{"id":96135,"date":"2024-04-18T16:12:10","date_gmt":"2024-04-18T16:12:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelandmark.com\/?p=96135"},"modified":"2024-04-18T16:12:10","modified_gmt":"2024-04-18T16:12:10","slug":"bounce-back-game-evens-record-for-boys-lacrosse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/2024\/04\/18\/bounce-back-game-evens-record-for-boys-lacrosse\/","title":{"rendered":"Bounce back game evens record for boys' lacrosse"},"content":{"rendered":"
By John Orrell<\/em>
\nLandmark Correspondent<\/em><\/div>\n

HOLDEN \u2014 An opening day 6-10 loss to Algonquin Regional was a bit of a bitter pill to swallow, but not for long for the 2024 Wachusett Regional High boys\u2019 lacrosse team. The team quickly moved on, putting that one square in the rearview mirror. Next up would be rival Shepherd Hill, where this gritty band of Mountaineers made short work of the host Rams, silencing them 15-1.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a winnable game against Algonquin, and I think that the next time we play them, it\u2019ll be a good challenge,\u201d said senior co-captain Anthony Del Negro. \u201cTo win the way we did against Shepherd Hill helped the team. We\u2019re up and ready for some challengeable opponents.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe started off playing Algonquin (Regional) and lost 6-10,\u201d fellow senior captain Greyson Doyle said. \u201cI think our defense played pretty well in that first game, but our offense \u2014 not so much. It (the win against Shepherd Hill) was good for team morale. As we keep going forward, it\u2019s good to know that we can put up numbers like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was great to get that win, especially after a loss to Algonquin,\u201d senior captain Chad Pelonzi added. \u201cWe got to run our plays on offense and worked together as a team. It was really good to get out there and execute some things we\u2019ve been working on in practice these past few weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur defense is playing strong, and our offense is getting the hang of it. They\u2019re going full swing now. I think we\u2019re going to pull some kids up from JV, and I think they\u2019ll be good additions to our team. Everyone\u2019s getting along well. The team chemistry is amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the season remains in its infancy, there are good vibes all around from players to coaches to team supporters. Head coach Derek Vanoudenhove likes what he sees so far in terms of sound work ethic and compatibility.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year we have a solid group of seniors, a lot more than in past years. But we have strong leadership from our captains,\u201d said Vanoudenhove. \u201cAny time you can get a big win like that, it\u2019s always going to motivate your team. I think with this group, that\u2019s what we\u2019re capable of. I think we\u2019re going to see a lot of wins this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe work ethic on this team is terrific. They are an extremely hard-working young athletes who work really well together, and they\u2019re very coachable. We have to be consistent and show a good work ethic. We need to look at some of our weak areas and look ahead to our next opponent and how we\u2019re going to handle them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery year at tryouts, our coach tells us that we want to set the standards early by going out and playing strong right away,\u201d said Doyle. \u201cEvery year we want to be a playoff team. We did it last year, and we want to do it again.<\/p>\n

\u201cFundamentals are going to be our biggest thing. We started off struggling a bit, and now we\u2019re just catching up. Everyone\u2019s dusting off the rust and getting back into it. We do a lot of conditioning here, so if we can outwork most teams on the field by running hard and hustling on the field, I think we can beat every matchup we have this season.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a good sense of discipline here. Our heads are screwed on right, and we have a clear goal set in place,\u201d said Del Negro. \u201cAs a captain, I like to hold people accountable in practice, and we want to improve on last season (7-12, first round playoff loss).<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the things we have to do is to make sure we\u2019re consistent with everything we\u2019re doing, like passing and catching,\u201d said Pelonzi with confidence. \u201cWe have a lot of strong players on our team. I think we\u2019ll be able to outwork any team we play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both head coach and players are not reticent to admit that they set individual and team goals at the beginning of the season. It should come as no surprise to many that Vanoudenhove\u2019s goals go beyond fundamentals, emphasizing good sportsmanship and respect for opponents as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll set team goals every year and goals for myself, and that includes good sportsmanship and work ethic. We have a lot of people who come to watch our games, and so that\u2019s become one of my goals this year,\u201d he said. \u201cA lot of guys have played together for a lot of years, and that makes it more fun. They get along so well. We\u2019re all in this because we all love the game of lacrosse.\u201d<\/p>\n

Members of the 2024 Wachusett Regional High boys\u2019 varsity lacrosse team are Joe Raeke, Cam Fontaine, Jake Norton, Anthony Del Negro, Ethan Reando, Nick Brousseau, Chad Pelonzi, Greyson Doyle, Jack MacDonald, Seamus Hartnett, William Whalen, Daniel Greaney, Max Gaffney, Troy Greaney, Thomas Cooney, Finnagar Puize, Austin Fiske, Lucas Plouffe, Owen Powers, Rohan Paquette and Connor Ford.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By John Orrell Landmark Correspondent HOLDEN \u2014 An opening day 6-10 loss to Algonquin Regional was a bit of a bitter pill to swallow, but not for long for the 2024 Wachusett Regional High boys\u2019 lacrosse team. The team quickly moved on, putting that one square in the rearview mirror. Next up would be rival […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":96136,"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-96135","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\/96135","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=96135"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96135\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}