- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 412,404
- Reaction score
- 43
SUDBURY – Fish throwing. A mountain hike. A ferry ride.
And lacrosse.
The April vacation week for the Lincoln-Sudbury boys team will not include sleeping in and playing video games endlessly. Though with school on hiatus, a pseudo astronomy class is planned.
A trip to the Space Needle (also on the docket) certainly will not be graded, but L-S will be schooled in culture when the team travels to Mercer Island, Washington, during the third week of April. The journey is a long-requested visit to play a team that annually treks to the East Coast each spring and summer.
“I’ve been hassling them for a long time that it’s their turn to come out and visit,” said 24-year Mercer Island High coach Ian O’Hearn, whose team visited New Jersey last spring. “They’re finally doing it.”
“It was just a lot of asking from them, and a lot of us feeling terrible in saying ‘no’,” said L-S coach Jason Orlando. “It finally worked out.”
Mercer Island is the defending Division 3A state champion and will play the Warriors on April 24. The teams last played in 2018, but Mercer usually visits during the summer for New England Lacrosse Showcase (NELS) tournaments.
The Islanders (6-0 this season) will be nearby in two weeks when they play two games (vs. defending state champ Cape Elizabeth and Falmouth) near Portland, Maine, and another against 13-time state champ Bishop Guertin, New Hampshire, during their Spring Break. A week later, they get to play host. L-S players, managers and coaches (nearly 30 in total) will stay with the Mercer Island players’ families and will also play two games (the other is against defending private school state champ Seattle Prep).
Also planned is a trip to Pike Place Market – known for its workers who throw fish for customer orders – a boat ride to Bainbridge Island and a hike in the Cascade Mountains. L-S first will bus to Albany, New York, to play West Genesee High (three-time defending sectional champs in N.Y.) on Saturday, April 19 before flying to Seattle, which is a 10-minute drive from Mercer Island.
“I’m excited to be with the team on the plane,” said L-S senior captain Owen Vona before practice on Tuesday. “It’s going to be a little chaotic, probably, but it’s going to be fun. A good team chemistry-building experience that will get us ready for the playoffs.”
The Warriors, who play an independent schedule, have already faced an out-of-state team, defeating Niskayuna, New York, on March 29. The school known as “Nisky” is coached by Mike Vorgang, who has more than 500 career victories. L-S coach Brian Vona recently surpassed the 375 mark.
O’Hearn, a member of the Washington State chapter of USA Lacrosse's Hall of Fame, is not far behind, with 371 victories as of Wednesday. He is the winningest coach in Washington history, played college lacrosse at Albany and grew up in Loudonville, New York.
Three of Mercer’s players have committed to play in college: Lucas Rosato (Wesleyan); Seb Gonzalez (Bowdoin); and goalie Jess Geoghagan (Vassar). The reason they aren’t playing locally is because there are no NCAA teams, in any division, on the West Coast. That is why Mercer Island routinely travels east: for the competition.
“The analogy I always give is, when you think of high school football, you think of Texas, California and Florida,” said O’Hearn, whose teams have made 17 state championship appearances since 2001, winning nine, including the last two. “When you think of high school lacrosse, primarily it’s New York and Maryland, but the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic are the hotbed areas. And Washington is not. Anything west of the Mississippi is not.”
L-S captain Nolan Martindale, who will play at Merrimack next year, is looking forward to the competition.
“It’s cool to play Concord (Carlisle) and A-B (Acton-Boxborough) against guys you’ve played against since forever,” he said, “but it’s also cool to play a bunch of guys you’ve never even seen before.”
The Warriors defeated Concord-Carlisle on Wednesday to improve to 3-0.
Harvard-bound senior Rex Friedholm said the team learned of the trip two weeks before tryouts at a captains meeting with the coaching staff. Coach Brian Vona was going over the schedule when the Washington games were revealed.
“It was pretty spontaneous,” Friedholm said, “but we were pumped.
“The chance to represent Massachusetts and represent the MIAA – we have a chance to put ourselves on the map. It’s really special. We love the opportunity that we have.”
Two other L-S captains have committed to colleges: Kevin Abair (Navy) and Dante Venuto (RPI).
Mercer Island’s first trip to play L-S happened in 2011 and the Islanders won 7-5. They also defeated Duxbury that week in overtime to start a season in which the Dragons won the state championship, part of a run of eight titles in nine seasons. L-S has won each successive meeting with Mercer.
Two days after playing Mercer, the Warriors will face Seattle Prep, which has won the prior two private school state titles and includes three long-stick middies committed to play Division 1 lacrosse: juniors Win Chandler (Duke) and Becket Archer (Princeton) as well as senior Natnael Menbere (Drexel).
Owen Vona said the difference between coasts comes down to experience.
“Eastern teams, the games have been around here a lot longer, so it’s developed a more creative nature,” he said. “(West Coast) teams are super fundamental; they know how to play. They’re going to be good.”
Friedholm said players have been hitting up relatives and other close acquaintances in order to raise money for the trip.
“We’ve been reaching out to friends and family,” he said. “It’s totally worth it for this awesome experience.”
For O’Hearn, the chance to mix players from both coasts will go beyond the playing field.
“The games are great, but we get great games every year. It’s more the cultural experience of bringing a bunch of New England kids out here,” he said. “They’re high school lacrosse players and they have a lot in common, but there’s those little differences because they’re from different regions and a lot of those (L-S) kids are going to have a Mass. accents, which our kids will enjoy.”
Tim Dumas is a multimedia journalist for the Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Instagram @tdumas1.
This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Lincoln-Sudbury boys lacrosse trekking to Washington for April vacation
Continue reading...
And lacrosse.
The April vacation week for the Lincoln-Sudbury boys team will not include sleeping in and playing video games endlessly. Though with school on hiatus, a pseudo astronomy class is planned.
A trip to the Space Needle (also on the docket) certainly will not be graded, but L-S will be schooled in culture when the team travels to Mercer Island, Washington, during the third week of April. The journey is a long-requested visit to play a team that annually treks to the East Coast each spring and summer.
“I’ve been hassling them for a long time that it’s their turn to come out and visit,” said 24-year Mercer Island High coach Ian O’Hearn, whose team visited New Jersey last spring. “They’re finally doing it.”
“It was just a lot of asking from them, and a lot of us feeling terrible in saying ‘no’,” said L-S coach Jason Orlando. “It finally worked out.”
You must be registered for see images attach
Mercer Island is the defending Division 3A state champion and will play the Warriors on April 24. The teams last played in 2018, but Mercer usually visits during the summer for New England Lacrosse Showcase (NELS) tournaments.
The Islanders (6-0 this season) will be nearby in two weeks when they play two games (vs. defending state champ Cape Elizabeth and Falmouth) near Portland, Maine, and another against 13-time state champ Bishop Guertin, New Hampshire, during their Spring Break. A week later, they get to play host. L-S players, managers and coaches (nearly 30 in total) will stay with the Mercer Island players’ families and will also play two games (the other is against defending private school state champ Seattle Prep).
Also planned is a trip to Pike Place Market – known for its workers who throw fish for customer orders – a boat ride to Bainbridge Island and a hike in the Cascade Mountains. L-S first will bus to Albany, New York, to play West Genesee High (three-time defending sectional champs in N.Y.) on Saturday, April 19 before flying to Seattle, which is a 10-minute drive from Mercer Island.
“I’m excited to be with the team on the plane,” said L-S senior captain Owen Vona before practice on Tuesday. “It’s going to be a little chaotic, probably, but it’s going to be fun. A good team chemistry-building experience that will get us ready for the playoffs.”
The Warriors, who play an independent schedule, have already faced an out-of-state team, defeating Niskayuna, New York, on March 29. The school known as “Nisky” is coached by Mike Vorgang, who has more than 500 career victories. L-S coach Brian Vona recently surpassed the 375 mark.
O’Hearn, a member of the Washington State chapter of USA Lacrosse's Hall of Fame, is not far behind, with 371 victories as of Wednesday. He is the winningest coach in Washington history, played college lacrosse at Albany and grew up in Loudonville, New York.
You must be registered for see images attach
Three of Mercer’s players have committed to play in college: Lucas Rosato (Wesleyan); Seb Gonzalez (Bowdoin); and goalie Jess Geoghagan (Vassar). The reason they aren’t playing locally is because there are no NCAA teams, in any division, on the West Coast. That is why Mercer Island routinely travels east: for the competition.
“The analogy I always give is, when you think of high school football, you think of Texas, California and Florida,” said O’Hearn, whose teams have made 17 state championship appearances since 2001, winning nine, including the last two. “When you think of high school lacrosse, primarily it’s New York and Maryland, but the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic are the hotbed areas. And Washington is not. Anything west of the Mississippi is not.”
L-S captain Nolan Martindale, who will play at Merrimack next year, is looking forward to the competition.
“It’s cool to play Concord (Carlisle) and A-B (Acton-Boxborough) against guys you’ve played against since forever,” he said, “but it’s also cool to play a bunch of guys you’ve never even seen before.”
The Warriors defeated Concord-Carlisle on Wednesday to improve to 3-0.
Harvard-bound senior Rex Friedholm said the team learned of the trip two weeks before tryouts at a captains meeting with the coaching staff. Coach Brian Vona was going over the schedule when the Washington games were revealed.
“It was pretty spontaneous,” Friedholm said, “but we were pumped.
“The chance to represent Massachusetts and represent the MIAA – we have a chance to put ourselves on the map. It’s really special. We love the opportunity that we have.”
You must be registered for see images attach
Two other L-S captains have committed to colleges: Kevin Abair (Navy) and Dante Venuto (RPI).
Mercer Island’s first trip to play L-S happened in 2011 and the Islanders won 7-5. They also defeated Duxbury that week in overtime to start a season in which the Dragons won the state championship, part of a run of eight titles in nine seasons. L-S has won each successive meeting with Mercer.
Two days after playing Mercer, the Warriors will face Seattle Prep, which has won the prior two private school state titles and includes three long-stick middies committed to play Division 1 lacrosse: juniors Win Chandler (Duke) and Becket Archer (Princeton) as well as senior Natnael Menbere (Drexel).
Owen Vona said the difference between coasts comes down to experience.
“Eastern teams, the games have been around here a lot longer, so it’s developed a more creative nature,” he said. “(West Coast) teams are super fundamental; they know how to play. They’re going to be good.”
Friedholm said players have been hitting up relatives and other close acquaintances in order to raise money for the trip.
“We’ve been reaching out to friends and family,” he said. “It’s totally worth it for this awesome experience.”
For O’Hearn, the chance to mix players from both coasts will go beyond the playing field.
“The games are great, but we get great games every year. It’s more the cultural experience of bringing a bunch of New England kids out here,” he said. “They’re high school lacrosse players and they have a lot in common, but there’s those little differences because they’re from different regions and a lot of those (L-S) kids are going to have a Mass. accents, which our kids will enjoy.”
Tim Dumas is a multimedia journalist for the Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Instagram @tdumas1.
This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Lincoln-Sudbury boys lacrosse trekking to Washington for April vacation
Continue reading...
