Boys' lacrosse concludes a monumental season
A tough loss against Portsmouth concluded the boys’ lacrosse team’s season after an impressive regular season record of 13-3. The team made up for the lost season last year by giving it their all their games, even beating the division's top seed of Portsmouth during the regular season, and making program history by beating Derryfield for the first time ever.
The matchup of Portsmouth v. Winnacunnet in the first round of playoffs was atypical from the normal determination of first round games. Senior Ben Merrick said the difference in seeding left them in a tough spot.
“Playoffs differed a lot this year compared to the last two years,” Merrick said. “We had random seeding this year which caused us to play Portsmouth in the first round.”
Regardless of the outcome of their final game, the season was full of upsets and exciting comebacks.
“Highlights from this season were definitely beating Derryfield both times we played them,” Merrick said, “They have always been a good team and we haven’t beaten them in the history of the lacrosse program.”
Head Coach Patrick Snow also mentioned the glory of beating Derryfield. He said beating the team twice was the main highlight of the season, along with an overtime win against Timberlane, and defeating Portsmouth in the regular season.
“We had a very successful regular season,” Snow said. “Unfortunately, we came up short in our very tough first round playoff matchup against Portsmouth.”
Snow said that he’s proud of this year’s team and believes that they made their mark on the Winnacunnet lacrosse program.
“I felt that this year’s team competed as well as any team in the division,” Snow said. “This is one of the better teams in the program’s history.”
Merrick noted the talent of all players on the team, and how the coaching staff made smart choices about who would be on varsity by choosing players they thought would all contribute to the success of the team. Key players on the team included Seniors Ben Chase and Jack Ellis on attack, Seniors Cole Fisher, James O’Hara, and Ben Merrick on midfield, Juniors Shawn Wooles and Nico Zaino on defense, Senior Lance Trinceri and Junior Tucker McCann for faceoff, and Senior Carter Renaud as goalie
Snow said, “We had many talented players at many positions this year.”
Next year Snow said he sees the team continuing to be competitive at the Division II level, and said they have a promising future.
“Most of our defense will be returning,” Snow said. “Lots of young, talented players will be able to fill the roles of the seniors we will be losing.”
Merrick said he’ll miss this team and his teammates, but that he’s hopeful for the program’s next few years.
“Some advice I’d give to the team is enjoy every day of the season,” Merrick said. “Even if it’s the Saturday morning practices, enjoy it, before you know it your season will come to an end.”