BATON ROUGE, La. -- With the fall semester beginning, the LSU men's lacrosse team is preparing for the upcoming 2020 season. Coming off a historic season featuring their first-ever LSA championship and appearance in the MCLA National Championships sponsored by New Balance, the Tigers look to build on last year’s success.

This year’s LSU roster features many returning players along with a crop of talented freshmen and transfers all looking to make an impact right away. LSU is hungry, confident, and ready to compete against any team in the nation.

In his third season in Baton Rouge and second season heading the team, Shane Koppens leads the Tigers as head coach and offensive coordinator. Koppens, born in New Orleans and raised in upstate New York, played college lacrosse at Loyola University, where he was a two-time captain and two-time All-American attackman for the Greyhounds.

Following college, he was drafted by the Denver Outlaws with the 21st pick in the 2009 MLL Draft. In 2018, Koppens founded FTK Lacrosse, an elite lacrosse program for youth and high school players throughout the state of Louisiana.

“I am proud to be here,” Koppens said. “We are proud to wear the purple and gold every day. I believe we can do something special this season with this group of young men.”

Also returning to the LSU coaching staff is defensive coordinator Chris Condon. Condon has a long history with LSU lacrosse, where he played from 1984-1987 and was both team president and a team captain. He has years of coaching experience and a solid resume to prove it.

Condon was LSU’s defensive coordinator for the 2019 season and has coached Northshore Lacrosse’s youth and high school teams since 2011, when he founded the program.

“[We played] our best, most unselfish ball of the season when it counted the most to make history and earn the LSA championship,” Condon said. “We have unfinished business in Utah to attend to this spring.”

Assisting Condon on the defensive side of the ball this season will be Lane Sumrall, a familiar face to the team. The new defensive assistant coach played his senior season last year for LSU, with the honor of being named a team captain by his peers. In preparation for the upcoming season,

“We must stay hungry," Sumrall said. "Our team overcame great adversity last year, and it started at practice. Find your weaknesses and make them your strengths.”

The entire LSU lacrosse program would like to thank Lane Farrar, who had a stellar playing career for the Tigers, leaving as the best faceoff specialist in Tiger history. Farrar coached the Specialists unit in the 2018 and 2019 seasons, leaving with an LSA championship under his belt. LSU wishes him the best of luck as he leaves the program to serve in the Peace Corps in Senegal.

LSU’s talented players, backed by their knowledgeable coaching staff, will work hard throughout the fall semester to prepare for the tough upcoming spring season. Koppens and the coaching staff have once again challenged this team with rigorous regular season schedule, but their attitude remains positive and expectations remain high.

“Day by day, week by week, month by month – the season will be here,” said Koppens. “That is inevitable. What we do from [now] until our home opener is up to us.”

2020 LSU Men's Lacrosse Schedule

* - indicates LSA contest
# - indicates contest played at Southern Methodist (Dallas)
% - indicates contest played at North Texas (Denton, Texas)
^ - indicates contest played at Ole Miss (Oxford, Miss.)
& - indicates contest(s) played at Grapevine (Texas) H.S.