The 2023 Kalamazoo College men's lacrosse team will begin its season with a home game on Feb. 22 against DePauw. The Hornets will look to improve on the seventh-place finish in the MIAA from the 2022 season. The team has been preparing for the season since their first practice on Jan. 23.
Schedule Breakdown
- The Hornets will have three of their first four games at home on McKenzie Field.
- The team will have three games over spring break, all on the road in Illinois and Wisconsin.
- As the calendar turns to April, the Hornets will have one more home non-conference game against Aurora on Apr. 1.
- The MIAA opener will also be a home game against Adrian on Apr. 8, which will also be senior day.
- After that, Kalamazoo will alternate being at home and on the road for the next five games to finish the regular season.
- The final home game will be on Apr. 26 against Alma, and then the last regular season game will be at Trine on Apr. 29.
Roster Breakdown
- Kalamazoo returns 19 of the 24 players from the 2022 squad. In addition, there will be 13 newcomers to increase the total to 32 for the 2023 season.
- The team will be comprised of four seniors, six juniors, 10 sophomores, and 12 freshmen, as half of the young team are underclassmen.
Returning Statistical Leaders
- Dylan Wickey returns after starting 14 of the 15 games as the goalkeeper for the Hornets. Wickey finished with 149 saves, a 12.63 goals-against average, and a 49% save percentage last season.
- Eli Routt (19 goals) and Logan Gillis (16 goals) return as the third and fourth-leading goals scorers from last season, with the top two graduating. Jack Jesko and Cam VanGalder also come back after scoring 11 goals each last year.
- JJ Ohren-Hoeft, Nick Matuszak, and Colby Skinner all come back as defenders and long-stick midfielders that played significant minutes. Ohren-Hoeft finished with the most ground balls (49) and caused turnovers (22).
- Face-off specialist Sam Hughes also returns after securing 49.8% (134-296) of the face-offs taken last season.
Stepping Up
- The trio of Grayson Pratt, Vincent Tran, and Mitchel VanGalder will look to step into more prominent roles in the attack positions.
- Zach Heimbuch and Zach Connor enter the season looking for more minutes in the midfield.
- Alex Dubin is looking to join the three defenders and long-stick midfielders mentioned above in the back line.
- The 13 newcomers will also look to play a role in the team's success for the 2023 season.
Head Coach Vince Redko
Coach Redko is set to begin his eighth season as the head coach of the Hornets. Redko has been the lead man for the Kalamazoo men's lacrosse team since the program started before the 2016 season and led the 2019 team to a school-best five wins. Prior to his time at Kalamazoo, Redko served as the recruiting coordinator and defensive coach at Connecticut College for two seasons. He also spent two years as a defensive and recruiting coordinator at Misericordia University in Dallas, Pa.
Quoting Coach Redko
"There is a ton of excitement within the team heading into the 2023 season. Last year, we played some very competitive stretches of lacrosse but ultimately were inconsistent in finishing games. We have more talent and the competitive level of practice has been the highest it's ever been here. We have plenty of learning and growing to do at this point in the season, and we are taking things one day at a time. The team is pumped to find advantages during our season-opening #MacKtion against DePauw."