STATE COLLEGE — High school lacrosse is just around the corner with some teams starting their 2025 season in less than a month.
One of these teams is State College Area High School, which opens the year on Monday, March 17, against Central Dauphin.
Last season, the Little Lions went 18-4 overall and 14-1 in their conference. Unfortunately for State College, three of the four losses came in the last three games of the year, including a 17-4 loss to Springfield in the first round of the state tournament.
The Little Lions return virtually all of its production from a year ago and will look to improve its tournament record. Sacred Heart commit Cooper Brushwood and Delaware football commit Ty Salazer lead the way on offense, both recording over 100 points a year ago.
The defense will need a few new leaders to step up if State College is to be successful again this season. With the graduation of both Maddox Lietzell and Eli Espinoza, two of the team’s takeaway leaders, are gone.
Regardless, expect to see some high scoring games and a lot of wins for the Little Lions. What the season will really come down to is their postseason success. Can they learn from what happened last year?
Bellefonte had a less successful season and finished 6-11 with a 3-5 record in their conference. Similar to State College, the Raiders ended the season with multiple losses that left a poor taste in the returner’s mouths.
No stats were listed for the 2024 season, but based on the roster, Bellefonte looks to be a relatively young team that will have a lot to prove in 2025.
On the girls side, State College finished the 2024 season 14-6 with a very well-rounded schedule. The Little Lady Lions faced off against teams “better” than them all season and they saw the benefits of it at the end of the season.
Lax Numbers had State College at 268 goals for and 177 goals against a season ago. Despite the strong numbers, they only finished No. 21 in PA Central, a ranking that they would love to improve on in 2025.
On the Bellefonte side, a more consistent season is needed in 2025 after going 7-8 in 2024. Despite the average record they only had 155 goals for with 214 goals against.
Almost all of its games were complete blowouts, to one side or the other, something that is not sustainable across an entire season. If the Lady Red Raiders want to improve in 2025, they will need to lock down the middle of the field and find more consistent offensive outputs.
