Tri-captain Brooks Sholl, seen here in earlier action, and the rest of the Crimson squad open its 2008 campaign this weekend at Siena. New coach John Tillman and prized recruit Dean Gibbons, along with a host of returning players will try to get Harvard b

What’s the best thing about a new season? For the Harvard men’s lacrosse team, it’s the new part.

With a new coach, new, highly-touted recruits, and a new, longer, and tougher schedule, the Crimson has the opportunity to produce a winning record for the first time since 2004. Having missed the NCAA tournament last season with a disappointing 5-7 finish, Harvard is looking to get back on track, beginning its quest tomorrow in Loudonville, N.Y. against Siena (1-0) at 2 p.m.

“Siena had a really good last weekend against Presbyterian, so they look like they’re primed to have a good season,” tri-captain Nick La Fiura said. “My expectations are that if we just focus on ourselves and do all the little things right, we should be able to come out victorious.”

The Saints are riding high from their 19-3 win in which 13 different players tallied scores. Having lost its first four games in 2007, the Crimson needs to set the tone for the season, and it needs to set it this weekend.

The team will have some help from new head coach John Tillman, a former assistant coach for the Naval Academy from 1995 to 2007. Tillman is no stranger to the spotlight. From 2004-2007 his team posted the second most wins in Division I lacrosse and was one of just five programs to appear in four consecutive NCAA tournaments during that span.

Tillman replaces Scott Anderson, whose 20-year tenure ended last summer when was named Harvard assistant director of athletics.

“[Tillman] has revived our program and everyone’s behind him 100 percent,” tri-captain Brooks Scholl said. “We think he’s going to take Harvard to be a top five team eventually...he pushes us hard, past our comfort level, so I think he’s going to be really positive for Harvard.”

With Tillman comes faceoff coach Anthony Kelly and defensive coach Kevin Warne.

Both hope to jumpstart a squad that struggled with a young defense in 2007 and lost a top faceoff man to graduation in the form of former co-captain John Henry Flood.

Anchored by La Fiura—who has played in 36 games in his career—the defense has passed its period of growing pains, and with a year of playing together under its belt, should provide a spark for the Crimson.

“Our coach put in a great defensive package, we have a bunch of different looks,” Scholl said. “Definitely I think [defense] is going to be one of the strongest parts of our team. They’re young, but they’re talented and smart.”

On the other side of the ball, the offense finds itself in a position similar to last season’s defense. With the graduation of leading scorers Evan Calvert and Greg Cohen, gaping holes abounded the attacker lineup. But Harvard will get some help from the newbies. Within the rookie class of nine stands Dean Gibbons, a recruit ranked among the top 15 freshman in the country, with three All-America honors behind him.

Scholl will bring the veteran presence—the senior has 33 goals and 11 assists in his career—and will be flanked by sophomores Travis Burr and Jesse Fehr.

With such a young front presence, look for mids like Jason Duboe to have a breakout season. The sophomore posted 12 goals in as many games last season.

“Duboe has scored a lot of goals, he’s basically a one-man wrecking crew in our scrimmages and it’s helped us out a lot putting points on the board,” Scholl said. “I’d say the young guys on defense and the young attackers are all going to have breakout years.”

Transfer and sophomore Spencer Gantsoudes, alongside freshmen Francis Ellis and Andrew Parchman will also get in on the action, with Parchman aiding junior Nick Smith with faceoff duties.

“I think that our team is really unique in that we are both really young—me being the oldest defender that’s going to play—but at the same time everyone’s really experienced,” La Fiura said.

“On the offensive end inexperience isn’t a detriment,” he added. “It’s not so much system, it’s more about skill.”

The young but experienced team won’t receive any help from its taxing schedule. Up from 12 games over the last two seasons, this spring’s 14 include the usual tough Ivy matchups—Cornell and Princeton back to back—in addition to a game at Duke that falls between Penn and Denver.

As if it needed more hype, the game against the Big Red—a perennial Ivy juggernaut—will be played at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass., the site of both this and next year’s NCAA Lacrosse Championships.

“The fact that we’re at Duke adds so much excitement to the season for the players and for the people that are looking to come here as recruits,” La Fiura said. “The games that were added are all good challenges for us. Coach Tillman has never been one to back away from a challenge.”

—Staff writer Madeleine I. Shapiro can be reached at mshapiro@fas.harvard.edu.