LEWISTON, Maine -- The Bates men's lacrosse team may be young but they aren't backing down from any one, including their own alumni. Bates opens its season Wednesday at 4pm when the Bobcats visit Babson. 

"We scrimmaged a really good alumni group, alumni from 2016 to 2021," head coach Peter Lasagna said. "It was profoundly moving that 22 guys from literally all over the country came to campus for the event. Both teams played pretty well. We got off to a two goal start. The alumni scored the next six. I got to play everybody including four goalies and the alumni won by one, which means they might be willing to come back again sometime." 

Bates, which is receiving votes in the preseason USILA coaches poll, will be counting on a young team growing up quickly. The Bobcats also visit No. 1 nationally ranked RIT this Sunday and have three of the top five teams in the nation in the coaches poll on the schedule this year.

"We have crafted the most competitive schedule we've ever had," Lasagna said. "When you play in the deepest conference in Division III lacrosse and add in the level of non-conference competition we're playing this year, well, it's going to be fun to see how the guys handle it." 

The Bobcats are led by senior captains Jackson Sell (Mill Valley, Calif.) on the attack and Jack Lousararian (Mansfield, Mass.) in the midfield. Fellow senior captains Pierson Rambusch (Madison, N.J.) and Dylan Williams (Sharon, Mass.) round out the leadership group for Bates.

Sell, a preseason All-New England team Honorable Mention, emerged late last season with three goals against Connecticut College.

"Jackson had the best game of his career in our last game against Conn.," Lasagna said. "He really took the game over, and has just kept on going in that trajectory." 

Sell is joined on the attack by leading returning scorers senior Oliver Allen (Portsmouth, N.H.), sophomore Wil Masterson (York, Maine) and junior Will Schinabeck (Shaker Heights, Ohio). The Bobcats only played four games last season, but Allen led the team in points with 13 (seven goals, six assists). Masterson also scored seven goals and dished out two assists. Schinabeck finished with six goals and one assist. 

Lousararian is part of a senior midfield group which includes Max Kim (Woodland Hills, Calif.), Robert Purcifull (Newport Beach, Calif.) and Walter Braun (Charlotte, Vt.) that is "finally healthy" according to Lasagna, and playing at a really high level. 

"Jack has always been one of our fastest, best stick, highest lacrosse IQ players, always able to create great opportunities, and just hasn't finished quite at the percentage that he would like," Lasagna said. "So he's put a lot of time into that, and is scoring the ball really well."

Bates won't just be relying on seniors in the midfield. Sophomore Jack Daoust (Westwood, Mass.) is a preseason second team All-New England short-stick defensive midfielder and junior midfielder Malcolm Klingbeil (Powell, Ohio) received an Honorable Mention. 

"Daoust emerged last year as one of our most reliable short stick defenders and a dynamic offensive weapon in transition," Lasagna said. "He's a humble secret weapon for us."

Longtime lacrosse fans know that if a team struggles with face-offs, it's hard to win. Luckily for the Bobcats, Lasagna is excited about junior face-off specialist Jackson Williams (Cumberland, Maine), who shined in a scrimmage against Colby.

"He got the better of a really good face-off specialist for Colby in that scrimmage," Lasagna said. "That's a beautiful thing to see. And if we see that again (against Babson), I'm going to be a happy old man." 

On defense, sophomore Max Patterson (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) is a preseason All-New England Honorable Mention and the Bobcats have a pair of goalies who have emerged as well. 

"Sophomore Spencer Wood (Los Altos Hills, Calif.) has probably been the most consistent and then junior Garrett FitzSimons (Garden City, N.Y.) has also gotten time for us, so I think we're in a really good place there," Lasagna said. All four goalies really support each other well. So, again, like with the face-off person, you love to have one guy who is just clearly dominant, but also with our strength of schedule, which is just absurd, it's nice to know that you've got some other answers as well if somebody's not having a great day."

It's the first full season for Bates since 2019 and Lasagna for one can't wait to get started.

"I am so excited that we get to ride the bus and go sleep in a hotel," Lasagna said. "As funny as that sounds, that's a really important part of the experience. That's a lot of where these young men get to know each other. The best is sharing that time together. And these are times that they're going to remember for the rest of their lives. So just to be at the start of one of those, it feels like 10 years since we've been able to do this.

"So I'm really grateful for the experience. COVID has been a great gratitude teacher, I believe."