After a rough 2016 season in which they went 3-11 in the Peninsula Athletic League’s Ocean Division, the boys lacrosse team is hoping this year’s campaign will have a more favorable outcome.
Several factors went into last year’s struggling season. Senior midfielder Ben Solomon says, “We lost a lot of seniors so it was more of a rebuilding year.”
Solomon recalls last year by stating, “The coach was good, but it was hard for him to coach the whole team by himself, and as a team, we were not very organized.”
This year the boys have a new addition to their team: head coach Sean Robinson. Robinson started playing lacrosse in middle school and through college, and has coached several teams.
“Our focus each day is to continually get better as a team,” he explains, “And as long as we continue to do that, we will be getting one step closer to our goal of winning the section this year.”
With a new head coach and multiple assistant coaches added to this year’s squad, Solomon has higher hopes for the season: “We will be more organized and the coaches can coach each position better. [Robinson] also implemented new offensive plays and new defensive strategies, which should help us score more and play better defense.”
Junior midfielder Josh Mayers adds, “In practice we usually split offense and defense because our JV team will run the same plays as our varsity team, so in practices we are working on basics and fundamental lacrosse skills before we move onto something more intense, like six-[versus]-six.”
As a result of their extensive practice regime, the players feels more confident in their on-field abilities.“ I think the best part of our game this year is [our] tempo across all aspects of the game. No one position is the defining aspect of the team,” says senior captain and attack Eric Lee. “[However], the one thing we need to work on is our man-up offense and man-down defense.”
Despite losing a significant number of players to graduation last year, the Dons have a returner in every position, including defenseman Aidan Grele, Mayers, and Lee. In addition, the team also brought freshman Charlie Austin into the starting lineup. With a solid returning lineup, the team will have room for improvement without having another rebuilding year.
The Dons have started off the season 2-1, with a 16-3 win over Leland on Feb. 25 and a 15-4 win against Gunn on Mar. 2 before losing 11-8 to Pacific Grove on Mar. 4.
