Centennial rates as a heavy favorite to repeat as county lacrosse champion.

The Eagles return 11 players from last season's 14-2 team that lost in the state semifinals, including three players who combined to score 99 goals.

Mount Hebron, Glenelg, Oakland Mills and Howard should battle for second place.

Here is a look at each of the county's teams.

Atholton Raiders

Wendell Thomas returns to coach his 16th season and brings nine players back from last season's 4-10 squad that went 2-5 in league play.

"We'll be a middle-of-the-pack team," Thomas said. "I was worried about the offense but we did well in a scrimmage."

Seniors Jason Albert and Mike Marcyz will start on attack with sophomore Mitch Treese.

Seniors Matt Treese and Chris Buscher and junior Seth Lyons will start at midfield. Treese is the team's best player and leading scorer last season.

The starting defense includes returning senior Adam Shaivitz and junior newcomers Matt Raddik and Joe Garrison.

Senior Tony Vallance and junior Mike Radford will split time at goalkeeper.

Other returnees are senior midfielder Sean David and sophomore midfielder Peter Monti.

Other newcomers include senior defensemen Dan Garrison, Matt Kucuda and Adam Martiny, and junior defenseman Colin Esais. Also new are sophomore midfielder Tim Buscher, senior midfielder Albert Montagna and sophomore attackman John Pramik.

Centennial Eagles Mike Siegert returns to coach his 17th season at Centennial and will have the preseason favorite to repeat as county and regional champion.

The Eagles (14-2, 7-0), who were loaded with 10 sophomores, lost to Broadneck in the state semifinals.

Those 10 sophomores are back along with returning senior Tony Harding. The Eagles averaged 13.9 goals and allowed 6.3 goals.

"We're real optimistic but we're no lock," Siegert said. "We're short on depth and our second midfield is untested."

Centennial graduated its first midfield, starting goalkeeper and two defensemen.

Harding's 36 goals and 27 assists lead the attack that includes Brian Rowe and Davis Saunders (41 goals, 15 assists).

Midfielder Rob Hauffman set a school record with 94 points, 42 goals and 52 assists. The assists were also a school record.

Joe Lowrance and Mike Shakelford complete the returning midfield.

Returning defenders include Matt Rainwater, Steve Puckett, Chris Cochran and Brian Harding. Brian Carr is the returning goalkeeper. All of these players are juniors except Rowe.

Add in newcomers junior attackman Jeff Ianarrino and sophomore goalkeeper Mike Cochran as players who'll see some action. Senior midfielder Andy Lett and freshman midfielder Scott Bross also are looking good.

Siegert coaches the defense and Bill McDermott coaches the offense.

Glenelg Gladiators Gladiators coach Rick Kincaid is optimistic despite graduating top scorer Brent Graebel (31 goals, nine assists) and nine other ++ players from an 8-6 team that went 5-2 in the league.

The Gladiators also will lack depth. They have a 22-man squad.

But over the last three seasons, Glenelg has compiled a 27-15 record, and Kincaid sees that trend continuing.

"Our strength will be midfield and I think we have a nice defense although it is unproven," he said.

Kincaid, coaching his 14th lacrosse season and sixth at Glenelg, thinks Glenelg's stick skills are improved.

"Our goal is to win the county," he said.

Glenelg's last county title was in 1985. The Gladiators scrimmaged Arundel March 15 and lost by only one goal, an effort that pleased Kincaid since Arundel usually has powerful teams.

The midfield that Kincaid thinks will be the team's strength includes seniors Jeff and Chris Cordisco and Chris Schaefer. Both Cordisco brothers have speed.

Chris Forespring, a junior attackman, is a returnee along with seniors Dave Willis and Dave Costello.

Returning seniors Dan Gardner, Brandon Mitchell and John Simms comprise the defense.

The goalkeeper is senior Toby Husser.

Other midfielders include seniors Brad Dockins, Stanton Salter and freshman Conner Pett.

Pett's older brother, Jason, was a former Glenelg star who now plays second midfield for the University of Notre Dame, where he a junior.

Greg Edell, a sophomore attackman, also should see plenty of action.

Glenelg lost to Mount Hebron twice last season, once in the regional semifinals, 10-7. Its other county loss was to Centennial, 8-6.

Glenelg Country School Dragons The Dragons have a coaching staff with some impressive credentials.

Head coach Kevin Boland played midfield for two national championship teams at the University of Maryland in 1973 and 1975. His assistant coach, Jim Deitsch, was an assistant coach at Maryland during those years.

Boland, the head of the middle school at Glenelg Country, is concentrating on teaching basic lacrosse.

The Dragons, 2-7 last season, play an independent schedule and have 18 players on varsity.

"We're looking forward to a winning season," Boland said. "We'll slow it down on offense and will need to play smart."

The attack will be Glenelg's strength and features juniors Risto Worthington, Chris Lehmann and Brad Eyre.

Junior midfielders Scott Zimmerly and Jim Jordan, junior goalkeeper Ken Clark and senior defenseman Todd Olsen are other top players.

"Worthington missed last season with an injury and we lost four or five games by one goal, so we're hoping he'll help turn our record around," Boland said.

Hammond Bears The Bears have a young team and a new head coach, Larry Luthe, who thinks they will improve upon last season's record (5-9, 2-5).

Luthe, a former Mount Hebron player, has been assistant coach for the past four seasons at Hammond under Bill Smith.

He has one simple goal for the Bears.

"I want us to be known as the hardest-working team in Howard County," he said.

Luthe won't make any predictions, but thinks the Bears are not too far away from a winning season.

For proof, he points to last season when the Bears lost five games by two or fewer goals.

"This team has better chemistry and should be improved," he said.

Hammond failed to make the playoffs last season after making them the two previous seasons.

One of Hammond's strengths will be two experienced goalkeepers, sophomore Brian Lea (78 saves) and senior Hunter Hawes (112 saves).

Luthe also thinks the defense has better stick skills.

Seniors Ryan Smith and James Kennedy are returning defensemen. Juniors Nucleo Vega, Peter Laamisto and sophomore Dave Friedman are other defensemen.

Mike Sargent, a senior whom Luthe calls the team's best player, brings a 34-goal, 11-assist season back to the attack. Senior Dominick Jones and sophomore P. J. D'domenicus join Sargent as attackmen.

The team's weakness will be an inexperienced midfield.

The Bears return two experienced midfielders in junior Brian McClarney and senior Brent Ormiston. And Luthe has moved junior Eric Seward from attack to midfield.

The second midfield will come from among juniors Adam Keatts, Zach Marks and Willy Moore, and sophomores Shawn Showers and Hansel Henry.

"We're young. We have only six seniors who'll play a lot," Luthe said.

Howard Lions Last season, coach Dan Ross thought the Lions got better as the season progressed, and he hopes the improvement carries into this season.

"We won't overpower anyone, but we think we can run with people this year," he said.

A year ago, the Lions (4-8, 3-4) slowed it down to try and stay close because they lacked the skills to play an attacking style.

Howard, which has 13 seniors, has some good numbers and experience returning on offense.

Senior attackman Karl Krantz led last year's team with 22 goals and 10 assists. He's a three-year starter.

Senior midfielder Eddie Oh, a four-year starter, scored 18 goals and had 12 assists. The speedster made all-county.

And senior midfielder Seth Eldridge, a three-year starter and the team's best athlete, scored 11 goals and had seven assists.

Other attackmen include senior Joe Barkin and juniors Anwar Parker and Paul Katzen.

Other midfielders include senior Mike McClenney, junior Brandon Boyer and sophomore Jake Bakst.

Seniors Don Merchant, Jon Bakst, Eser Saydam and Sean Jones are all defensive returnees. Sophomore Craig Calton and junior Mike Elhoffy are defensive newcomers.

The Lions last made the playoffs in 1991 and are in a tough Class 3A region that includes Centennial and Mount Hebron.

"I'm hoping that teams overlook us this season," Ross said.

Mount Hebron Vikings Vikings coach Warren Michael hopes that an improved defense will translate into a few more wins.

Last season, Mount Hebron was 8-6 overall and 5-2 in the league.

That's not bad for most teams, but Vikings fans have come to expect better.

Four times in the last six years, Mount Hebron has won county titles -- an honor that went to Centennial last season.

And last year was the first time in six seasons under Michael that Mount Hebron failed to win a regional championship.

Mount Hebron won state titles in 1988 and 1991 and has a 59-17 overall record under the 32-year-old Michael. His teams are 31-4 in league play.

Michael now has Sonny Zigler, who did an outstanding job with Glenelg's offense last season, as his assistant coach. And that leaves time for Michael to do what he does best -- focus on the defense.

"The defense looks good. Much improved. We can catch and run," Michael said.

He blamed the defense for three one-goal losses last season and for blowing an 8-1 lead against Westminster.

Michael doesn't blame senior goalkeeper Scott Buchanon, who took over in midseason. "He made us better after he took over."

The defense has size. Mark Brown and Mike Cronin are both 6-foot-4, 175-pound seniors. And Shane Campbell is a 6-1, 180-pound junior.

Offensive leaders will be senior attackman Sam Horstman and junior midfielder Scott Baughman.

Baughman handles faceoffs and won 15 of 16 against Glenelg last season.

The rest of the attack includes juniors Dan Carver and Chris McShane and sophomore Jeremy Desor.

Other midfielders include returning senior Nick Canjea, returning juniors Greg Lee and Dave Moss and Ben Savage, a junior newcomer.

Mount Hebron is young with only five seniors.

The Vikings lost the regional final to Oakland Mills, 17-8, and also lost their regular-season game to the Scorpions, 8-7.

Oakland Mills Scorpions The Scorpions graduated eight starters, including all-county goalkeeper Matt LaBlanc from a regional championship team that went 13-4 and lost to Towson in the state semifinals, 4-2.

Other losses were to county champion Centennial, 12-7; to Glenelg, 5-1; and to Westminster, 9-4.

"We will have a young team that has only seven seniors," Scorpions coach Phil Stephenson said. "But you'll be hard-pressed to find a stronger defense than ours. It is exceptional."

He compares senior defenseman Chris Sheldon to former Howard star Joe Wilson, who now plays for the University of Virginia.

"He's right up there with Wilson and will go [to college] anywhere he wants," Stephenson said.

Two juniors, Lang Wethington and John Campbell, complete the starting defense. Both are rugged.

Oakland Mills graduated four players who scored 83 of its 149 goals.

Stephenson expects that senior attackman Danny Hart, who was unable to play last season, will be a big scorer. "If we had him last season, we could have been state champs."

Chris Costantino brings 15 goals back to the attack. And Iggy Levelev, a junior attackmen, scored 32 goals and had 17 assists.

The addition of Hart allowed Stephenson to move former attackman Jeff Wong to midfield. Wong had 14 goals and four assists.

Returning junior midfielders Sam Smith, Chris Duke and Brandon Lee give the Scorpions plenty of experience.

"We have a good crop of set-up men back," Stephenson said, singling out Duke and Smith.

Two other midfielders who'll see playing time are sophomore Matt Rollman and junior Matt Cartwright. Rollman is big and fast and has a good shot.

The big question mark on the team is the goalkeeper, sophomore Jason Berlin.

"He's untested and he's going to be my main focus this season," Stephenson said.

Ken Hovet coaches the offense and Tom O'Grady coaches the defense. Goalkeeping is Stephenson's specialty.

Wilde Lake Wildecats Wildecats coach Mike Harrison is trying to remain upbeat in face the worst outlook ever for Wilde Lake's lacrosse program.

The Wildecats, 3-9 overall and winless in the league last season, have had to cancel their junior varsity program and have only 19 players on varsity.

Last Thursday, eligibility lists came out and 11 lacrosse players were ineligible.

Add to that, the loss of starting goalkeeper and team spiritual leader Mike Gardner to mononucleosis, starting defenseman Donovan Burns to a Civil Air flight training program and starting attackman Scott Jefferson, who quit after receiving a jazz guitar scholarship.

"I originally thought we'd improve on last year, but now we're just trying to keep the program afloat," Harrison said. "I hope this doesn't become a humiliating experience.'"

The best returning player is senior midfielder John Scherr, a four-year starter. Junior attackman John Beakes is a three-year starter, and so is starting midfielder Mike Anderson.

The only other returnees are brothers -- junior defensemen Robin and Baubeck Yeganeh.

Newcomers include freshman attackman Brandon Hutnek, sophomore midfielders Alex Hernadez and Eric Lawrence, sophomore defenseman Rob Adelman and sophomore goalkeeper David Leung.