As the spring season begins, morale is high on the varsity boys lacrosse team. They have better players, a new coach and more effective practices.
“[Head Coach Larry Boehm] is a lot better motivator than our old coach was. Our stick skills are definitely a lot better this year than last year,” said senior co-captain and midfielder Danny Baldwin.
According to Baldwin, not only is the new coach a better motivator, he is also knowledgeable about the game and is able to encourage the boys to try harder things to improve, according to Baldwin.
Another reason the team is much better this year is the addition of many valuable players, including freshman Pablo Parker and Chance Cox. Most players feel that they will be strong additions to the team.
“We have more experienced players this year,” said junior midfielder Rick Wilson. “Last year, for most players it was their first year on the team.”
“[Senior attackman] Andrew Lee is probably our best player and midfielder Eric Van Noorden is the best sophomore player. The two of them particularly know how to control the ball and they do that really well,” said senior co-captian and defenseman Adam Oreglia.
As of March 10, the boys had won one pre-season scrimmage and lost three games. Despite the 1-3 record, they remain optimistic about their chances in games ahead.
“Last year our goal was to pretty much win a game, but we are setting our goals a little bit higher this year. Our goal this year is to make the playoffs,” said Oreglia.
Despite all the changes for the better, the boys still have some things to work on.
“We need to work more on the team communication especially on defense,” said Baldwin. “In our last game [on March 5], there were times where no one was sliding to the ball and that was leaving guys wide open so we have to communicate so we can stop that from happening again.”
Looking forward, the players anticipate the major games will be against Mountain View on March 16 and Los Gatos on March 26.
“[The game against] Mountain View was pretty evenly matched, but they beat us last year,” said junior midfielder Trevor Combs. “Hopefully we will beat them this year.”
