BRUNSWICK

The boys lacrosse season is upon us, with season-opening battles set to take place on Thursday.

Here is a look of the four area teams looking to make some noise this season.

Brunswick

The Dragons return a solid core of players that helped Brunswick advance to the State Class A title game last year, a 10-8 loss to South Portland at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland.

Senior captains Kenan Van Vranken (defense), Matt Brooks (midfield), Cam Glover (midfield) and Ezra Rogers (defense) lead the squad.

In goal, senior Mitchell Smith and junior Logan Ouellette are battling in practice for playing time, with Brunswick slated to open at home on Thursday against rival Mt. Ararat (6:30 p.m.).

Defensively, seniors Brad Leaman, Alex Marc-Aurele and Alec McPherson are joined by juniors Keenan Andrews, Andrew Cilea and Jon Snell.

Brunswick has long-stick midfielders Cole Hillis (junior) and Christian Glover (sophomore), along with seniors Ryan Croatti, Owen Ginty, Ricky Klatt, Eric Kousky, Ian Schlosser, TJ Sullivan and Kyle Woodruff. Junior midfielders/attackmen are Colby Bate, Josh Clark, Jameson Cyr and Connor Foushee, along with sophomore Josh Dorr.

“Their athleticism this year is great,” said Brunswick coach Don Glover. “This may be the most athletic group that I have been gifted with. We just completed tryouts, and it was the toughest tryouts we have ever had in my 17 years here. When we look at the jayvee list and the varsity list, it was tough to draw that line. Our jayvee group is exceptional. We are very happy with what we have, and these kids are excited to be part of it.”

Mt. Ararat

Last season featured an 8-4 regular season mark for the Eagles, followed by a quarterfinal win over Cony and a semifinal setback to Brunswick. In three matchups with the rival Dragons, Mt. Ararat was outscored, 42-8.

“Brunswick is a great team and are very well-coached,” said Mt. Ararat coach Matt Haskell, whose Eagles open at Brunswick on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. “Our key is to limit their offensive possession time by controlling the tempo of the game with our offense, winning face-offs and finishing our opportunities. Brunswick’s offense has a lot of weapons, so it is difficult to key in on certain players without opening up opportunities for other players. We need to play excellent team defense to slow them down.”

Haskell returns a solid core of players, including Kyle Lussier (15 goals, three assists last year), Kellan Radulski (9-4), Jake Schoenberg (4-3), goaltender Charlie Gill, Mike Tran and Elliot Pressman. Key newcomers for Mt. Ararat will be defensemen Steve Schuman and Jake Steinman, two players Haskell hopes will stand tall after the Eagles lost their entire defensive squad and goaltender Connor Read to graduation.

“We are returning several upperclassmen who are both excellent lacrosse players and bring team leadership to the squad,” said Haskell. “The team is coming together very well. They have been working extremely hard building chemistry and getting ready for the season.

“Our strength is in the midfield units. That is where we have our most experience and senior leadership. We are going through a transition on defense and goalie.”

Haskell says his team’s goals are “to make the playoffs and have homefield advantage for the first round. I expect our squad to be competitive in the KVAC.”

Morse

Jay Paulus returns a large senior class as the Shipbuilders prepare to open against Mt. Blue on Thursday at 5 p.m. at McMann Field.

“I have coached these kids since they were in the third grade,” said Paulus, whose squad finished 9-3 last year and fell to Camden Hills in overtime in the Eastern B quarterfinals.

In a preseason game against Mt. Ararat recently, Paulus played his seniors in the first half, with Morse trailing the talented Mt. Ararat Eagles by a slim 5-4 margin.

“I was really pleased with how we played and defensively keeping the Eagles from attempting to run the score up with my younger players,” said Paulus.

Returning for Morse this season are seniors Alec Beveridge, Perry Chase, Myles Day, James Laser, Wesley McKenna, Jake Reno, David Rice, Harry Heald, Kevin Feeney, Declan Hall and Kevin Tolan. Also, goaltender Ryan Muncey returns. Matt Belanger is a key newcomer.

“I’d have to say depth is our biggest strength,” said Paulus. “This season we have a dozen athletes that have been playing down in Portland and it shows. We have good shooters, with six players easily hitting 80 miles-per-hour. I always demand a level of fitness and keeping the games fast. I like coaching and watching true lacrosse with players that have great stick skills and quickness. I dislike groundball scrums.”

This year’s crossover games again features the Shipbuilders taking on Westbrook and Brunswick.

“I would hope that we would be 10- 2, 11-1, with a KVAC playoff matchup,” said Paulus.

Freeport

Falcons coach Geoff Arris is excited about this year’s team. He returns all but one player from last year’s squad that reached the Eastern B Regional final before falling to Yarmouth. Arris has already seen the dedication that his veteran team has, with a record 35 players playing boys lacrosse.

“Practices are very competitive, and the kids are coaching each other, with players helping out to make the team better,” said Arris, whose Falcons visit Falmouth on Thursday in the regular-season opener. “Ideally, we really want to get back to the tournament, taking things one day and one goal at a time. But, I expect huge things from these players, and hopefully we can return to the Regional final again.”

Senior captains Sam Wogan (midfield), Ramsey Dodge (attack) and Jake Perry (defense) lead a veteran group, which includes classmates Noah Butler (MF) and Thomas Miller (MF). Athletic senior midfield newcomers are Brendan Qualls and Callum Gould. The juniors are led by captain and goaltender Zac Wogan, with upperclassmen Brady LaFrance (MF), Eli Fox (A), Zach Owen (MF), Ed Lefebvre (D) and Jake Todd back in the fold.

The sophomore class, which played key roles as freshmen, are Connor Dostie (A), Matt Roy (D), Perrin Davidson (MF), Evan Donald (MF) and Reid Poissonier (MF).

Arris is excited about his four freshmen — Garrison Thompson (D), Harrison Johnson (MF), Nate Thomas (MF) and Griffin Agnese (A).

As always, Arris expects the Western Maine Conference to be strong.

“Yarmouth, Cape Elizabeth and Falmouth are up there, with us comparable to Greely and Waynflete,” said Arris. “I love this conference. It is always challenging and always strong, and when these teams face each other it always seems to be competitive.”