Falcons project a strong season with new senior players

With seven seniors added to the roster this year who have never played before, the boys’ lacrosse team is building anew. The new players are Jacob Marr, Jonathan Walters, Bobby Vithanage, John Moyles, Grant Faylor, Jacob Camp and Mitch Miller.

The Falcons had a great weekend in their first tournament in Watsonville on March 1, winning two out of the four games they played. 

Senior attack co-captain Clark Rothenberg thinks the influx of seniors playing this year will be a strong asset to the team. 

“They all were impressively good for the time they've had to learn,” said Rothenberg. “Not only were they extremely physical and ground ball machines, but they made a lot of really nice lacrosse plays and I have no doubt they will be stars by the end of the season.

According to Rothenberg, though the new seniors won’t know the sport of lacrosse well, their athleticism and general knowledge of sports will help make their transition smooth. 

Walters, like many of the other new senior players, decided to try lacrosse as a chance to experience a new sport. 

“It just looked like a fun sport and it’s something new to try, and it might be one of the last few times I’ll get to try a new sport,” said Walters, who was the quarterback for the football team in the fall. “So me and my buddies thought it’d be a cool experience.”

While there are a few similarities to football and lacrosse, many of the new senior players were surprised by unfamiliar aspects of the game the past weekend. 

“Every game was just 25 minutes straight so the game was moving pretty fast,” Vithanage said. 

Others were surprised the physical nature of the sport.

“I was surprised with how physical I was allowed to be and how many opportunities I had to blindside the opposing players,” Camp said.

Senior co-captains Tony Capek and Clark Rothenberg thought the tournament exposed the team’s strengths and weaknesses.

Both Capek and Rothenberg said the Falcons’ main weakness is the lack of knowledge of the game. But it won’t take long for the newcomers to learn. 

At the tournament, Rothenberg thought the team had the most clean hits, which led to success on ground balls and shots from around the crease. Capek also saw a clear strength for the Falcons. 

“Our athleticism was unmatchable by other teams and that was amazing,” Capek said.