Park boys’ lacrosse will have new coaches and several new faces in its lineup this season, but also boost some key returning players.

Gavin and Matt Foote step to share the coaching duties after longtime coach Greg Rinzel stepped down.

“We’re a pretty young team this year,” said Gavin Foote. “We’ve got a lot of kids that are new to lacrosse that we’re trying to bring up to the program. But we’ve got a lot of good returning players.”

Park will be young and have to replace 11 seniors off last year’s team, but several of the team’s top players will return, including the leading scorer and top two goalies.

Senior Jake Westland returns to lead the offense. He led Park last season with 29 goals and 16 points for 45 total points. Fourth leading scorer Brenden Bloedel is also back for the Wolfpack after scoring 13 goals last season.

In addition to top returners Westland and Bloedel, Foote believes Chris Wilson is primed for a breakout season this spring.

Both goalies return in juniors Colton Porter (119 goals against, 119 goals saves in 14 games) and Braden Karnitz (26 goals against, 24 saves in 7 games).

Senior Logan Leyde and junior Jack Theis return to anchor the Park defense.

“Our strengths are they’re a very tight group of guys,” said Foote. “They’ve got good communication between each other. A couple things that we’re working on right now is just learning all the stuff that we’re trying to teach in practice.”

Park was 7-8 last season, finishing sixth in the Suburban East Conference with a 4-5 record. The Wolfpack defeated TriMA 10-6 in the play-in round of Section 3, then dropped a 15-5 decision to St. Thomas Academy in the Section 3 quarterfinals.

Park is scheduled to open the season at home against Forest Lake Wednesday, April 20, then plays at East Ridge Friday, April 22. The Wolfpack will have several key tests this season, including a May 23 match against Shakopee, ranked fifth in the preseason pill. Also on the schedule is a May 11 date against SEC rival Stillwater, ranked fourth in the preseason.