Andrew Anastasio – Sports Writer –
Last year, the Owls finished sixth in the Northeast-10 Conference at an overall record of 8-8-1.
Head coach Tom Lang said in order to pick up from last season, the team needs to improve in all areas.

“We need to be a little bit better in all aspects of the game,” said Lang. “We need to be a little bit better in terms of our defending, not giving away goals that cost us games, and being better with our chances when we create them.”
Last year the Owls graduated four seniors, including Paul Templeton who led the team in both goals scored with seven and total points with 14.
Despite only having five seniors on the roster this year, Lang said he’s optimistic that all of them will help lead the way.
“All the seniors have been around and they all know what their expectations are,” said Lang. “We have a very young team this year so the seniors are going to have to set the tone in training and in the games, and we’re expecting that they’ll help the younger guys understand that.”
The five seniors on the roster include midfielder Mario Costa; forward Mario DiMiceli; defenseman Francisco Lara; midfielder Luke Perry; and forward Julian Myers-Antiaye.
Costa said he’s looking forward to having a successful season with this team.
“The vibe and the chemistry here are at high levels,” said Costa. “It’s going to be a great season working with all these guys. Everybody’s attitude is awesome, and I’m anxious to begin working with all of them.”
Last season, the Owls as a team scored a total of 23 goals, ranking them ninth in the Northeast-10 Conference.
They also tallied 11 total assists, which put them into a three-way tie for last in the conference with Assumption and University of New Haven.
Junior forward Doural Scott said not only does the team need to focus their attention on offense, they need to also maintain camaraderie in order to succeed in games.
“We need to play together as a team,” said Scott. “We need to gel, and so far we have been doing pretty well in the preseason, not just in scrimmages but also coming together. We need to attack offensively and not be lackadaisical. It’s also important for us to stay in tune with the game and jump out to fast leads.”
This season the Owls roster has a combined total of 10 freshmen and sophomores.
Despite the lack of seniority, Costa said he along with the rest of the seniors have taken on the leadership roles.
“I feel like a lot of these guys are going to be looking up to me and all the other seniors,” said Costa. “We have a young team so there’s no doubt that the seniors need to step up so that the younger guys will be looking up to us.”
Lang said that even though the team is in fact young, he believes that more players this season have the potential to put up points.
“I think we have more players this year that have the ability to score some goals than we did last year,” said Lang. “Our hope is that we won’t be relying on just one person but a few people to score some goals. I believe that’s been a strength in improvement over the last year.”
The Owls opened up their season Wednesday night with a 4-0 victory over Saint Rose.
The team is now 30-9-6 all-time in season openers.