WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - The Hartford men's lacrosse team is built for revenge in the 2025 season. The team is younger than most holding just three seniors and one graduate student on its 41-man roster, however what it lacks in age it makes up for in talent. In 2025, the Hawks are finally able to compete for a Conference of New England (CNE) title with expectations to compete at a high level in every contest.
The 2024 season saw the Hawks ride a roller coaster of wins and losses all year long. Hartford struggled to find a semblance of consistency as a team which led to their 6-7 overall record and 4-4 conference record in 2024. This year the team will be looking to the returners to continue to develop a team culture built for this season and beyond.
THE ROSTER
Hartford has the benefit of losing just one student-athlete going into this year, with midfielder Justin Pezzolesi graduating. The hope now is that the sheer number of returners will lead to a level of chemistry that other teams in the CNE won't have. More than that the team will rely on some progression from their massive 25 member freshman class from last year.
This includes standout attacker Ethan Hunt (Skaneateles, N.Y.) who started all thirteen games last season and made the most of his opportunities leading the team in points with 32. The Hawks also benefited from the stellar play of now junior midfielder Aidan Kemp (South Orange, N.J.) and graduate student midfielder Jake Ojert (Doylestown, Pa.). The duo posted a combined 55 points, seven caused turnovers and 54 ground balls (48 of them coming from Ojert).
Hartford also saw solid play in net from now sophomore goalie CJ Ledwick (Falmouth, Mass.) and junior goalie Andrew Leibold (Chula Vista, Calif.). Ledwick took over as the primary goalie for the second half of the season posting a 59.0% save percentage with 108 saves, while Leibold finished the year with 71 saves.
Head coach Ryan Martin announced three captains headed into the 2025 season including repeat captain Jake Ojert and new captains junior Tobias Ballester (Westwood, N.J.) and senior Nick DiDomizio (Cheshire, Conn.).
Ballester comes to Hartford after transferring from Pfeiffer University. While with the Falcons Tobias made 33 appearances in two seasons with four goals, an assist, 77 ground balls and 37 caused turnovers. Ballestar is excited to be a part of the Hawks ahead of the 2025 season and is ready to get going.
"Our motto this year is one percent better every day. We did go four and four in the conference last year, but we view it as every week is 0-0. We can have a great win against a team like Endicott and Western New England and then we get right back to work. We need to do a good job this year at not getting too high, not getting too low and staying consistent and we can always improve and get better."
DiDomizio started all 13 games for the Hawks in his first year in West Hartford in 2024. Nick ended the season with a goal, assist 18 ground balls and 13 caused turnovers on the season.
"A big thing that I've noticed from last year heading into this year is that there is more experience now. Guys that were getting in for the first time last year, their first college experience. That's not really an excuse anymore. This year everyone has a lot of minutes played here. And that's important because now you can show the new guys coming in what it's like, what the culture is like here, how we go about everyday, and that is whether it's practice or the classroom. My expectation is to take a big step from last season. There is a lot of guys coming back, so taking some of the tough losses last year and building on that going into game one this season. Every week just chipping away trying to get to that end goal being eligible for the conference playoffs.
NEW ARRIVALS
Hartford's 2025 class is much smaller than their group from a year prior, with only eight student-athletes joining the mix. That being said the Hawks are hoping for quality over quantity with their freshman this year as they look to duplicate the success some of their sophomores found in their first seasons.
Attack (1):
Shaun Wright (Frederick, Md.)
Midfielder (4):
Gavin Pelletier (Southington, Conn.)
Andrew Willnus (Litchfield, N.H.)
Nick Ugolini (Agawam, Mass.)
Ethan Mitchell (Lowell, Mass.)
Defense (2):
Patrick Giroux (Cumberland, R.I.)
Steven Anslow (Clifton Park, N.Y.)
Faceoff (1):
Ian Reynolds (Queensbury, N.Y.)
SEASON OUTLOOK
Associate Head Coach Kevin Sanna believes Hartford's second season in the CNE is shaping up to be a promising one.
"Every team that we're playing this year is very good. In our conference we see a lot of really good teams. It's a lot of really good lacrosse. Last year we had some tight wins and some tight losses, but if we focus on the little details we can have a very successful season. It's not going to be easy, we got to work really hard every single day and get 1% better."
The Hawks will have a 15 game regular season slate in the 2025 regular season kicking off on February 14th when the Hawks host Wheaton College at 12:00 PM. Conference play opens up March 26th when Hartford takes on Roger Williams in Bristol, Rhode Island at 7:00 PM. Other key CNE games come on March 29th when the Hawks host Endicott College at 12:00 PM and on April 19th when the Hawks host Western New England University at 12:00 PM.
The CNE preseason poll has yet to be released as of now.
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