Happy Friday, friends.
Army Men’s Lacrosse, an ostensibly spring sports team, opens their season late tomorrow morning amidst one of the most frigid cold snaps in Northeastern U.S. history. Tomorrow’s game comes just a week after a blizzard dropped more than a foot of snow at West Point itself. The Academy therefore moved this weekend’s game inside the Foley Center, both to mitigate potential frostbite injuries and to prevent a potential cancellation should more snow develop from what has thus far been a consistently unsettled weekend weather forecast. With the move, tomorrow’s game will now start at 11 am on YouTube rather than as previously planned at Michie Stadium.
Beyond those basic facts, this game has proven tough to preview. UMass Men’s Lacrosse, known internally as the Gorillas rather than as the Minutemen, has a new head coach for the first time in some thirty-three years (!) following the retirement of former Head Coach Greg Cannella. The Gorillas promoted Kyle Smith (UMass ‘14) internally to become their new Head Coach back in August, so wholesale scheme changes seem unlikely ahead of this week’s game. However, some change following an icon’s retirement must surely be considered inevitable, and this from a team that already looked tough to predict.
Game Preview: UMass at Army
This weekend will see a familiar foe with a partially new coaching staff faceoff against an Army Team that enters with some familiar faces on offense but with a largely rebuilt defense and a new starting FOGO. Both teams come into this game with a lot to prove, but neither team enters as anything like a known quantity.
UMass finished 9-6 last year, 2-3 in the Atlantic 10 Conference. A quick glance at their roster shows a young team, especially in their Midfield — I counted fifteen total freshmen with five in the middle — leavened by a heaping handful of returning juniors and seniors. Senior TJ Casey took most of the Gorilla’s faceoffs last year, going 111/212 overall (52.4%) with 42 ground balls and a goal in 15 games played. Statistically, that puts him about on par with new Army FOGO Robert Simone (17 G, 49.7% FO%), making the battle at the Faceoff X one of the most obvious match-ups to watch this weekend. If Simone can hold serve or take control of this weekend’s restarts, it might bode well for the Black Knights. However, if Casey takes control, that might mean trouble down the stretch.
Sophomore UMass Goalie Owen Salanger played in all 15 of UMass’s games last year, finishing with 165 saves against 127 goals allowed (56.5%). Last year, he played very well against Army, making 13 saves against 10 goals allowed in a game that the Gorillas nonetheless lost, 16-9. All-American Army A Jackson Eicher scored four times last year; he won’t be back. However, then-plebe A Brayden Fountain also scored four times last year, while A Hill Plunkett and M Aiden Wisenborne each added a pair of goals. Indeed, save for Eicher, nearly all of Army’s starting offense will be back for this game, and they got a lot of production from a lot of guys besides Eicher.
Army’s real questions come on defense and in the defensive midfield. They’ve lost All-Americans D AJ Pilate and SSDM Christian Mazur, and if they have some guys returning, none of those returning guys have as yet put up anything like the kinds of gaudy stats that last year’s stars dropped routinely. All-American G Sean Byrne returns for his firstie season, and he’ll quarterback this defense, but some new stars will need to emerge if the Black Knights want to play as well this year as they did in 2025. Defense has long been an Army strength, so they may well find the guys they need. However, as of this writing, it’s hard to say who’s gonna step up and be The Man to shut things down when the other team has possession.
Army’s new-look defense will need to contend with two of UMass’s top three attackmen from last season, sophomore Robbie Granara (33 goals, 9 assists) and senior Aiden Drusic (25 goals, 7 assists). Both those guys can shoot, but the Gorillas might need to find a new guy to facilitate their offense given that Trace Hogan (28 goals, 31 assists) has gone. His departure leaves no one from last year’s squad with more than nine assists. It seems unlikely that UMass’s offense will beat Army’s defense just on the strength of their dodging, making that something else to watch closely this Saturday. If the Gorillas can’t move the ball effectively in traffic, they’re liable to have a tough day. However, if Army’s new-look defense can’t beat guys one-on-one in space, that’ll strongly favor UMass — and other opposing offenses throughout the rest of the season.
Not in New York but want to watch the Black Knights play at West Point this season ❓
— Army Men's Lacrosse (@ArmyWP_MLax) January 29, 2026
Check out where you can watch our home games online in 2026 📺
🔗https://t.co/e1OPPTwQ3W#GoArmy | #FamilyToughnessTradition pic.twitter.com/z4xM5qhVor
Final Thoughts
We’ll have a better feel for who this Army Team is and how they’ll play once we’ve seen them in action. The team entered last year with a heaping handful of returning stars, only to then unleash an explosive plebe class that now starts this new year as yearling primary contributors. We have every reason to expect that those guys will play well again, but the real question is, who are the new guys who will step up this season?
Friends, I’m excited to find out.
Go Army! Beat UMass!!!
