With the spring season fast in full swing, it has been anything but lax for boys’ lacrosse. With the arrival of a new head coach, the Patriots look to rebound from a disappointing 2024 season.
Last season was rough for lacrosse, with a 3-10 record and losses to rivals Churchill during the regular season and Rockville during the playoffs. Now, with last season’s senior players having departed and special education teacher Ralph Bernardo relinquishing his role as coach, boys’ lacrosse has a whole new look.
This season will be the first under new head Coach Danny Phillips. Phillip’s arrival will usher in a rebuilding period with a new coaching philosophy and training regime for the team. With underclassmen and new players stepping up, developing talent is a primary focus for the team. “Our biggest challenge will be trying to keep competitive during the season, but at the same time developing our younger players so we can achieve greater future success,” Phillips said.
At tryouts and practice, Phillips has already made an impact. He explained to the players that he wants them to have a “we, not me” attitude toward the team, expecting players to put their best effort forward to always show up and perform at their best. “Establishing a team mindset. We have a good group of talented players; we need to focus on playing together and working towards the same goal each day,” Phillips said.
Phillips is accompanied by returning JV Coach Ben Lee and assistant varsity coaches Bryan Tureck and Wootton alumnus Mason Viener, who played lacrosse for this school from 2016 to 2019. “I think we will have some changes to best fit this year’s talent. With the season just starting it’s hard to say what exactly that will be. As a coaching unit our goal is to put our best talent in positions to make plays,” Viener said.
The lacrosse team has been working extensively over the fall and winter months. Players have been conditioning themselves and participating in fall ball to re-acclimatize to playing lacrosse and prevent rust from the off-season. “This off-season compared to last season, we’ve done a lot more, we’ve run captain-led practices every day for the last month and a half. We’ve had a lot of turnout compared to last year; last year, it was only seniors and a couple of juniors, but turnout was great. Fall ball had a higher turnout, our new coaches were there, and it feels more engaged than last year,” senior defender Miles Sklar said.
Players like junior and midfielder Zachary King have cited athleticism and being able to make plays on defense and then quickly run back to offense and vice-versa as a challenge in lacrosse. Junior defender Christos Pazartzis has also attributed good footwork and positioning as a key part of his game to know where an attacker’s dominant hand is to push them the other way. “You have to reserve your energy and not unnecessarily waste energy when you don’t have to,” King said.
Tryouts for lacrosse commenced on Mar. 1 and continued on Mar. 3 before concluding on Mar. 5. During tryouts, players ran drills to work on running and catching with the ball and passing while moving. During these drills, goalies practiced their shot-stopping by taking shots from Viener. Phillips split up the team into three groups for each of the corresponding positions to conduct ground ball drills. “With our new coach, it’s definitely a goal for us to continue evolving the culture of Wootton lacrosse. Our coaching staff really stresses hard work and accountability,” Lee said.
These drills work on the players’ ability to collect, dodge opposing players and fight for the ball. Coaches had two players go head to head to collect the ball and bring it back to the coaches while one athlete stick checks the opposing player’s stick to knock the ball loose.
Coaches say fans should keep an eye on seniors Matt Deleon, Matthew Xu and Gavin Grange, who have emerged as leaders of their lacrosse program; junior midfielder Zachary King and goalie Benedict Santos; and sophomore attackman Caleb Cook and midfielder Vikram Ayyagari.
The team is in high spirits heading into the season, looking to build momentum from the pre-season into a division championship and a deep run in the playoffs. “I think we have a great chance to surprise a lot of people this year,” Viener said.
The season officially kicks off with a marquee rivalry match-up against the Churchill Bulldogs on Mar. 21 at Winston Churchill.
