After three straight ECAC appearances, Amherst men's lacrosse begins the 1998 season with a No. 20 pre-season ranking by Face-Off Magazine. Returning a deep midfield among its 22 veteran players, the Lord Jeffs face a difficult schedule that includes five of the top 20 teams in the nation.

"This is the first time ever we can lose games and still have a shot at making the NCAA tournament," comments Head Coach Jim McKeon of the team's strength of schedule. "We're experienced and deep, especially in the midfield, and we have a good attack."

Amherst's biggest loss to graduation is All-American attackman Stephen Carr, who finished his career with a 65-point season and second in the nation in assists-per-game (3.62: 47 in 13 games). Filling in on attack will be the committee of Matt Roy, Andy Neviaser, Kyle Bohannon and Sam Altman, who added 34 goals and 16 assists to Carr's team-leading numbers. Rookie Harlow Voorhees is also expected to make a large contribution this season.

Leading the midfield will be junior quad-captain Todd Nichols, listed as a Premier Midfielder in Face-Off's Players to Watch in Division III. As a sophomore, Nichols notched 27 goals and five assists as the Jeffs' go-to guy and top face-off man. Nichols will be joined by nine fellow midfielders, most notably quad-captains Payson Bullard and Todd Robin, as well as sophomore Jason Sowers, who combined for 29 goals and 10 assists last year. This unit will be bolstered by the experience James DeLuca, John Laufer and Eric Kahrl, and supported by the scoring threats of rookies John-Paul Bruneau and Eric Edelson.

The Jeffs return the core of its defense in Peter Mittelholzer, Ben Beckman, Brian Campbell and Ross Armstrong. Quad-captain Darren Malhame will play his senior season with the long stick, as he, Kevin Erickson and rookie Edmund Capodilupo add depth to the defense.

Junior Bryan Goldstein returns for his second year in goal after compiling a .640 save percentage in 1997. He will be challenged by sophomore Pat Korody and rookie Corey Simonson.