MID-PENN PREVIEW - PALMYRA

PALMYRA COUGARS
Keystone Division
Head Coach Jeff Gatano
Overall Record: 9-9    Mid-Penn Record: 4-8

Coach Gatono's squad had a very good year at 9-9 sniffing districts as the number 25 team in D-III seeding. The 9-9 record, especially the 4-8 record in the Mid-Penn, is misleading in that they loss 7 games by 3 goals or less (6 in Mid-Penn play). A loss is a loss but close ones like that tell you how close this team was in 2014 to making some serious noise.

Key losses start with two-time 1st Team MP Attackman Joey Hess (39 goals, 44 assists) who was one of the top scorers in the Mid-Penn with 83 total points. Hess is continuing his career at Muhlenberg. Nick Mazzacco (36,11) also graduated as well as goal tender Sam Wasson.

Key returning players are Senior Trevor Frye who looks to take Hess's mantle as the leading scorer following his Junior season where he had 23 goals and 20 assists. Another player to keep a close eye on is Junior long pole Tyler Gallagher (Wingate Univ commitment) who earned a Mid-Penn Honorable Mention last season.

The key to improvement for the Cougars lies in replacing Hess's offensive production and finding a suitable replacement for Wasson's excellent play in the net. As we've said before good teams reload year after year. Palmyra was able to do this following Evan Downey's graduation (Cabrini) in 2013, can they do it again in 2015?