PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The Men's Lacrosse team is coming off their first PAC tournament win in program history and a berth in the PAC Championship Game at the end of the 2025 season, and with first year head coach Joe Conner, the Cougars are hoping to be back there at the end of this season.

"From the start of fall ball, we have challenged the team with a mission to continue to raise the level of the program," Conner said. "Maintaining a consistent approach of working hard to keep developing, balanced with the hungry taste this team has of returning to the conference championship will be the fuel throughout the season."

The Cougars will be headed by first year Head Coach Joe Conner. Conner joins the Cougars after spending two years at Saint Vincent College working with both the men's and women's teams.

The Cougars set single season records in wins (13), PAC wins (7), winning percentage (.684), goals (287), assists (180), points (467), ground balls (781), and caused turnovers (250). The Cougars also had a record seven game winning streak and a record four game home winning streak. There were also multiple single game records set last year; goals (34), assists (24), and points (52, twice).

The Cougars have two of their top five point scorers from last season returning for the season. Despite the loss of multiple top scorers from last season, Conner is confident that the team can develop players to fill the void.

"Creating an environment where we can have multiple players prepared to step up into new roles for a full team effort is a key to our success," Conner said. "We expect everyone to improve from last season and expect to have a variety of new impact players as we go through the season. Contributions will come from everyone on our roster for a complete team effort to lead us towards success."

The team has been focused on their ultimate goal of returning to the conference championship game but know that getting there will take a process that started long before the season starts on February 14th.

"Our main mission by the end of the season is to put ourselves in a position to play for and win the PAC championship," Conner said. "Throughout the journey our goals are focused towards reaching our full potential by how we embrace challenges to get better together in each practice and each game to win the day."

The Cougars take the field in Ada, Ohio on Saturday February 14th at 2 PM for the season opener against Ohio Northern.