Boys lacrosse experiences progress, new players gain confidence

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Naveen Narayanaswami/The Campanile

Naveen Narayanaswami, Staff Writer

The boys varsity lacrosse team lost narrowly to Sequoia, 10-6 on April 28. The game started out with Paly ahead, but after some back and forth goals, Sequoia established a strong lead.

Paly was able to narrow the lead to as close as 7-6, but wasn’t able to secure overtime or a win.

Senior captain Asher Friedman said the first half of the game went well for the team.

“We had a strong first half,” Friedman said. “I think we came out of it up three (to) two, I want to say, (and the) defense was playing really strong.”

Friedman said the team wasn’t able to maintain the lead throughout the second half of the game due to mistakes on both offense and defense.

“Then (in the) second half, (we) kind of fell apart,” Friedman said. “(The opposing team) had the ball for most of the time, and I think we really had to counter that with long positions on offense. But, we really didn’t, so our defense got tired and they gave up. (We had) some sloppy goals, and then on offense again, we weren’t able to take care of the ball.”

Head coach Ed Hattler said the team needs to work on technique to be prepared for the next game.

“We have to take care of the little things: picking up ground balls, and keeping possession of the ball,” Hattler said. “We made some mistakes.”

Friedman agreed, and said that in order to improve, the team needs to work on retaining possession of the ball.

“I think winning ground balls (is really important),” Friedman said. “Ground balls are extra possessions, and so if we can have the ball in our stick on offense more, we will score more, and we’ll win more games.”

Despite this loss, Hattler said the season has been an enjoyable one for him and the team.

“Season’s gone good,” Hattler said. “The guys have had fun, and we’ve gotten a lot better as the season has gone on.”

Friedman also said the season has been good especially with different people who joined the team.

“I think (the season has) been a lot of fun,” Friedman said. “I mean we’ve had a lot of new faces, a lot of young guys, a lot of players stepping up, and I think everyone’s having a lot of fun.”