Looking ahead to an action-packed and energetic season for men’s lacrosse

After finishing the 2025 campaign ranked fifth in a loaded Ivy League, Dartmouth men’s lacrosse is looking forward to bringing the energy and finding success this upcoming season. In its recent release, the Big Green are ranked fifth in the Ivy League preseason poll.

Led by third-year head coach Sean Kirwan, the team is looking to capitalize on a strong roster, as well as an incredible shared team connection, to rise through the ranks of college lacrosse. 

“I’m really happy with where we’re at,” Kirwan said. “I love going to work with [the team] everyday, they work hard, they’re very committed, they’re a very close-knit group, so we’re really going to lean on that togetherness as we head into this weekend.”

Before officially kicking off the season this Sunday against Boston University, the Big Green had scrimmages against St. John’s University on Jan. 31 as well as Tufts University on Feb. 7 to get prepared for the year. 

“It felt great, we love our group,” Kirwan said. “Preseason was, as it always should be, constant improvement, and it feels like we nailed that.”

Dartmouth is returning some great production on offense, including Thomas Power ’26, who previously led the team in total points with 54, and Emmett Paradine ’26. However, they will be without the 2025 team leader in goals: Colin McGill ’25. 

Defensively, one key player to watch this year will be senior captain Thomas Goguen ’26. Goguen finished off an amazing 2025 campaign with a team-high 22 caused-turnovers and 49 groundballs, consistently showing up against the Ivy League’s toughest opponents. He is looking forward to continuing that success as a leader this year.

“We have a day-by-day, lift-by-lift, practice-by-practice mentality,” Goguen said. “The team right now is just so excited to get out there together and continue with what we’ve been working on.” 

Another starter that will play a huge role in controlling the midfield this season is William Stahl ’27, who played his first season for the Big Green in 2025 after transferring from College of the Holy Cross. Stahl started all thirteen games last year, finishing with 16 points and shares the sentiment with Goguen.

“We’re a very focused team,” Stahl said. “But all around, we’re all super excited and we’re all very confident in each other.”

Perhaps the most initially noticeable feature of the Big Green roster is its age. There are only seven seniors on the squad, something Coach Kirwan admits is outside the norm.

“We’re in a unique situation in that our senior class is very small,” Kirwan said. “We only have seven seniors on our roster which is very atypical for a lacrosse team. They all play a pivotal role both from a leadership standpoint and impact on game day as well.”

However, Kirwan also sees the silver lining in these numbers, noting that a small senior class allows their connection to blossom.

“I think the coolest [thing] about them is, because of their size, they’re so close-knit and they are so on the same page,” Kirwan said. “That’s really been our calling card for our team because of our seniors.”

Goguen added that he views the culture produced by this smaller senior class as a team strength instead of a concern.

“We’ve learned how to make it an advantage just based off how close we’ve gotten with one another,” said Goguen. “We’re brought in as a class to drive this culture to a national championship level.” 

Still, the team has had to adjust to its youth. Kirwan emphasized the importance of younger players stepping up and making an impact right out of the gate.

“We talked to our freshmen last year about, you know, the quicker they can start looking like sophomores the better we’ll be,” Kirwan said. “For them it’s a group of eleven, and 10 of those 11 played in our last couple games last year, the only one that didn’t was our backup goalie. They all have real game experience, real Ivy League game experience, so that’s huge for them as we head into this year.”

Dartmouth is looking ahead to a very tough schedule, both in and out of conference. Boston University is the first of many teams they will face that are ranked nationally and Kirwan said he can’t wait to get things started and have the opportunity to prove the team’s talent. 

“I think it’s the evolution and the next step of this program,” Kirwan said. “We’ve ramped up our out of conference schedule, obviously playing a team like BU to start is a challenge, but for us it’s making sure we are battle-tested come Ivy play.”

Look ahead to an exciting 2026 season for the Big Green, as they go head-to-head with the best programs the country has to offer.