The last time we saw the Marblehead High boys lacrosse team (14-5) they were the 20th seed in the Division 2 state tournament, where they ended up losing a high scoring Round of 32 game to host Bridgewater-Raynham (13-7, 13th seed), 11-10.
The Trojans then got hammered by Marshfield, the fourth seed, 16-1 in the Sweet 16. The Rams (20-3) went on to win three more games to capture the state title. Longmeadow (20-3), the third seed, fell victim to them in the clincher, but not before taking the South Shore school to triple overtime, before losing, 11-10.
The Magicians, the defending Northeastern Conference North champions, are back under the leadership of coach John Wilkens, who is entering his 24th season along the sidelines.
Wilkens will be assisted by Mike O’Neil, who will work with defense, while Ron Zagarri is the JV coach. Reece Moore and Sean Dolan are the varsity team captains.
A total of 48 players tried out for the team on March 17, and Wilkens told them right away to take a team-first approach, while also focusing on improving their own individual stick skills and lacrosse IQ.
After only a few days on the practice field, Wilkens sees the team’s strengths in its athleticism. “We have players from the hockey, football, soccer and basketball teams, but they need to translate those skills to lacrosse,” he said, while adding, “stickwork is always a must for improvement on any lacrosse team.”
The Marblehead boys have already taken on Winchester in a scrimmage at home on March 24 as a warmup to the regular season, before Austin Prep comes to Piper Field on March 29 for another tune-up, starting at 10 a.m.
It all begins for real against non-league host Newburyport on Friday, April 4, starting at 7 p.m., and as the team gears up for the opener the goals remain the same.
“Our initial goal is to always win the NEC,” said Wilkens, “but winning a state championship should be everyone’s goal.
“But returning players such as Reece Moore and Will Sullivan (attackers) and Colin White and Sean Dolan (midfielders) will need to step up their (offensive) games, along with the many newcomers on the roster (to help produce another winning season),” added Wilkens. “On defense, last year’s starting goalie Finn Gallup is currently injured, so we are looking at Colin Maniaci to step up his game, while returning defensemen like Bodie Smith and Grady Becker need to lead by example as we bring along several new faces.”
