Photo courtesy Annalise Yi

Boys’ varsity lacrosse scrimmages Springbrook on Mar 14. Sophomore Zach King prepares for a intense season as a underclassman. “There is a lot of pressure on me, I need to prove that I am varsity material,” King said.

After a heated varsity season last spring ending in a final record of 11-4, boys’ junior varsity and varsity lacrosse looks ahead to another season.

The Patriots came shy of fulfilling the goal of beating the Churchill Bulldogs in the playoffs last season, with a 15-4 loss for the Patriots. Fast forward to the current season, and the team plays the Bulldogs for this season’s home opener, tonight. Junior goalie Miles Sklar said spirits are high for the game. “We’re definitely looking forward to our first home game, Churchill, because they’re our rivals and they ended our season last year,” Sklar said.

Varsity played Whitman on Mar. 18 for their third scrimmage. It was a struggle for the Patriots as the team lost 12-1, with a scrimmage record of 1-2. The team is working on reevaluating their plan for the next game. “I think we will perform well if we just keep our heads down at practice and work hard every chance we get,” junior Mathew DeLeon said.

Another scrimmage for the Patriots had an opposite outcome to the Whitman game. Against Springbrook, the Patriots held a dominant performance. The team was able to focus on winning and avoid making mistakes. “Our most successful scrimmage was against Springbrook last week and we put up a great fight and kept our composure through leading us to be able to score goals due to their team gaining lots of penalties,” DeLeon said.

The season is expected to be competitive, so players with higher skill levels and upperclassmen with more experience will have to step up their game and focus in order to teach the less experienced players. Ensuring all players are attentive in practice and focused during the games will create a winning environment for the Pats. “The leaders set expectations for the younger players by fixing our mistakes such as doing a faulty ball hunt or doing a drill the wrong way,” Sklar said.

Lacrosse has an exciting season coming up, but there are a few games that are expected to be highlights, Churchill being one of them. The team is most excited for the postseason, where they hope for an extended season to make their playoff run worthwhile. “We are most looking forward to the playoff games because they are an all-or-nothing chance and our team wants to do as best as it can this year,” DeLeon said.

As for JV lax, they are expecting a shaky start to the season. The team’s record so far is 1-1-1. In order to have a successful season, they have to address the same needs as varsity, focusing on practice and executing the drills effectively. “In practice, we are going to need to focus on good stickhandling and ball movement,” sophomore Aadi Chaudhari said.