York head coach Brandon Childs doesn’t need much reminding of what his program lost to graduation last year, especially on the offensive end.
Thomas Pfeiffer, Hunter Davis and Brendan McGrath combined for nearly 700 career points and all rank in the top five of the Spartans’ all-time points leaderboard. But they’ve graduated, and York has a slew of attackmen competing for starting spots.
“In the seasons prior, you could pretty much just flip the unit over from the last few years,” Childs said. “You just knew they’d be the guys.”
The Spartans are still sorting out their best attacking trio. Childs said York will likely start a different group for their home opener against Stevenson this Saturday. It’s a luxury the CAC powerhouse can afford, especially having made two straight NCAA tournament quarterfinals. York has started 2020 with wins over Eastern and Washington and Lee.
Will Harnick, a freshman, and Chandler Schmidt, a junior who transferred in from Harford Community College, have been bright spots so far. But the broader puzzle isn’t yet complete.
“When you start to almost write out the pros and cons and weigh it out, you end up with an even rank for all five or six,” Childs said. “So then it becomes how we piece them together to figure out who the best combinations are, and that’s the process we're in right now. I’d like to have it done, but I don't want to rush it and end up landing upon the wrong group.”
York is also coping with major turnover on the defensive end, notably the loss of Kevin Witchey, the 2019 USILA Division III Defenseman of the Year. There’s also the departures of J.D. Beck and faceoff specialist Billy Sasso, All-Americans themselves, presenting holes that need patching.
That said, Childs isn’t too concerned about how the defense will ultimately look. Much of his midfield returns, including short stick Danny O'Connell and long pole Nick Roman.
“The group there is four or five guys competing for three spots as opposed to six or seven [guys] for three [spots] on attack,” Childs said. “We'll arrive to our group there quicker, but we’re trying to feel that out as well. We have more experience we’re playing with, guys who have been waiting behind some exceptional players and are ready as opposed to new, inexperienced guys on the attacking end. I like what we’re doing on the defensive end, quite frankly. It just feels a little different than what we’re used to.”