SARATOGA SPRINGS – As the sun begins to shine longer each day, there is a changing mentality at Saratoga Springs High School. Spring sports have started and the Boys Lacrosse team is eager to get some grass beneath their cleats. With the first scrimmages beckoning the end of a long off-season, coach Joe Hayes is confident his team will get off to a strong start this year. The first scrimmage of the season will take place on Saturday March 25 on Shenendehowa’s turf field. Face-off will take place at 10 a.m.
The team finished their season last year breaking even with a record of 9-9, and like any team the Streaks will look to best those numbers this year.
“This year we have a winning mentality,” senior Dylan Honis, four-year attackman for the Varsity squad, said. “I expect a better record than 9 and 9”.
“Something that’s hurt us in the past has been our ability to hold and possess the ball,” captain Griffin Taylor, a senior said. “This is the time of the year we go back to the basics and create a good foundation to build off.”
The team worked with Peak Performance in the offseason, doing conditioning and metabolics twice a week under a professional training regimen, leaving the team extra preseason time to work on fundamentals, according to Honis. The first scrimmages this weekend will serve as a kind of warm-up where the team can wiggle out their jitters, vet their problems, and see what they are up against.
“The scrimmages will definitely help in getting younger guys ready for Varsity level competition,” Hayes said.
“Were coming in hot from the offseason,” Taylor said. “Even though some guys haven’t picked up sticks in a while, it’s nothing passing drills and some good practices won’t fix…. In our Scrimmage this week we’ll look to make better connections on our passes and play smarter lacrosse”.
“As far as the scrimmages go we certainly have a lot of work to do,” said Honis “We lost some key Seniors last year.”
Carrying a younger roster this year than pervious years on account of fewer returning players, the team will miss last year’s graduates like attackman Justin Degener, left-handed attackman Wyatt Christy, and midfielder Jack Hardy. Younger players will step up and fill the holes, according to Honis, who mentioned promising sophomores and juniors on the team like Ryan Flatley, midfielder Andrew Lipscomb, and left-handed attackman Matt Shamberger.
“I’m excited to see Cam Stuer and Will Fox stepping up to the plate this year,” captain and defensive long-pole Greg Polmatier said. “I expect to see them get a lot of playing time this season. When everyone shakes off their nerves, I think we’ll be left with some really talented players”
Captain Tucker Pierce, an attackman, put it well.
“This year our mentality is different,” he said. “We know we can do it. We’re going to go into games knowing we can dominate and win. Then we’ll see where we can go from there. The phrase winning mentality keeps echoing from the field. We’ll have to see if that mindset is enough to earn the boys a winning season.“
