Luke Stephens is beginning his fourth season as Franklin Regional’s boys lacrosse coach.
And what he sees so far this season is encouraging.
The Panthers are 4-3 overall and 2-2 in Section 1-2A.
The Panthers are coming off a thrilling 9-8 victory against Knoch. Their other wins are against Baldwin, Gateway and North Hills.
Sophomore Matt Kukura scored the winning goal with 45 seconds left against Knoch.
“It was a thrilling win,” said Stephens, a 2013 Franklin Regional grad who played college lacrosse as a defenseman at Elizabethtown College. “Hopefully, we can build on it.
“We have been up and down early this season. We are looking for an identity. We lost a couple close ones, but I feel we are starting to build a physical identity.”
The Panthers have made the WPIAL playoffs in two of the past three seasons.
Franklin Regional graduated five starters from last year’s squad, including attacker Nick Renda, midfielder Nick Sachs and goalie Akhil Chekura.
Stephens is relying on senior attacker Grant Novotny, Kukura, sophomore midfielder Cole Stackiewicz and senior defensive tri-captains Vaughn Rowell, Brendan Rusiewicz and Aiden Peglow to lead the way.
Senior midfielder Connor Grant and junior goalie Ryland Kase are also expected to be key contributors.
Kase returns after missing his sophomore season with an injury.
Stephens said Peters Township and South Fayette are the teams to beat in the section and that Bethel Park and Chartiers Valley are also formidable.
He said the goals are to play better, qualify for the WPIAL playoffs and win a championship.
“I am expecting us to continue to grow,” Stephens said. “We are off to a slow start. We have had five players sidelined with injuries, so we are a little short-handed. We have had to make a few adjustments, and I expect three of the players back soon.”
The Panthers won titles in the 1990s when they were a club team. They lost to Indiana in the first round of the 2025 WPIAL playoffs.
“We want to continue to move the program forward,” Stephens said. “I would like to see more players in our program. The numbers dropped a little bit.”