JV Lacrosse Dominates in First Game of 2017

A cold and rainy day did nothing to stop the Boys’ Junior Varsity Lacrosse team in their first scrimmage. Even with low visibility and stormy weather, the team rallied together to clinch their first win, taking on the Litchfield Hills’ High School team. The final score was 10-2.

Head coach, Mr. Jesse Minneman, said, “I thought, on the whole, the effort was outstanding. Our guys brought a ton of energy, which given the cold and wet weather was fantastic to see.” He went on to add, “We made some great one-on-one plays, and by the end some guys were linking up into some great defensive and offensive sequences.”

Technically, this is not the JV team’s first official game, it only counting as a scrimmage. Thomas Barone ’17, who acted as captain for this game, said, “We really came out of the gate ready to play. By the end of the first five minutes, we were up 5-0. We had a big lead by halftime, so we decided to slow it down and start trying new things.”

The boys seemed to take the scrimmage very seriously and used it as a platform to try out new plays to see what works for the team’s playing style. One of the keys to the team’s success was their offensive line. Barone said, “We found out early that our plays initiated by our attack men were very successful. We have a great group of guys and we communicate well out there. Throughout the game, we had good ball movement, and we did a good job running the plays that Coach Minneman and Coach James Stanley had installed for us in practice.”

Key players to look out for on the offense include: Patrick Mullowney ’18, Brooks Wimer ’20, Arinze Nzeako ’19, and Chance Gorman ’18. Of the lineup, Mr. Minneman said, “[The players] did a really nice job of managing the pace of the game offensively.” The team’s defense looks very strong as well. Goalie Emerson Jacobson ’19 made several great saves throughout the game. Minneman said, “Defensively, Alex Amine ’19 and James Dunne ’20 as long stick midfielders did a really great job in transition. Jack Schulz ’19 really helped settle things down defensively and his communication was really solid. I was pretty happy about that.”

There are still some areas of improvement for the next game. Mr. Stanley said, “We need to work on getting to our positions quickly and being a little calmer when things get frantic, as well as offensively having people moving as a unit.”

Mr. Minneman added, “I think the biggest thing is being ready for the pace of the game and the pace of transition. You can’t quite build that into a practice, and so I think that was one of the biggest challenges.”

Even with some of these setbacks, JV Boys’ Lacrosse is looking to have an incredible season. George Trammell ’20 said, “It was a good game. However this is only our first game of the season, and I know we are going to encounter a lot tougher competition as we go on.” Barone ended, “We were all just super pumped to be out there on Shannahan Field playing lacrosse, and I think that eagerness showed throughout the game.”

The team’s first official game is Saturday April 8 at 3 p.m. against Kent School.

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