After losing seven of their top 11 players from last year's state championship team, this is certainly a rebuilding year for the Pirates.

Although they return some legitimate stars, gone are the dominating players that carried them the last two championship years. They graduated two starting middies, All-Americans Chris Feifs (US Navy Prep) and Kevin Raspet (US Naval Academy), All-State long pole Ned Phillips (Goucher), All-State defenseman Nick Wallhauser (Guilford), starting attackman Madison Thompson (Lees-McRae) and starters Graham Murray and Mark Hamilton. That means that at the very least, the early part of the season will be a period of adjustment and growth for this young team. Hopefully, they will improve throughout the year.

Midfield
Leading the offensive assault this year will be senior All-State middie Cory Coffman (61g/30a), the offensive MVP of the championship game last year with five goals and an assist. His running mate will be senior Anthony Howard (18g/1a), an All-Metro football player and the player who buried the championship winning shot in overtime last year.

Rejoining the Pirates is Andy Delamielleure. Andy was the third-leading scorer two years ago as a sophomore before spending a year in Charlotte. He will provide valuable scoring punch for the offense. Juniors T.L. Hutchins (1g, 5a), Chris Cherry (1g), Brian Jobe (1g), and Alex Coulter will back up those three. All of them are showing promise in early season practice, but they will have to be major contributors if the Pirates are to be successful.

Sophomore Joey Pietrantoni, junior Bryce Adrian, and senior Elliot McDonald bring the necessary depth to the unit as they step up from last year's JV team. Joey has speed and offensive potential while McDonald and Adrian are capable defensive middies.

Attack
At attack, only senior Owen Ham (40g/8a) returns. The competition for the other starting spots is among junior Jay Whitaker (1g), and three players up from last year's JV: junior Matt Gornto, sophomore Andy Ross, and sophomore Lowell Dyer. Chances are they will all see a lot of playing time. At 6'3" and 245 lbs, Dyer has the potential to be a veritable force on the crease, while fellow soph Ross shows a natural feel for the game. Gornto is the lone natural lefty.

Defense
Bryan Thompson (125 gbs/65 lbcs) started as a sophomore last year and returns with a capable stick and good speed. Senior Bryan Van Dyke (22 gbs/21 lbcs) was the backup long-pole middie last year but will start at close defense this year along with senior Michael Woodard (7 gbs, 4 lbcs). The defensive reserves are all up from the last year's JV: junior Brian Farmer, junior Ryan Webb, sophomore Murray Forbes and sophomore Chris Wooley.

At long pole middie is a converted offensive middie. Senior Tim Gregory (11g/1a) will bring his speed and aggressiveness to this important slot this year. He has shown a great aptitude for the position in the early season. Gregory and Thompson will have to prove to be the defensive stoppers on this team. Backing up Tim at long pole will be first-year player Duran Green.

Goal
Fortunately, in the goal there is a wealth of ability. Second team All-State goalie Zach Brewer (.617 save percentage) will start in his senior season. Zach has great quickness and provides an able and dependable backstop for this inexperienced team. But if anything happens to Zach, junior Brian Ring is more than capable of doing the job. Brian is one of the best goalies in the area and would easily be starting in many other programs.

The final adjustment this team will be making is the change to a new offensive coordinator. After seven years with the program, assistant coach Glenn Estacio left to take the reins of the Chapel Hill Tigers. Taking his place is Pete Kitrinos. Pete, a native of Annapolis, Maryland, who has over ten years of coaching experience at all levels, will put his offensive philosophy to work on the fledgling Pirates.

With all the new faces and a depth of inexperience, it is impossible to predict where this Riverside team will end up. Certainly the potential is there to achieve great things, but potential is just one more unknown.