Fresh off of winning the Capital Conference championship last year, boys lacrosse started the season by not only winning nine of their first 10 games, but also by outscoring their opponents by a combined total of 90 goals. The start is the team’s best in over six years.
According to varsity head coach Kevin Curtin, these triumphs are largely due to the fact that the players put in offseason work, attending green days and participating in weight lifting sessions. Lacrosse athletes also competed in summer, fall and winter leagues.
“I trained to get faster and worked hard to learn how to handle the mental side of the game,” sophomore Owen Keightley said.
Curtin added that a strength of the program is that it consists of athletes who are ready to put in the effort necessary to improve.
“We have kids that are dedicated and committed to getting better and that are focused,” Curtin said. “They aren’t willing to settle for mediocrity, so they go out and work hard every day at practice and work hard every day at games.”
Team captain and senior Chase Barrand cites hard work at practices as a factor that has lead to the team’s ability to achieve its desired results.
“We come to practice every single day and work really hard and it’s shown this year and last year,” Barrand said.
This season, the lacrosse team has focused on cleaning up fundamentals and working cohesively on the field come game day.
Speed of play and controlling the pace of a game is a deciding factor in a multitude of sports, and lacrosse is no exception.
“It’s the pace at which the ball moves, it’s the pace at which your teammates and opponents perform,” Curtin said when naming the differences between the junior varsity and varsity teams. “It’s the people in our program that put their athleticism and their stick skills together with a mental approach that allows the game to slow down.”
Barrand also emphasized the importance of speed of play and the role it plays in deciding games.
“There’s a big difference between laid back practice and game speed, especially when playing opponents like Langley and McLean,” Barrand said. “They really come at you.”
Prior to their 6-7 loss to Langley High School, the team was undefeated for six games, collecting wins from Edison, McLean and Falls Church high schools. While the team hopes to continue their winning record, the coaching staff does not make winning games their sole priority.
“The coaches’ goals are to make sure that our players are constantly getting better and are improving throughout the course of the year,” Curtin said. “I’m not going to say wins and losses aren’t important, but there are times that we are happy after losses and there are times we are frustrated after wins.”