At the end of last season, Pennsylvania College of Technology men’s lacrosse coach Jordan Williams talked about raising the standard of his program, which has been successful from the get-go, and having his players come in better prepared.

In the team’s season-opener at 1 p.m. on Saturday, he will be able to gauge the progress made in those areas when the Wildcats host first-time opponent Susquehanna University at UPMC Field.

Entering his fifth season at the helm, Williams has instilled a WIN focus, which he describes as an acronym for What’s Important Now.

“(The) guys have a different focus and drive this year, so the group comes motivated and ready to improve. It has been a ton of fun this spring already. Our preseason scrimmages have been beneficial. They have shown us our capability/potential while also exposing us in different ways,” Williams said.

“Practices have been competitive, fast, and most importantly, fun. We try to make practice the best two hours of their day, every day. As we plan practice, we ask, ‘Would we have fun in this practice?’ and adjust if needed. Obviously, some drills are needed, but why not make it enjoyable? That is where real learning and growth occurs,” the coach said.

Last season’s team finished 10-9 overall and was 5-2 in all United East Conference matches where it finished second to perennial powerhouse St. Mary’s (Maryland) College. The Wildcats outscored their opposition 242-198, led in ground balls 620-558 and led in face-off percentage .550 to .450. With six all-conference players returning from that team, there is plenty of reason for optimism.

They are sophomore attack-midfielder Aidan McFalls of Gilbertsville, junior midfielder Harrison Schlachta of Collegeville, senior defender Mason Nester of Schwenksville, all on the UE first team, with McFalls also the Rookie of the Year, and junior attack AJ Dotson of Wilmington, Delaware, sophomore midfielder Will Ehret of Basking Ridge, New Jersey, and senior long stick midfielder Austin Callahan of Beaver Dams, New York, who were on the UE second team.

McFalls, with 48 goals and 27 assists, and Dotson, with 43 goals and 32 assists, led last year’s squad with 75 points, and Schlachta aided the offense with 31 goals and 10 assists a year ago.

Other key returning players are sophomore attack/midfielder Jake Small of Bloomsbury, New Jersey, sophomore defender Connor Gentile of Oxford and junior defender/midfielder Andrew Tavarez of Asbury, New Jersey.

“We didn’t graduate much from on-field production, so we are excited about the group coming back,” Williams said.

A good recruiting class also brought in freshmen attack Elliot Dotson of Wilmington, Delaware, attack Owen Kupsey of Chadds Ford, midfielder Tyler Diffenderfer of Boyertown, face-off Levi Borkowski of Norristown, face-off Antonio Santora of Haskell, New Jersey, defender Tyler Hannan of Newtown Square, defensive midfielder Ian Edinger of Vanencia and midfielder John Dolezal of Mastic, New York, all of whom are expected to contribute early.

“From top to bottom, this is the most talented group we have had,” Williams said. “As with many new programs, there can be gaps from the top of the depth chart to the bottom, and while this is still the case at times, our gaps are much closer, which makes for competitive practices day in and day out.

“As I mentioned before, this is the most focused and driven group we have had, which I think translates onto the field well, whether it be extra work or during practice.

“This is our first class where every member was recruited, so it is nice to have maturity and experience on both sides of the ball with a group of guys who made the decision to come to Penn College with lacrosse in mind. That said, we brought in a great freshman class that we believe will make an impact in key positions. We will see how things shake out, but we are cautiously optimistic this could be a huge step forward for our program.”

Helping those transitioning into the program are new assistant coaches Jacob Hytner (defense) and Zach Miller (offense).

“On the field, we are athletic, tough and make you earn every possession, whether it be on the ride, ground ball battles, or scramble situations. Our IQ as a group has grown tremendously, which has allowed our athleticism to make even more of a splash. We are more dynamic on the offensive side, which has been lacking in prior seasons, so it is good to have more options to create instead of relying on one or two guys all the time,” Williams said.

“Off the field, we have great leaders top to bottom that aren’t afraid to lead and have the autonomy to do so. We put a premium on trying to recruit great young men who happen to be good at lacrosse, and I think the chemistry of the group shows that. This is the tightest-knit team we have had in program history from my vantage point,” said the coach, whose career record is 34-26.

Williams continued, “(In the) early season, there are so many (areas that need work), but when we get into games, I think it comes down to how do we string together four complete quarters of lacrosse consistently. Our question marks on the field are starting to come together as we play more, but there is so much untapped potential in this group. If we can play our brand of lacrosse — focused, with purpose and consistently — we will put ourselves in the best position to succeed. The biggest areas of focus for us to improve on are shot selection, our transition from offense to defense and clearing with composure.

“Our keys to success come down to focusing on us. If we focus on WIN and what we can control, we will put ourselves in positions to have favorable results. We play our best brand of lacrosse when we are having fun, playing fast and making aggressive decisions (even if they are wrong).

“We can’t win a game in March or a conference championship in May right now, so how do we win our day and stack those one in a row to build some momentum? In prior years, I think we have worried so much about the team we were playing or the stories we were telling ourselves about those games. We have put a huge emphasis on us and what we can control. With an older group overall, I think that is starting to become the team’s mindset top to bottom.”

Addressing conference play, Williams said, “Nothing is a given and our hope is that we can have the right behaviors consistently to put us in a position to compete for a conference championship. We bumped up our strength of schedule once again this year, so we are ecstatic to challenge ourselves week in and week out. We are looking forward to the opportunity, and regardless of results, expect us to play hard for 60 minutes.”

Schedule/Series History

Saturday, Feb. 15 — host Susquehanna University, 1 p.m. (first-time opponent)

Saturday, Feb. 22 — at Montclair State, noon (Montclair leads 2-0)

Wednesday, Feb. 26 — at Juniata College, 7 p.m. (Penn College leads 1-0)

For additional information, visit the Wildcats Athletics website.

For more about the United East, visit the conference website.