Midfielder Josh Tillis against Pascack HIlls in the charity scrimmage between the two schools. Tillis will look to be one of the driving forces on offense.
Spring Sports Preview: Boys Lacrosse
Head Coach: Craig Buckley (7th season)
Last year’s record: 12-4
Key returnees: Conor Kimball (Sr., Att), Matt Haag (Jr., Def), Tommy Uhl (Sr., Def), Josh Tillis (Sr., Mid), Sean Tocci (Sr., Att)
Key losses: Jimmy Spillane (Att/Mid), Mike Soravilla (Att), Joe Williams (Mid), James Setola (G), Cooper Frey (Def), Jack Smolen (Mid), Jacob Wrede (Def)
Key newcomers: James Della Pesca (Fr., Att), Zach Olson (So., Mid), Matt Ziccarelli (Jr., G), Chuck Viteritti (Jr., Mid), Nick Beja (Jr., Mid), Jesse Oh (Jr., Mid/Faceoff), Chris DeCotiis (Sr., Mid/Faceoff), Jake DeMilia (So., Mid), Charlie Looes (So., D), Josh DeMarco (So., LSM)
Strengths of team: Ability to get production from multiple players. “I think we’ll score by committee where everyone chips in and then hopefully there’ll be guys who have breakout games here and there. I like the fact that we’re developing consistency and we can focus on more than one or two guys.”
Areas that need improvement: Cleaning up mistakes. “Improving stick skills and dropped passes are correctable mistakes and as long as they’re correctable, we’re ok. But if we’re going to make mistakes, I want to make them at full speed. Mistakes happen, but at the end of the day, you learn from mistakes.”
Outlook: The Indians graduated three all-county players in Spillane, Smolen and Soravilla and averaged 9.4 goals per game last year, but this year the focus will be on filling holes and having younger players step up. The strength of the defensive unit, anchored by returners Haag and Uhl should be enough to keep the Indians in games, while Kimball and Tillis will look to lead the offense. If the Indians can play solid defense and play close, competitive games, they figure to be competitive in their league.
Coach’s comment: “Right now we’re focusing on us and how we can get better and if we can clean some things up, I think it’ll give us chances to win games,” Buckley said. “At the end of the day, we want to be in every game, we want a chance at the end of the game to win. No matter what happens, I want us to stick together as a team. I think that’s the biggest thing to teach our guys.”