GREENVILLE — Tim O’Shea considered himself a role player as a lacrosse player at Seneca Valley.

Ian Bergbigler was recruited by accident at Butler.

Now both are playing the same roles on the Thiel College men’s lacrosse team — vital.

“I don’t know where we’d be without them ... certainly not where we’re at now,” Thiel coach Jeff Arneson said.

The Tomcats have only had a lacrosse program for five years. This spring, they won a program-record 10 games, losing only five, and are challenging St. Vincent College for supremacy in the Ohio River Lacrosse Conference.

Thiel dropped a 12-8 decision to St. Vincent in the conference semifinals this season. The Tomcats had a 9-2 lead on St. Vincent in the league title game in 2014, only to drop a 16-11 decision.

“We feel like we’re right there with them,” said O’Shea, a junior attacker. “We had a good freshman class this year and another coming in next year.

“I know I’ll be counted on to do more and I’m ready for that challenge.”

O’Shea said his high school statistics were modest at best. His numbers at Thiel are the best ever posted in the program.

O’Shea owns the school record with 155 career points. He’s scored at least 30 goals in each of his first three seasons, including a 38-goal, 57-point campaign this year. Both of those figures ranked third in the conference.

“We’re expecting a lot from Tim next year,” Arneson said. “I can see him being a 70-point player. He’s an aggressive kid who can attack from anywhere. He’s been a real asset for us.”

While O’Shea was a first team All-ORLC selection, Bergbigler joined him in achieving that honor. Bergbigler was a team captain as a sophomore this season.

Bergbigler played defense and led a talented corps of freshman on that unit.

“Ian became a leader for us pretty quickly,” Arneson said. “He wound up being among the best in the nation at causing turnovers.”

Bergbigler finished second in the ORLC with 34 caused turnovers. He was fourth in ground balls with 75.

“I got in the lineup about halfway through my freshman year at Butler and started for the varsity the rest of my career there,” Bergbigler said. “But I never thought much about playing in college.

“The coaches came to Butler one game to look at another kid. They wound up giving my dad their name and number and everything worked out.”

Bergbigler is majoring in business communication at Thiel while O’Shea is majoring in biology. O’Shea’s brother, Brennen, was a freshman for the Tomcats who scored nine goals.

Bergbigler was surprised about how suddenly his role on the team changed.

“As a freshman last year, I was the new guy, learning from a bunch of underclassmen,” he said. “This year, I’m the experienced guy back there, was named a captain ... I learned last year how important leadership can be.”

As good as this season turned out, Arneson anticipates next year to be better yet.

“Maturity will kick in for a lot of our younger players,” the coach said. “Our league should be more competitive overall, but with seasoned leaders like Tim and Ian, I’m anxious to see how far we can take this.”