WASHINGTON, Pa. -- The Washington & Jefferson men's lacrosse team will be ushering a new era beginning on Saturday, Feb. 14 at Thiel.

Former assistant coach Kevin Kustron takes the reins in his first season as the head coach of the Presidents. A former high school All-American at nearby Peters Township, Kustron played collegiately at Salisbury (Md.), where he was a part of three NCAA Division III championship teams. His overall record with the Sea Gulls was 85-1 and he served as a team captain on the undefeated, 22-0, 2008 team.

Joining Kustron on the sideline is Jim LaPenna, a four-year starting goalkeeper at Division II Wheeling Jesuit, who guided the Cardinals to their first-ever postseason appearance in 2013.

Leading the attack for W&J will be senior Tim Angell who scored 40 goals for a consecutive season in 2014 en route to his team-leading 46 points. A team captain, he enters the 2015 campaign third on the W&J career goals list at 106 and fourth with 128 points.

Joining Angell at the top expects to be sophomore Bryan Whipkey who scored the fourth-most goals on the team a season ago with 15. Junior Zachary Fredericks returns after missing most of 2014 with an injury. Fredericks appeared in just six games, scoring five goals, in 2014, but was the team's third-leading scorer as a freshman in 2013 (15 goals, 26 points). Freshman Luke Georgi will also be called on to provide offense.

Midfield duties will belong to a multitude of players, with juniors Ryan Quan and Sidhartha Sharma figuring to handle the bulk of faceoff duties. Sophomore David Whipkey transferred from John Carroll to play alongside his twin brother, Bryan, and will join sophomore Michael Mendicino as long-stick midfielders.

Senior John Bursch appeared in all 17 games last season and finished fourth on the team in scoring with 25 points (13 goals). Sophomore Kyle Heinig led the Presidents last season with 21 assists and ranked second with 23 goals and 44 points on a team-best 99 shots, the fourth-highest total in program history. Juniors Matthew Densford, Eli Long and Kyle MacKenzie, along with sophomores Jake Bow and Devon Curran also figure into plenty of minutes in the midfield.

Anchoring the defense and joining Angell as a team captain is senior Chase Bennett who returns after winning 120 faceoffs last season, second most all-time, and picking up a team-best 83 ground balls. Bennett started all 16 games he appeared in during 2014. Juniors Nick Norris and Sean Rock combined to play in 31 games last season, with Rock starting all 17 contests for the Presidents. A trio of freshmen in Michael Nejak, Lorenzo Ruscitto and Seth Scatterday also will be counted on to provide defense.

Senior Conor Crowe is expected to miss the majority of the 2015 season after an offseason injury, which will leave senior Nate Rattner and junior Jacob Succop to battle for playing time in goal. Succop made 11 appearances and four starts last year, making 88 saves. Rattner picked up the win in his lone start last season against Franciscan. Newcomer Nathan Sachs also figures to be in the mix between the pipes.

Five of W&J's first six contests are on the road, with the home-opener occuring on Wednesday, Feb. 25 when the Presidents welcome LaRoche to Alexandre Stadium at 7 p.m. Landmark Conference action begins on Sunday, March 15 at Drew with faceoff scheduled for 12 p.m.