Artilce appeared in USA Lacrosse May 13, 2026
By Dan Arestia
There is no crucible in the all of Division II lacrosse quite like the Northeast-10. The conference is home to the two-time defending champion Adelphi Panthers. Teams like Bentley, Pace and Saint Anselm — perennial residents in the top 10 of national polls — also call the NE10 home.
Saint Michael's, a small college just outside Burlington, Vermont, came into 2026 with questions to answer. Sebastian Simonson and Christian Reyes, the team's top two scorers in 2025, graduated. So did starting netminder Sean Regan. But head coach Alex Smith knew the incoming class had some special talents.
"I don't know if any of us knew what to expect this year," Smith said. "We were coming off graduating a really amazing class, including the best player in program history and 130-something points off the attack. But we knew we had some really good young players coming in, and from the start, everyone has just been bought in."
The new faces have hit the ground running, but there's a balance of youth and experience. The Purple Knights' current leading scorer is Chris Davis, a freshman. Their next two leading scorers are Sean Murphy and Owen Balfour, both seniors. Their fourth leading scorer is Zeke Peraza, another freshman. Braeden Murphy, another freshman, has passed the 20-point mark on the year. Sophomore Nate Gulachenski took over the starting role in net and has been exceptional in big games.
"It's been really cool," Smith said. "With Sean Murphy, this is his third full year really starting for us at attack. He was a known quantity. Whereas Balfour has kind of been this career fourth attackman for us. He even started the year that way, but he just keeps playing better and better, especially now, they're playing the best lacrosse of their careers, and that's what you need out of your seniors this time of year."
The freshmen are gaining valuable experience with the tournament run, too.
"Our freshmen are just dumb enough not to know any better or be scared of anybody," joked Smith. "It's a special thing about St. Mike's. In general, we don't have a division between the classes. Everyone lives on campus; they really get to be a part of the community with each other. It's a special place and a special team in that way."
Fall ball competition also built some confidence and revealed that the Knights would be able to hang with teams. A scrimmage with Skidmore saw them not play their best, but it showed enough flashes for the team to build confidence in its ability. A scrimmage at McGill saw the Knights dominate — and that was more evidence that this team might be capable of something special.
In the regular season, that familiar gauntlet of the NE10 schedule hit. There is no respite there.
"There are no off games in the NE10," Smith said. "Even teams that you might say are having down years, they're great teams and great programs."
The Knights notched a big win early, taking down a ranked opponent in Southern New Hampshire. But they weren't able to carry that momentum. They dropped their next three conference games, losing to Pace, Saint Anselm, and Assumption, the former two both being top six teams in the country at the time.
But the three losses came by a combined four goals. And Smith knew that even though they were right there with the heavyweights, they maybe still hadn't played their best game.
"The Pace game in particular, and I know [Pace head coach Tom Mariano] would say they didn't play that well that day either, but we felt like we did not play well and still had a shot to win that game," Smith said. "Sometimes you tip your cap and say the better team won today. We as coaches were looking at each other saying, 'Should we have won that game?'"
The Knights committed 31 turnovers, and Gulachenski made 19 saves, yet the Knights lost 6-5. The losses sting, but there lessons and value in the results.
The Knights closed the regular season with a win over Bentley on senior day, a hallmark win against a top caliber opponent.
"Beating Bentley is one of the biggest wins in program history," Smith said. "Bentley is such a stalwart. They're an awesome team and an awesome program, and that's a major win for us."
ABOUT THE NE10
The NE10 is an association of 1 diverse institutions serving student-athletes across 24 NCAA Division II sports. Together we build brilliant futures by embracing the journey of every student-athlete.
Each year, 4,500 of those student-athletes compete in conference championships in 24 sports, making the NE10 the largest DII conference in the country in terms of sport sponsorship. Leading the way in the classroom, on the field and within the community, the NE10 is proud of its comprehensive program and the experience it provides student-athletes.
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