Young roster or not, the Sachem North boys lacrosse team made its annual pilgrimage to Maryland this past weekend to take on formidable competition in the Chesapeake Bay State.
Traveling to Severn, Md. for a game against Archbishop Spalding, currently ranked No. 11 in Maryland’s MIAA Conference A, one of the toughest boys lacrosse conferences in America outside of Long Island’s Section XI and Section VIII, the Flaming Arrows dropped a close contest, 8-7.
Archbishop Spalding sports a roster with nine Division I recruits, including defenseman Nathaniel Schilling, who will pay at Hofstra, and midfielder Will Hirschman, who will play at Delaware.
Sachem also scrimmaged Chesapeake High the following day.
“We’ve built the program to the point where I don’t want to play teams I know we’re going to beat,” said Sachem coach Jay Mauro. “We get nothing out of that. The better competition we play, the better we’re going to get.”
When your regular season schedule comes with playing West Islip, Ward Melville, Northport and both schools from Smithtown, you need a strong pre-season to tune up before the big boys come to town.
Sachem will play in a jamboree at Darien in Connecticut on March 30. Darien is always one of the top ranked teams in the northeast and perennially a favorite in the Connecticut state tournament. On April 5 the Flaming Arrows will host Penfield High from New Jersey, two days after playing West Islip on the road.
Like last season, Sachem was able to stop by the campus of the University of Maryland Baltimore County to speak with alums Timmy Lang and Jack Gannon, who both play for the Retrievers.
Sachem has a largely young roster for 2013 with a handful of underclassmen who have committed to play college lacrosse already. There are a total of 13 players on the roster who will play in college, more than any other varsity program in the school district.
Sachem’s strong suit will be its defense. Anchored by senior goalies John Quinn (Army) and Dylan Ciolino (Walsh), and solidified down low by Tyler Andreassi (Stony Brook) and Mike Aronow (Penn State), teams will have a tough time mustering scoring opportunities.
The expectations haven’t changed for the program, even with more underclassmen then normal on the roster, including some freshmen.
“We’re a team that people should be worried about playing,” Mauro said. “How we do against them I don’t know. We’re not going to make excuses. Our goal is the same thing every year and that’s never going to change as long as I’m the coach. If you lower those expectations you’re not going to strive to be the best. We need to get better every day.”
Players to watch
- Goalie: John Quinn (Army) and Dylan Ciolino (Walsh)
- Defense: Tyler Andreassi (Stony Brook) and Michael Aronow (Penn State)
- Offense: Joe Caridi (Stony Brook), Mike Calvagna (Stony Brook), Shane Deboer and Matt Battelli
1993’s 20-year reunion
As publicized this winter, the Sachem lacrosse program will pay tribute to its 1993 New York State Championship team, the last to win a state title in lacrosse. There will be an on-field celebration before the game against Riverhead on April 27 at 1 p.m. Mark your calendars.
A look ahead … some games come up over the next two weeks
-Words by Chris R. Vaccaro