Nine months removed from their thrilling 8-6 victory over the Carlmont Scots to win the Peninsula Athletic League (PAL) Ocean division championship, the Aragon boys lacrosse team looks forward to defending their title with the start of the 2015-2016 season.
However, to accomplish such a run, they will have a long road ahead of them.
Losing 20 players from last year’s 30-man roster, the Dons are essentially entering the season the season with a brand new challenge.
Says sophomore midfielder Josh Mayers, “It’s a rebuilding year.”
After coming off of a 13-6 overall record last year, the Dons remain optimistic yet realistic with their goals.
Says sophomore attacker Jack Belzer, “[We’re] hoping for a winning record and hopefully a playoff win. Our team has been doing a lot of work.”
Despite playing their first game on Saturday, the team has been hard at work for weeks. In addition to tryouts and practices, the players have been participating in conditioning for over three weeks, trying to prepare for the upcoming season.
Nonetheless, a major obstacle for the team thus far has been the field’s unavailability. With CCS soccer still in play, the lacrosse team has been struggling to find time to practice on the football field.
Adds Mayers, “Our offense rolls around our [midfielders], and midfielders get tired quickly, because we barely get field time [for practice]. So, [we have to get] accustomed to play on a field, especially until soccer is over.
Compared to last year’s senior-heavy team, this year’s roster is notably diverse. With one freshman, six sophomores, 11 juniors, and five seniors, the field will consist of players from all different grade levels — something uncommon in varsity sports.
Says Belzer on the benefits of having such a varied roster, “It gives us younger players a chance to learn from kids who’ve played for multiple years, [as] the older players often know most of our offensive and defensive gameplan.”
Looking ahead, the team agrees on its’ most anticipated matchup — Apr. 7 and May 3 dates against Burlingame.
Says Belzer on the matchups with the Panthers, “That’s going to be tough one for us, but it’s a team that we beat last year, and hopefully we can beat again.”
Junior attacker Connor Herminghaus, however, has different expectations. He simply wants “[the] team to perform … and to play as a team.”
In their first match of the season on Feb. 27, the Dons got their first taste of what their upcoming season might bring with a home contest against Gunn.
But, in a game that was much closer than the scoreboard indicated, Aragon was defeated by the Titans, 9-5.
Despite a closely contended first half which ended with only a one-goal deficit in favor of the Titans, a four-goal third quarter for Gunn was enough to put the game in the bag and hand the Dons their first loss, which came as a blindside to many of the Aragon players.
The Dons put up a total of 33 shots, but were only able to put five of them in the net, four of which were courtesy of the captains.
Says Mayers, “We went into this game thinking that Gunn sucked, and, I mean, look at the scoreboard.”
The Dons have an abnormally large layoff before their next game on Mar. 10 where they travel to San Jose to take on Latino College Peparatory Aademy (0-1).
Until then, the team will have a surplus of time to correct their mistakes and improve upon their game in an attempt to gain a .500 record.
Says senior midfielder Jerome Vincent, “We’re just going to keep working hard. Harder than we ever did this season.”
