When the Florida Tech men's lacrosse team takes the field on Friday night at Tampa for the first time in 2026, they'll do so with six players who started at least 14 games in 2025. Also ready to contribute are another five who played all in 16 last season, three who played in 15 games and four who played in 14. That experience, and maybe more importantly, another year of understanding the systems put in place by Head Coach Brad MacArthur and his staff as well as continuing to strengthen a foundational culture will prove critical to the Crimson and Gray's success over the next four months. 
 
"We return almost our entire defense as well as our goaltending. So, having them back, I think is a huge start," says the Panthers' fifth-year head coach. "We did lose some pieces, but I think Bobby Canaway is set up to have an excellent year. I think Brooks Van Esselstyn and Jonah Borynec are poised to have solid years. Carson Mann as a freshman was awesome. I think if Carson played any other role other than defensive midfielder, he probably would be a Freshman of The Year candidate, he played that much of a prominent role for us."
 
"I feel like practicing this year, we're at a spot right now where we're looking a lot better than we were at this point last year," says senior midfielder Thomas Strong. "We're clicking on offense, we're making the right plays, decision-making wise and defensively too. We're playing as more of a team rather than a bunch of individuals." 
 
Having a roster with many players who have been on the field for multiple years means there's a continuing improvement of understanding what's expected both on and off the field, which has made it easier to practice the plays drawn up and it's now more about getting the reps as opposed to learning the plays.
 
"I think practice now is more of a refresher, as opposed to walking through and really having to learn it," says redshirt senior defender Steve Ulrichs. "And we have a lot of leadership where guys are teaching each other. That way, we don't have to have the coaches teach the whole team. It'll be an older, experienced guy teaching, one of the freshmen, what's going on and what to look for. That way, we can just plug them right in."
 
"Offensively, a lot of guys are willing to make the extra play that maybe won't reflect in their stat line on the score sheet, but will help the team," says junior midfielder Brooks Van Esselstyn. "I think that over the course of a game, the course of a season, makes a big difference. I think just having a bunch of guys that play in the transition being another year older or having a bit more experience is helpful. It gives you a bit more poise in those sometimes crazy situations."
 
While the veterans will have a big hand in shaping what sort of success Tech has this season, they'll also have some new faces to help them against the Sunshine State Conference. Freshman attackers Ryan Chancer and Max Henry have received rave reviews from players and coaches in preseason.
 
"I've noticed on our side of the field, with the kind of experience that some of us have, there's been a lot of younger guys asking us questions," says junior attacker Joe Coveleski. "They'll ask 'what'd you think in this situation? What do you do here?' and it's created a culture of everyone just wanting to know how everyone works on the field, what's best for us." 
 
The Lewes, Delaware native has scored 39 goals and provided 13 assists over his first two seasons in the Crimson and Gray but as he enters his third season at Florida Tech, he's not concerned about his numbers. He's found that he's at his best when he simply plays the game instead of trying to hit a target number. 
 
The defense brings back 2025 Third Team All-SSC selections Ulrichs and Garrett Gmeiner, in front of them will be midfielders Bobby Canaway and Kevin Wolfe. Anchoring the defense will be senior goaltender Jax Francisco. 
 
In three seasons as a Panther, Francisco has placed himself amongst the best to step in front of the cage at Florida Tech, already ranking as the program's career leader in saves and second in career wins. Ask the Westminster, Maryland native what gives his team the best chance to win and it's a game where he's not too active.
 
"I prefer our defense to let up the fewest shots in the conference and me make the fewest saves if it means we're winning," says Francisco. "In a way, it's a bad thing where the more saves I have to make, the worse we might be as a team. So, if we let up the least shots in the conference, I'd be happy." 
 
To a man, many of the upper classmen are confident that what they've built will not only define them well after they hang up their uniforms but also will continue to help define the program for years to come. 
 
"I think especially with Coach Brad arriving in my first year, so much went into behind the scenes of building the culture, the way that we want to build it," says Francisco. "We've had the opportunity to kind of start from scratch, in a sense, and build the type of standards, build the characteristics, set goals for this team on our own. Now going from being one of the first guys here to one of the last guys who helped to start it, it's kind of cool to see it develop. I'd say I'm most proud of this stuff we've done off the field, building a culture here, rather than even any of the on the field stuff."
 
"We're not just a number on a roster to them, they really do care about us," says Van Esselstyn. "We have a lot of conversations outside of lacrosse, a lot of time spent together. We've built  relationships and camaraderie that when it comes down to it, they can have that hard conversation with me, I'll know it comes from a place of they really do care about me, and they know that I care about this team, and that trust that I'm gonna do what's best for the other 53 guys in this program. That trust goes a long way, especially those stressful situations."
 
The 2026 slate features six opponents ranked inside the USILA Preseason Top 25 and of course, with that comes the gauntlet that is the Sunshine State Conference. That's alright by the Panthers. They've got the players, the coaching, the experience, the trust and belief to make a big statement this season.