Chris Stiles will make his varsity coaching debut tonight, Wednesday, at Franklin Regional as the Panther boys lacrosse team begins its quest for another postseason berth.

Although Stiles is entering his first season as the varsity field boss after replacing Eric Yeh, he'll be quite familiar with his players. He coached the bulk of the bunch in previous seasons when he served as the Franklin Regional junior varsity coach.

Nearly the entire JV group has moved up to the varsity level to replace the loss of 16 players to graduation, including All-Division players Jordan Krentz, Dan Righi (Ohio University) and Bob Valentich, as well as Academic All-American Michael Arcangelo.

"Most of the guys who will be playing this season were on the JV team last year," said Stiles, who was a standout lacrosse player at Saint Vincent.

Returning to the starting lineup will be seniors Cory Osekowski, Sam Swerdlow, Brent Valentich and Dan Kohrs.

Osekowski will anchor the attack as the team's top returning scorer. Swerdlow and Kohrs will lead the defense in front of Valentich, who returns between the pipes.

The foursome helped Franklin Regional to an 8-10 mark last season, which ended with a 15-9 first round loss to Western Pennsylvania Scholastic Lacrosse Association champion Mt. Lebanon, which again will be the team to beat.

"Every year, Mt. Lebanon brings back a high-quality team," Stiles said.

"No matter who they graduate, they're always tough."

Other attackers for the Panthers include senior Chris Owens, juniors Marc Yearsley and Blair Lynn and sophomore Brandon Osekowski.

In the midfield will be seniors Brian Wagner, Brian Buckley, Jim Hart, Joseph Sciurba, Chas Carson; juniors Zack Uram, David Bradshaw, Kevin Cala, Garrett Arrigo, Matt Andromalos; and sophomores Luc Dozzi, Jordan Riley, Chris Ward and Nathan Andromalos.

"Cory is our top offensive player coming back, but David Bradshaw and Kevin Cala should add quite a bit," Stiles said. "Cory will bring a lot of leadership as one of our captains this year. He has good field sense and distributes the ball very well."

Defenders are senior Ryan McCune and sophomores John Arcangelo and Brian Brown.

Sophomore Jonathan Sandness will back up Valentich in net.

"Our goals are to get the most out of the players individually and as a team," the new coach said.

In addition to their play in the WPSLA, the Panthers also will compete in the Midwest Scholastic Coaches Lacrosse Association with teams from Michigan and Ohio, along with Mt. Lebanon, Shady Side Academy and Sewickley Academy.

Franklin Regional will welcome the University of Detroit Jesuit High School on Saturday at 1 p.m. and Brother Rice (Mich.) Sunday at noon.

Franklin Regional will compete in WPSLA Division I South with Hampton, Peters, Bethel Park, Mt. Lebanon and Upper St. Clair. This likely will be the last season for teams to compete in the WPSLA as boys lacrosse will be part of PIAA competition next year.

"That's going to be a big change but is definitely going to help out lacrosse," Stiles said.

The Panthers will open the regular season at home today, Wednesday, against Canon-McMillan, at 8 p.m.

For more on the FR boys lacrosse team, visit www.FRLAX.com