St. Paul's returns six starters and 18 varsity players to a team that reached the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference lacrosse final, where it lost to Boys' Latin, 17-11.
Among those returning is senior standout goalie AJ Barretto, a three-year starter.
The tri-captain had 181 saves and a .620 save percentage. Barretto, who will play at Army next season, was voted the Most Valuable Player during the summer while playing for the Baltimore Boys in the Under Armour Lacrosse All-American Underclassmen Classic.
"We need to develop a new cohesive defensive group and a solid second midfield," said St. Paul's coach Rick Brocato, whose team was 14-7 last season. "If it all comes together, we could be a very dangerous offensive team and a legitimate contender. Chemistry will be key with this group."
Senior attackman and tri-captain Carter Flaig (Princeton) is in his fourth season as a starter. Flaig led the team in scoring (36 goals, 31 assists) and scooped 46 ground balls in 2014. He has 109 goals and 87 career assists is a candidate to become the school's all-time leading scorer.
Senior tri-captain Alex McGovern (North Carolina) is a three-year starter on the first midfield after playing with the second midfield as a freshman.
Junior Tyler Rockhill, a University of Maryland recruit, won 58 percent of his faceoffs last season. He also had 53 ground balls.
Junior attackman-midfielder Joe Pollard has committed to Johns Hopkins. He scored 15 goals and had nine assists while winning 20 ground balls last season.
Senior midfielder Jack Pollard (Navy) had 10 goals and two assists and junior attacker Mitch Gordon (North Carolina) had 11 goals and seven assists last year.
Senior attack/midfielder Dawes Milchling (Vermont) had five goals and five assists and seniors Ben Bagli and Sam Noon could help on attack.
Senior midfielder Eli Ayer (Mary Washington) won 52 percent of the draws and had 57 ground balls last year.
Longstick middies Brendon Connolly (Marquette), a senior, and John Faus (Furman), a junior, and junior midfielder Dan Ferber (Lynchburg) will help in the midfield.
With Barretto in goal and several experienced offensive players, the Crusaders should be a threat for a title this year.
Senior candidates for defensive spots include Stratton Grandy, Ryan Zoli, Niko Hajimhalis, James Togo, Phil Buttarazzi and Kevin Washaw.
St. Paul's opened the season at Tullai Field with a 17-9 victory over DeMatha and followed with a 14-11 win over Paul V1.
Flaig and McGovern (3 goals, 4 assists), Connolly and Milchling (2 goals), Gordon (1 goal, 2 assists) and Bagli, Pollard and Karey (1 goal each) led the scoring against Paul VI.
Ayer and Faus combined to win 17 out of 28 faceoffs, and goalie Barretto recorded 17 saves.
St. Paul's (4-1) is in Texas this week, where the Crusaders defeated Highland Prep, 16-11 and Coppell, 10-3.
They return home against Garden City on March 21 (10 a.m.) and open the MIAA campaign at McDonogh on April 7 at 4 p.m.