RIVER FOREST, Ill. -- Looking to build upon last season's success, which saw a program best four wins, the Concordia-Chicago men's lacrosse program will kick off its 2020 campaign this Saturday afternoon inside Concordia Stadium, against Trine University, at 1 p.m.

"I have been counting down since last season for this year to start," said Head Coach Brian Welch. "We will still be a fairly young squad, but have added some exciting players to the team that will give us a great shot of making the conference tournament come April. We have already had some guys step up into big roles that will make for an exciting season."

Leading Welch's squad will be junior goalkeeper Jack Liskey, who already has 435 career saves through his first two seasons. Coming off a sophomore season that consisted of a .531 save percentage and an average of 14.3 saves per game, Liskey is expected to be the director of CUC's defensive structure, according to Welch. 

Key returners for the Cougars this season will also be in Bransen Bonnell, Brett Krueger and Boston Dumas. Bonnell will be Concordia's go-to defender, as the sophomore picked up 49 ground balls last season, the third most on the team, and caused nine loose ball opportunities. Krueger, heading into his senior season, will look to continue on his record-setting career as the Wisconsin native has led CUC in goals and points in each year of his career and has a program-best, 61 career points. Dumas rounds out the trio, coming off an All-Conference rookie year, with big expectations from the faceoff circle. Just a season ago, Dumas won 169 faceoffs, ranked 66th nationally in faceoff percentage (.595) and 24th in ground balls (131).

As for newcomers, the Cougars welcome 14 new faces to their roster, consisting of 10 freshman, two sophomores and two juniors. Freshmen Gabriel Balcaen, Erik Allstatt, Chadd Rowe, Carson Ganger and Dylan Mordhorst are expected to step into contributing roles this season. 

Ganger and Mordhorst will be critical in CUC's clearing and transition this season, as the duo has already added an edge of speed and versatility to the Cougar offense. Rowe and Allstatt will be relied on to create scoring opportunities for the Cougars, thanks to their athleticism and high lacrosse IQ's. Balcaen, a native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, is expected to use his box lacrosse experiences to create space and find outlets, especially as a left-handed attackman. 

Other additions to Concordia's lineup are Zach Cicero, Sean Dooley, Amir Cavic, Vance Bussard and Steven Tobie, who will primarily work on the Cougars' defense and midfield. 

With opening day just two days away, CUC is looking to build upon their 4-11 season in 2019 as they take on the Trine Thunder in their home opener. The Thunder, who went 7-5 last year, lost four of their top five scorers but return junior Tyler Corless, who had 26 points as a sophomore and already has four goals and two assists through one game this season. The Trine are off to a 1-0 start and 3-0 all-time when facing the Cougars. 

For more information on the CUC men's lacrosse season, head to cucougars.com and be sure to tune into Saturday's home opener for live broadcasts,statistics and in-game updates at cucougars.com/coverage and @CUChicagoLax on Twitter. 

Two. more. days. pic.twitter.com/J06J8Pf6Iv

— Concordia Lacrosse (@CUChicagoLax) February 20, 2020