For the lacrosse team, the spring season starts in December. In below freezing weather, the team practices long nights to prepare for a highly anticipated season.
Last year the team made it to the playoffs but lost in the first round, finishing with a very successful record of 16 wins and 4 losses. This year the team expects to do even better than last year, even with the loss of a couple of key seniors, including Kevin Dean, Brandon Maloney, and Scott Martin.
In order to have a successful season, you have to start preparing right away. Senior Defender Liam Lewis feels the practicing in the winter helps. “The winter practices are the most important because this is when you make yourself better. In the off-season we can work on stick skills without as much pressure on us compared to the regular season.”
Since the team did so well last year and finished the year as the sixth seed, their schedule is going to be much harder. Senior Captain Brian Corrigan, who has been on the varsity since he was a freshman, has high expectations for the team. “Last year we got a playoff berth and that was a step in the right direction, but having that playoff experience under our belt, we need to advance farther into the playoffs and beat good quality teams. We have a lot of talented players and if we all set a common goal in the season, we can get to where we want to be.” Senior Captain Brian Culhane also is looking forward to this season. “I’m most excited about the potential and promise our team shows. We’re fifth ranked in the league, which is exciting since we know we’re going to be playing the best teams on the island and arguably in the nation. It gives us an opportunity to show that WHB lacrosse is legit.”
The team has talent all over the field. With a two-time all-county player committed to play Division 1 lacrosse in goal, Brian Corrigan, and with two all-county players at midfield also committed to play Division 1 lacrosse, Evan Gagne and Casey Hickey, the team can match up to the hard schedule they face in the regular season. Best of luck to the Hurricanes this season.