The Butler girls lacrosse team would love to avoid finishing last in its section this season.

The Golden Tornado could do much more than that.

The team was 1-9 last season in WPIAL Section 1 before Annie Succop took over as head coach in November.

"I'm excited about this team and looking forward to the season," said Succop, who takes over a squad that features 10 seniors.

Two of those seniors are center midfielders Elizabeth Small and Nicole Smolen.

"Both of them have been playing for four years," Succop said. "They've got good stickhandling skills and a lot of speed."

Leading the Tornado's defense will be the team's captains: senior Yuki Schaper and junior Dorothy Steighner.

Goalie responsibilities will fall to either senior Julie Holt or sophomore Lydia Garcia.

Butler will compete against Seneca Valley, North Allegheny, Pine-Richland, North Hills and Shaler in Section 1.

Seneca Valley

The defending Section 1 champion Raiders have several holes to fill, starting on offense.

"It's kind of early to single anybody from the offense out," said SV coach Karyn Brooks. "We've got a lot of talent. It's just going to depend on whether we can put it all together."

One certainty will be defender Carly Conrad, one of the team's captains.

Another mainstay will be junior goalie Brittany Fusco, who helped last year's team to a 12-3 record and earned all-WPIAL honors.

"She's got a lot of drive and determination," said Brooks. "She's very intense on watching the ball."

Despite question marks entering the season, Brooks isn't planning to take a step back from last year's playoff team.

"Hopefully, we can win the section again and go further in the playoffs," she said.

The Raiders can take a big step toward a successful 2007 this weekend when they travel to Philadelphia to take on Parkland and Southern Lehigh.

"I'm hoping the girls can pick up a few different things that those teams have and react to what they're dealt out there."

Knoch

The Knights, who went winless in their inaugural season in 2006, take the next step in establishing itself as a competitive program in WPIAL Section 2.

But head coach Sandy Kisic saw marked improvement throughout last season.

"In our last game, we were able to keep up with North Hills in the first half," Kisic said. "We ended up losing the game, I believe the score was 12-7, but that performance was much better than a lot of our games last year."

Leading the offense into the 2007 campaign will be sophomore center-midfielder Paige Macadaeg and junior attacker Hillary Rihn.

"Hillary is probably the smallest girl on the team," said Kisic. "But she's also got the most accurate shot.

"And I was impressed with Paige's ability to control and handle the ball last year. Her shooting has really improved."

Junior Jessica Protzman will make the move from goalie to defender this season.

Taking Protzman's spot in net will be sophomore Hannah Zibert, who played the position last year for the junior varsity team.

Teams in Knoch's section include Sewickley Academy, Quaker Valley, Shady Side Academy, Vincentian, Fox Chapel and Hampton.

Boys Lacrosse Butler

If the Golden Tornado fail to have a winning season, it won't be for lack of offense.

Butler features senior attacker Zach Reiser, who tallied 32 goals and 12 assists last season despite the team's overall record of 4-10.

"He's one of the best attackers in the league," said Butler coach Rich Gigliotti. "He's like the Sidney Crosby of our team."

Reiser will have some young teammates to work with this season, including freshman attackers Cody Conklin and Tyler Kotch, who had 25 goals and 25 assists for the seventh- and eighth-grade team last year.

Midfielder Dan McPherson returns after being named all-league in 2006. Nick Elliot, a freshman defender, will be a key contributor, while senior Matt McCarrier will be in goal.

The Tornado will compete in the Western Pennsylvania Scholastic Lacrosse Association's Division II-North with Trinity, North Hills, Erie McDowell, Kiski School, Shaler, Taylor Allderdice, Vincentian, Latrobe and Erie Cathedral Prep.

Seneca Valley

Four all-America candidates — and they're all juniors.

That's what has Dan Soper excited about his Raiders.

Midfielders Evan McGoogan and Matt Hamil, goalie Ryan Mayeda and defender Jesse Puskar all are on the all-America watch list.

"It means that there are a lot of great things for us the next few years," said Soper, who lost nine seniors from last year's 10-9 team to graduation.

This year's offense will be led by sophomores Colin O'Donoghue and Jason Handerhan.

Puskar and senior Dave Robbins will anchor the defense, and Mayeda will look to frustrate opponents in net.

"He started every game as a sophomore last season," said Soper.

The Raiders compete in the WPSLA's Division I-North with North Allegheny and Central Catholic.

"We're going to be athletic and fast," Soper added. "We're going to be able to get up and down the field on anybody."