After taking home the state title last year, the lacrosse team is striving for another big championship win this season. With a past record of 16-2, the team is preparing to take the title once again by focusing on the transitional components of the game. Dave McDaniel, the team’s head coach, is dialing in on offensive and defensive aspects of the game.
“Defensively we’ve focused on positioning, checking and just making sure we are physical at the point of attack,” McDaniel said.
According to the team, last year they felt as if this was one of their weak points, so they believe focusing on these details will lead the team to an undefeated season and a state title.
“I like my teams to be proficient in the transition elements of the game, so we’ve been working on those base concepts, general fitness and individual skills,” McDaniel said.
McDaniels feels like the key to coming home with another successful season is to master skills such as these, but to also create a comfortable team environment.
“Everyone on the team feels super welcomed and comfortable around all the other teammates,” senior Titus Borgerding said.” the younger guys especially feel like they can ask us for anything such as help or rides home.”
Borgerding feels like having a successful season starts with close relationships between one another, and that being able to communicate with each other on and off the field impacts the team’s performance. Aside from having good relationships, the athletes agree that putting in as much work as they can, will heavily influence the outcome of this season.
“We’ve been preparing by having practice 4 nights a week and working out as hard as we can,” senior Parker Kelley said.
According to Kelly, aside from having a strong mental game when playing the sport, building strength and working on the physical aspects will further aid the team get to their goal. He also believes that along with the use of returning players who have many strengths, Kelly feels like this season won’t disappoint.
“We have many young guys that should contribute,” McDaniels said. “We’ve got a healthy sized roster of 37 young men, up from 27 last season.”
Although there are shoes to fill from the seniors last season, McDaniels believes that with a roster full of hard working athletes, the team is bound for big accomplishments.
“I think that every year there is a bit of a mourning phase, and then a realization that occurs by the current seniors that there is a leadership and experience void that needs to be filled,” McDaniels said.
With the team losing 3 impactful seniors this past year, the current seniors are ready to fill their shoes and keep the sport alive. With big wins in the past for lacrosse, the program is continuing to gain support and acknowledgment.
“All in all, everyone’s main goal for this season is to win another state championship,” Borgerding said.” with multiple seniors leaving this year, I think that having a good season is necessary,”