{"id":44115,"date":"2023-05-18T06:01:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-18T10:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelandmark.com\/?p=44115"},"modified":"2023-05-18T06:01:00","modified_gmt":"2023-05-18T10:01:00","slug":"slow-start-wont-stop-boys-lacrosse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/2023\/05\/18\/slow-start-wont-stop-boys-lacrosse\/","title":{"rendered":"Slow start won\u2019t stop boys\u2019 lacrosse"},"content":{"rendered":"
By John Orrell <\/b>
\nLandmark Correspondent<\/i><\/div>\n

HOLDEN \u2014 Wachusett Regional High\u2019s Anthony DelNegro notched a hat trick and teammate Matt Dickinson chipped in with a pair of goals, but it was not enough to stop visiting Groton-Dunstable who held on for the win, 11-6, on April 25. The loss dropped the Mountaineers\u2019 record on the season to 2-6, but don\u2019t count out this intrepid bunch that is anxious and has the skillset to reverse fortunes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis team has been grinding on despite some tough losses. We have a lot of good guys, and they compete like a family,\u201d said WRHS varsity head coach Derek VanOudenhove. \u201cThe guys have kept their heads in it, and today was evidence of that, playing right to the final whistle.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to minimize our mistakes and maximize our opportunities. There are things we need to fine tune going into games that will help towards a positive outcome. Especially against a team like Groton-Dunstable, communication is key. They\u2019re very quick in finding the open man, so the defense really has to have continuous talk. \u201c<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was a tough loss. We came in thinking that we were going to win,\u201d said senior co-captain Matt Sloate. \u201cWe came out strong in the first half but made some mistakes that hurt us. At the beginning of the season, we had some tough losses, but I don\u2019t think it hurt morale. We still come out and battle every day.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to be moving the ball quicker on offense. Every drop matters. We need to be holding the ball more, and when we do and don\u2019t get shots off, it\u2019s just a waste of time. We have to clean up on offense moving the ball around.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe played well after starting off rough, and had good second and third quarters before falling down in the fourth,\u201d added fellow senior captain Kyle Citro. \u201cBut we\u2019ll keep going. Confidence is high right now. We\u2019re starting to play together better. We saw a lot of good stuff today, and we\u2019ll keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 2023 campaign opened with five consecutive defeats until the squad knocked off a tough Westborough High team and another quality opponent in St. Bernard\u2019s High before squaring off versus the Groton-Dunstable Crusaders.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to clean up some small things like stickwork and just finishing down low,\u201d Sloate said. \u201cWhen that happens, things are going to start clicking and we\u2019ll be rolling. What I like most is coming out with the kids every day. We might not have the best record, but being with these guys all day long is fun. We have a good time and make it work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI like the grit we have. When we\u2019re down it doesn\u2019t really affect us,\u201d said DelNegro. \u201cWe still play with our hearts. First half, we were kind of rolling and kids were putting the body on, which I like. Physicality is our best trait.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis group has a never-give-up attitude,\u201d VanOudenhove said of his team that looks for a fast rebound to the season. \u201cWe\u2019ve been in some tough situations, but we continue to persevere, and I think that\u2019s a testimony to the character of the athletes this season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Members of the 2023 Wachusett Regional High School boys\u2019 varsity lacrosse team are Malachi Leary, Matt Sloate, Jake Norton, Anthony DelNegro, Ethan Reando, Nick Brousseau, Matthew Dickinson, Greyson Doyle, Kyle Citro, Colin McGuinness, Frankie Smith, Cameron Fontaine, Thomas Cooney, Joe Raeke, Austin Fiske, Lucas Plouffe, Owen Powers, Max Gaffney, Chad Pelonzi, Jack Taliceo and Casey Dmochowski.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HOLDEN \u2014 Wachusett Regional High\u2019s Anthony DelNegro notched a hat trick and teammate Matt Dickinson chipped in with a pair of goals, but it was not enough to stop visiting Groton-Dunstable who held on for the win, 11-6, on April 25. The loss dropped the Mountaineers\u2019 record on the season to 2-6, but don\u2019t count out this intrepid bunch that is anxious and has the skillset to reverse fortunes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44118,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44115"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44115\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}