By Allison Goldsmith
I&M Sports Editor
Coach Rick Blair hopes intrasquad competition will be the key to success this season for his boys lacrosse team. With a significant number of veteran players returning, the Whalers are looking to rely on their depth and experience to get back into the Maritime League title mix and return to the playoffs.
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Photo by Nicole Harnishfeger
Henry Farrell is chased by Hunter Stojak, center, and Curran Huyser during an intrasquad scrimmage on the Nantucket High School field Saturday afternoon. The boys lacrosse team is scheduled to open the regular season at Pembroke Saturday. |
“We are really focusing on trying to create a lot of competition within the group. We want our guys to understand that the best players play. The work you did last week or last year is not going to be as important as how you performed at practice today,” Blair said.
The Whalers missed the playoffs last season for the first time since 2004 and only the second time in the 10-year history of the team. The lack of postseason action has this year’s squad anxious to return.
“Most of our returning seniors are veteran guys who have played in some big games and I think not making the playoffs last year and really having a lackluster season in ’07 has made us a little hungrier. We have a number of players in this year’s senior class who were contributors on a strong tournament team their freshman season and I think I can speak for them in saying they would like to get back into the league championship picture and get back to the tournament and see what they can do,” Blair said.
There are 11 returning seniors on this year’s team and 17 lettermen from last season. While most of the depth is on the defensive side of the field, the Whalers will have skilled athletes across the board. But even after two weeks of preseason fundamental work, there are still a lot of position questions to be answered as they prepare for the opening game against Pembroke Saturday.
One thing is for certain. Senior Joe Bopp will return to the net for the Whalers this season. Bopp was the starting goalie on a strong junior varsity team his freshman season but played in the midfield the last two years with league all-star Keith Clemens manning the net.
“He is one of the better athletes on the team and he has looked strong so far. He is a good athletic ball-stopper and he also has a lot of potential out of the goal,” Blair said.
There is plenty of strength and competition for playing time in front of Bopp on the defensive end of the field. Matthew Marrett, Hadi Nabulsi, Teddy Fales, Lorne Paterson, Josh Sibley-Liddle and Jon Higgins are all returning to the defense, while Delroy Lawrence, Rasheed Smith and Dillon Crosby are also in the mix for playing time.
“We are not looking to get too fancy and take the ball away from our opponent. We just want to keep them out of the middle of the field and just execute defensive fundamentals,” Blair said.
In the midfield the Whalers welcome back last year’s leading faceoff expert and top scorer Henry Farrell.
“I think Henry is one of the best between-the-restraining-lines midfielders in Massachusetts. He is outstanding on faceoffs, plays good defense and is really a ball hawk,” Blair said.
Last season Farrell scored a team-high 34 goals and tallied 22 assists out of the midfield.
He will be joined this season by seniors Hunter Day and Oliver Schrope, and juniors Taylor Thayer, Henry Toole, Curran Huyser and Jamie Viera. The Whalers are still looking to add depth in the midfield and could see some playing time from sophomores Ethan Lockley and Hunter Stojak.
“We really want to spread the offensive load by running more motion offense this year. We have always had two or three guys that can create off the dodge and this year we are going to be more about good off-ball movement and sharing the ball and trying to spread the points around and have more assisted goals,” Blair said.
There is also veteran experience and leadership on the attack for the Whalers this season. Seniors Gaven Norton and Ray DeCosta return to the front line with classmates Andrew Haddon, Schrope and Kai Fowler fighting for the third spot.
The Maritime League has been split into East and West divisions this season with the addition of Fairhaven and Bridgewater-Raynham into the mix. Nantucket geographically falls into the East alongside Martha’s Vineyard, Bourne, Fairhaven and Barnstable.
The league schedule will open early this season with rival Martha’s Vineyard in town next Thursday followed by Bourne and Fairhaven the following week.
“I don’t see any automatic W’s on this schedule, but I also don’t see anybody we can’t compete with, but we are going to have to be prepared for every one,” Blair said.
The most challenging opponents will be the Vineyard, Dartmouth April 18, Hanover April 25 and Cohasset in the final game of the season May 16.
There is also a new look to the schedule as the Whalers will be playing games during school vacation week this season.
“This is a must for a team that wants to be serious. We have tried to do it the other way, but it splits the season into two halves. It is just like you are starting over again after spring break. The other teams in the state are all playing during the break and we need to take off the training wheels and compete,” Blair said.
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