The boys’ lacrosse team is looking forward to another stellar season.
(Courtesy Photo)
Manchester Essex boys' lacrosse coach Jon Siderewicz points to last season’s playoff run to the Round of 16 in the MIAA Div. 4 tournament as a building block for the program.
“Last year's success with making it into the round of 16 was a huge boost of confidence our team needed going into 2023,” explains Siderewicz. “It was the first year Manchester Essex had made the MIAA tournament in quite some time, so just being there was a huge deal for us. We have lots of players returning from last year, and would not say we feel any pressure really, more of unfinished business. The main goal and objective are to get better every day we are together.
He adds: “I think with how last year ended losing to Wahconah in the playoffs, them winning the D4 Championship, our team knew it was a big pill to swallow, and moving forward we know now what we are up against in the later part of the season and the goal is to continue getting better every day at practice and on game days, in hopes to further prepare ourselves for any given team that we may face down the road in June.”
As Siderewicz mentioned, the Hornets have plenty of experience to lean upon in 2023 with only three graduating last spring and 14 seniors returning to hopefully lead the team back into the playoffs for another run this spring.
“We have 14 seniors that make up the majority of our contributing players, and they all have game experience in highly competitive and important games, plus playoff experience which is huge for our confidence level,” says the coach.
The list of team captains includes familiar names like Declan Kirk, Mark Pollock, Jack Dipasquale and Quinn Brady.
“Over the last three seasons I have coached them, these players have bought into what we are preaching and practicing at Manchester Essex and have all grown into special role players in our success the last few seasons,” says Siderewicz. “All four of these players are unique in their own way and bring something to the table of our team that really makes us quite special. They all are extremely hard workers, amazing leaders, and terrific role models that exemplify our team’s goals and values. Having both captains for offense as well as defense really rounds out our team with leadership going from top to bottom which is pretty special to have in any given class or year.”
Dipasquale’s return provides the team with a huge boost, as he was a 2022 Cape Ann League All Star and provides talent and experience at a crucial spot on the field.
“Having Jack Dipasquale in net will also be huge for us,” says Siderewicz. “Jack has such a knack for competing at a high level, and he will be a player to watch closely this spring.”
The senior netminder isn’t the only returning CAL All Star: Kirk and senior defenseman Sam Athanas also earned the honor last spring.
“Each of them are entering their third year on a varsity lacrosse roster, and each player knows exactly what it takes in order to make a deep run post season, as well as set us up for success during the regular season,” explains Siderewicz.
This team is deep and experienced, and that should hopefully translate to success in 2023.
“All of these young men know what big moments look like, and knowing how to carry themselves when faced with adversity in big moments really shows the character we have in this group,” says Siderewicz. “Obviously in the early weeks of spring there is always some rust that needs to come off, but the eagerness and willing to compete everyday against each other at practice in preps for upcoming games is something we take day to day, and the expectation is to get one percent better every time we step on the field.”
The Hornets were victorious in a preseason scrimmage last week, but still came away with lessons to work on before the first game of the season against Bishop Fenwick on April 3.
“We play them twice this regular season -- home and away -- and should be two really good out of conference tests this season,” explains Siderewicz. “Last year we played them during spring break at their place, ending up losing a game that got away from us and out of our control. This year will be different however, with the return of most of our starters and seconds, we will be more prepared and more focused on the important task at hand: focus and win every whistle the entire game. That will be the message during game days just to take each play at a time, for a full 48 minutes. If we can manage to do that on our side, I think we will fare just fine whoever we play against.”
