Men’s lacrosse begins its 2026 season against Hampton University in the season opener at home at 11 a.m on Saturday, Jan. 31. The Bears have faced the Pirates in two consecutive seasons and have won both times, outscoring their opponent by a combined 43-8.
Mercer is looking to bounce back from a disappointing 2-11 season last year with fresh faces and a new outlook. The Bears will play a 13-game regular season, including seven home games and six on the road. They’ll finish out the season with the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament in Jacksonville, Fla.
The team is led by Head Coach Ryan Danehy, who is beginning his fourth season after leading the team to a 12-31 overall record since he started at Mercer in August 2022. The team has gone 9-14 in conference matchups under his leadership, including its first tournament berth since 2015 in his second season.
“One of the most exciting things about our slate this year is having seven home contests at Five Star,” Danehy told Mercer Athletics. Last year, the team had only two regular season games at home, and eked out one of their two wins in Macon. Historically, the Bears have had a far better record at home under Danehy, 10-12, then they have had in away games, 7-24.
The team hasn't had a winning season since the shortened 2020 season, but up-and-coming new players along with an efficient offense that led the ASUN in shot percentage last year gives the team promise coming into the chilly early months of the season.
Will Zylstra '28, a 2025 ASUN All-Freshman team nominee last year, heads the young group. Zylstra was second on the team in goals last year and played in all 13 games, starting in 12.
Alongside Zylstra is attacker Dillon Bush ‘27, who holds the current team record for single-season goals with 39, and finished top-three in the conference in goals per game last year. Midfielder and captain Michael Fredrick ‘26 started in all 13 games last season and scored 16 goals, while fellow midfielder and captain Jack Sullivan ‘26 rounds out the attack. Sullivan has appeared in every game for the Bears since his freshman year, while leading the team with a total of 12 assists last season.
With many of the team’s 2025 graduates coming from the defensive and midfielder positions, those groups will be key areas for younger players to step up. Sixty percent of the team's roster is made up of freshmen and sophomores, which may provide opportunity for growth and a potential turnaround season for the Bears.
Joslyn Hicks ‘29 is a Journalism major at Mercer University. She is excited for her first year as a staff writer for The Cluster. In her free time, you can find her reading a book or singing along to Taylor Swift songs.
