PREVIEW: Men's Lacrosse opens season at Chowan

MURFREESBORO, N.C. – The Catawba College men's lacrosse team begins its 2025 slate on the road Saturday, facing the Chowan Hawks at 1 p.m.

Firepower Back

- Catawba's top six goal-scorers a season ago are back on the roster, making its offense one of the South Atlantic Conference's most experienced units

- The dynamic duo of Frank Cetrone and Peyton Turner returns following 41-point campaigns for both attackmen; Cetrone, a preseason all-league pick, led the goal-scoring with 30 darts while Turner distributed a team-high 26 assists

- Senior midfielder Jordan Dash piled on 22 goals last year to slot second on the team, followed by fellow veteran Gabriel Barker who found the twine 17 times

- Garrett Simi got busy on attack and distribution in 2024 with 16 goals and 10 assists while scoring 36.4 percent of his shots

New Defensive Look

- Departures on the defensive end including all four regular starters, the biggest loss being All-Region honorable mention Payton Leonard, have left multiple positions open

- Steven Hernandez appeared in five games as a freshman last season, causing two turnovers with one ground ball pickup

- Among the newcomers is USA Lacrosse All-American Owen Conway who shared the field at Bel Air High School with fellow rookies Garrett Alban and Devin Trzeciak

- The defensive midfield brings a wealth of experience, however, as Jack Butler was named preseason all-conference at the short-stick slot while both Brian Garcia and Xan Varner return after seeing plenty of action in 2024

All-Time Series

- Catawba won both of its prior meetings against Chowan

- The last contest was the Catawba Indians' 2018 home opener in which the blue and white posted the program's second-highest goal total, recording a 27-12 rout of the Hawks

- The 2017 meeting in Murfreesboro was similarly lopsided as Catawba ran away with a 19-7 victory over a first-year Chowan squad

- Cole Fanzo, the older brother of freshman Cody Fanzo, scored a combined 10 goals in the two matchups

Scouting the Hawks

- Under first-year head coach P.R. Simshauser, Chowan looks to improve upon its 5-9 record from last season and seeks its first winning campaign since 2020

- Sophomore attackman Jacob Malia brings the most points back among the returners, coming off a rookie campaign that saw him score in every contest and total 37 goals with 13 helpers

- Harry Edwards ranked 19th in Division II for caused turnovers per game (2.23) and amassed 30 takeaways with 45 ground balls

- Key returners on the defense include ground balls leader Ronaldo Williams (47) and 12-time starter Michael Litchfield (34 ground balls, 26 caused turnovers)

- The Hawks only have two goalies on the roster in Rocco Smith and Corey Smith, who combined for just over 90 minutes in net last year

Follow Along

The game will be broadcast on the Conference Carolinas Digital Network with live stats on gocuhawks.com.