net as a dodging middie, Koshansky said.

Sophomore middie Ean Frankel is “looking like a young Ben Burmeister — similar play style and skill, has wowed our coaches very quickly this spring,” said Koshansky, alluding to the former Wrecker now playing collegiately as a freshman at Notre Dame.

Sophomore defensive middie Max Hill is a lockdown defender. “I believe one of the top in the country,” his coach said.

Sophomore defender Nate Maurillo was starting long stick middie as a freshman last year, likely playing down low this season, and could be Staples No. 1 cover guy, his coach said.

Junior defender Bear Swearingen is described by his coach as a tough physical defender who is a great communicator and off ball defender.

Senior defender Davis Crandall, a first team All-State linebacker on the football field, looks like he will be the lacrosse team’s top cover guy against power dodgers, Koshansky said.

Senior defender Jack Knesich, headed to Dickinson, is a vocal leader of the defense, and a savvy player, the coach said.

The home opener is at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 9, when Greenwich comes to town. (Game schedules are subject to change; click for the latest CIAC updates.)

Andy Hutchison has been covering school sports — including Staples athletics — as well as news and feature stories in Fairfield County, since the 1990s.