Shreveport – One day at a time. That is often the key to building a successful program.
Centenary head men's lacrosse coach Billy LeClair preaches that thought process and hopes it translates into success for the Gents in 2024. LeClair enters his fourth season as head coach of the Gents after he was promoted to Associate Head Coach in June, 2021.
"My expectations for this season are just to take it one day at a time," said LeClair. We have a talented group this year with lots of returning faces, which will be great to help our younger Gents understand the fast pace of collegiate lacrosse. I hope to grow throughout the season with this group. We have a fun bunch, who are ready to get after it."
Centenary's 2024 journey begins on Saturday, Feb. 10 at Reinhardt University, an NAIA school located in Waleska, Ga. The Gents close the regular season at home on Sunday, April 7 against Colorado College. The Gents prepped for the season by routing the Louisiana Tech University Bulldogs by a score of 27-0 on Jan. 21 in an exhibition contest at Mayo Field.
The Gents finished 2-10 overall and 0-2 in Heartland Collegiate Lacrosse Conference (HCLC) play. The Gents set a program record for goals in a game in their dominant 23-2 victory over Spalding University at Mayo Field on March 17. Centenary topped 20 goals for the first time in program history as its previous single-game record was 18 in a win at Dallas on April 24, 2021. Centenary will not be affiliated with a conference this season thus the Maroon and White will play as an independent.
The Gents return their top two goal-scorers from last season - sophomore A G'Colby Spivey (Dallas, Texas) and senior John Mark Waniewski (Bossier City, La.) who combined to score 43 goals for a Centenary team which scored 95 goals, an average of 7.9 per game, and tallied 41 assists. Centenary had five players score 10+ goals each.
Senior A/MF Mark Temple (Houston, Texas) is also back after he scored 13 goals and added four assists last season and senior D Matthew Lulich (New Orleans, La.) returns after he was named to the Heartland Collegiate Lacrosse Conference (HCLC) Second Team last season – the Gents' lone all-conference selection. Lulich, a standout defender, earned Second-Team honors for the second-straight season and finished with 29 ground balls (fourth on team) and a team-high 21 caused turnovers as he played in all 12 games, starting 10.
Centenary's offense looks to get even stronger this season as senior M Jordan Cook (Bryant, Ark.) has rejoined the team after not playing last season. Cook owns 40 career goals, 11 assists, 51 points, 53 ground balls, and 28 caused turnovers. As a sophomore in 2022, he played in 11 games and made seven starts as he scored a team-leading 25 goals and added eight assists (second on team) for a team-best 33 points. He recorded five multi-goal games, three of which he scored five goals in a game, along with one two-goal game and one three-goal effort.
Other returning players which bolster the roster are senior D Ethan Little (Tyler, Texas), sophomore MF Seven Davillier (Shreveport, La.), senior LSM Jackson Ossman (Shreveport, La.), senior Ben Vazquez (San Antonio, Texas), junior D Kaleb Coates (Shreveport, La.), sophomore MF Dominic Ogier (St. Louis, Mo.), and sophomore M Xavier Nixon (Dallas, Texas).
Little played in all 12 games and made 10 starts as he collected 30 ground balls which was tied for second-most on the team and his 16 caused turnovers were second on team. Davillier played in all twelve games and made seven starts as he led the team in ground balls (32). He recorded four caused turnovers, scored one goal, and was second on the team in face-off wins as he went 56-187.
Ossman played all 12 games and made 10 starts. He scored one goal, collected a total of 17 ground balls and finished in a tie for third on the team in caused turnovers with 11. Vazquez played in 10 games and made two starts. He finished with 12 ground balls and scored one goal, the first of his career, in the Gents' season finale at Warren Wilson on April 15.
Coates played in six games and made five starts as he had four ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers. Ogier played in all 12 games and scored two goals along with four assists, giving him six total points. He collected 14 ground balls and caused six turnovers, while taking 16 shots with nine on goal. Nixon played in eight games in which he collected six ground balls and had two caused turnovers.
The Gents return just one goalkeeper – junior Dylan Miller (Shreveport, La.), who played in four games and made one start in goal. He played 135 minutes in the net and recorded 23 saves, good for second-most on the team and finished with a team-leading save percentage of 51.1%.
"I'm very excited to be getting back with these Gents," said LeClair. They all know what it takes to win, and they all know the standard we need to move forward. Defensively we will be getting back a hungry Ethan Little leading the defense with Jackson Ossman, and Kaleb Coates by his side. Matthew Lulich and Ben Vazquez will be helping mold freshman Tyler Bullard (Bossier City, La.) at LSM this season."
"Offensively, John Mark Waniewski and G'Colby Spivey will be holding it down at attack, while having Mark Temple, Dominic Ogier, and Jordan Cook at the midfield. Faceoff - Seven Davillier, our "Swiss Army knife", will be looking to be a threat at the faceoff X with freshman FO/M Aiden Stillwell (Shreveport, La.)."
"As far as our newcomers, our freshmen this year are coming in with a great energy about them. From offense to defense and even at faceoff. We are excited to see how they match up against collegiate competition this spring. Some names to look out for are: A Gibson Harvill (Bossier City, La.), M Ethan Hewett (Bossier City, La.), M Kai Panares (Houston, Texas), LSM Tyler Bullard (Bossier City, La.), and Aiden Stillwell. This has been a great group of young guys to coach so far. They all have a very high ceiling ahead of them."
"In terms of our schedule, we have a good mix of games where we'll be tested on both sides of the ball. I'm thrilled for the home games we have this spring. Our guys feed off the energy of the crowd, which we have some of the best support we could ask for."
The Gents will play four home games this season with their opener at Mayo Field set for Saturday, Feb. 24 against Huntingdon College at 1 p.m. Centenary will spend the majority of its season away from home, though, as they will play eight road games and one neutral-site contest.
Centenary will face Shorter University in Rome, Ga. on Monday at 5 p.m. to complete its season-opening roadtrip and then be off for 12 days before the home opener on Feb. 24 against Huntingdon.
See the complete Gents' season schedule here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/mlax/2023-24/schedule
Admission is FREE to all Centenary home athletic contests. Live stats and live video stream are available for all Centenary home contests.
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