photo credit: Savanna Smith
The lacrosse season is coming up in the spring and the boys varsity team is looking to beat its record from last season and make its mark, leaving everything behind on the field to become champions.
The varsity boys lacrosse team ended its season last year with an overall record of 11-8 and ranked No. 13 in the state of Ohio. To keep up the momentum from last season, the team is working hard during pre-season.
“As a team, we play in the Ohio high school boys lacrosse league in the winter which has good competition, and we are looking to carry the momentum from that into the spring season,” junior midfielder Ari Zavarella said.
A team bond is an important aspect of winning, and the Pioneers have been working together and figuring out how to change their dynamic after losing key players coming into the season.
“Our team is looking good going into the season. A lot of us have been playing with each other since youth ball and club. We also got back most of our defenders and starting line attack. Losing last year’s seniors Ayden Hanna, Cam Newell, Dawson Baker and the others will have an impact, but their replacements are still very good,” Zavarella said.
Expectations are high for this team after displaying a 5-4 run and ranking 11th in the conference last year as well as making it to the regional semi-finals for the second consecutive year. Going into this season, the Pioneers are looking for a comeback that blows their competitors away.
“Any time you have a lot of returning players, you always expect to start fast. That is our goal this year, with so many players who have gone through a season before, we hope to get out quickly on the season and keep the momentum going. We have a longer period before our first game as well this season, so we are going to look for every chance to test ourselves early,” Varsity Boys Lacrosse Coach Jarrod Gilliam said.
Playing teams in the Olentangy district are the most difficult for athletics because there is a rivalry amongst them. Last year, the Pioneers beat Berlin, 7-6, and they are expecting another win against them on April 5 this season, according to the Olentangy Orange Athletic Website.
“Playing Berlin should be really fun this year. We blew them out in the second round of the playoffs last year and beat them by one earlier in the season. Many of my teammates and I also played with them in middle school and in summer ball, so it means a little bit extra to us,” Zavarella said.
Other games might not be as easy and fun as Berlin’s. The Pioneers lost 19-5 against Liberty last April, according to the Olentangy Orange Athletic Website, and it is seeming to be a tough matchup again this year. With that tough loss, the team has motivation to beat the Patriots coming up on May 6 to close out the regular season with a win.
“The hardest game is probably Liberty. They are reigning state champions with multiple DI commits, and they also have last year’s region player of the year on the team,” Zavarella said.
Coaching is one of the most important aspects to a team and it requires both encouraging talks as well as difficult criticism to get the team where they need to be. Throughout this pre-season, Gilliam has been making sure his team is ready to take on all competition and staying to their beginning of the season goals.
“We have one goal year after year: that is to be playing our best lacrosse at the end of the season. We always look to improve day to day, week to week, month to month. As long as we continue to improve throughout the course of the season, everything else will take care of itself,” Gilliam said.
The season is starting very soon and according to the Olentangy Orange High School Athletic Website, the first game will be held at home against Westerville South on March 21 at 7:15 pm, so be there to cheer on the team towards their first victory of the season.
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