by Jac Coyne | MCLA.us

ORANGE, Calif. -- After devastating near-misses in 2008 and '09 at the hands of Michigan and three other semifinals appearances, Chapman finally grabbed the championship ring in 2016 with a wire-to-wire run.

You could say things are going pretty well for the Panthers heading into the fall.

1 week until classes start. Record high overall team G.P.A. at 3.1 in Spring 2016. Also we didn't lose... pic.twitter.com/qJIv4f79DN
— Chapman Lacrosse (@chapmanlaxcoach) August 22, 2016

Every championship lacrosse coach will tell you that going back-to-back is far more challenging than winning the first one. There are graduation losses to contend with and the ever-present specter of complacency lurking at every practice and game. This will be new ground for Dallas Hartley and his band of invincibles.

Much like consecutive champions before them -- most recently Colorado State and Michigan -- Chapman appears well-suited to conquer the obstacles that lay ahead of them.

Team: Chapman
2016 Record: 22-0
Conference record/finish: 5-0 / SLC champions
Finish at Nationals: Champions
Head Coach: Dallas Hartley (7th year)

Key losses
Gus Gradinger -- Starting goalie, captain and leader of the defense. 2nd team All-SLC and HM All-America. 62% save percentage.
Dave Apruzzese -- Starting attackman and lefty finisher. 58 goals and 18 assists senior year. 2nd team all-conference attack and 3rd team All-American.
Connor Reilly -- 1st Line 2-way midfielder and captain. 28 goals and 25 assists in the last two seasons. Throwback player who played offense, defense, man-down and FO wings.

Key returners
Dylan Garner -- An A/M with 79 goals and 52 assists through his sophomore season. 1st team All-SLC, 1st team All-American and MCLA POY. Dylan is our hardest working and most creative offensive player.
Simon Jenkin -- True two-way midfielder running 1st line and taking the majority of the faceoffs. 2nd team All-SLC midfield and MCLA championship game MVP.
Jeff Shriver -- One of our defensive captains. Leads by example and will take on the leadership and communication roles on the defense.

Best moment of the 2016 season
Winning the National Championship! We have been a very good program for many years and to have it all come together in an undefeated season was a great feeling. We had a very close team and played for one another.

Biggest challenge facing us in 2017
We will need to recreate the chemistry we had as a team in 2016 that made us play for one another. We will look to reload with a new starting attackman, a new first line midfielder and a new starting goalie.

Why the Panthers will be better in 2017
We will need to build off of our winning experiences in 2016. We overcame some major injuries with our depth and were able to win a handful of close games by sticking to our game plan and executing during crunch time. We return plenty of experience and brought in some key players. Our focus this fall is teaching the new guys how to be successful within our program.

Coach’s preview
We play another tough schedule with a lot of games. We do that by design. We want our players ready for multiple games in multiple days. We have a lot of players that can play, but we need to build the special chemistry it takes to win big games consistently.