In spite of absent players, boys’ lacrosse defeats Valencia High School

Despite the lack of players on the team due to injuries and sickness, the boys’ lacrosse team won 9-7 against Valencia High School on Monday, April 27 during the team’s last home game of the season.According to head coach Keiser, there were multiple injured players who were not able to play during the game against Valencia. Some of the team’s starters were injured, including defenseman Michael Bianco, who had a torn ACL . Goalie Kyle Atwater was out due to sickness, midfielder Ronan Casteleyn has a dislocated shoulder and longstick midfielder Bradley Hall had a concussion.For Keiser, however, these injuries assisted the team in playing closely on the field.“Everyone stepped up and they rose above and played as a team,” Keiser said. “They overcame the adversity of all injuries and being shorthanded and got the win.”According to Keiser, everyone shared the ball and played as a team.“We were a lot of individuals before,” Keiser said. “Watching what someone else would do and when they realized that the games that we won were the games that we played well, what they really realized was that it takes everyone at the same time to accomplish our goals, which is winning.”According to attackman Parker Furlong (’17), who scored five goals and one assist that game, getting everyone involved in the game together created a more enjoyable, fast-paced game. This strategy eventually aided in the team’s win.“Once everybody’s touching the ball and we’re getting it around, it’s fast and fun and we’ll get it in the goal,” Furlong said.According to attackman Ian Ferrara (’15), the team was missing its starting goalie, so junior varsity goalie Elias Sandoval (’18) stepped up to fill the job.“We possessed the ball on offense and we played smart,” Ferrara said. “We ran our motion offense very well. We gave help to the clears by getting the ball to offense. We made [Valencia] mess up their passes and overall we stayed composed.”According to midfielder Jack Dove, most of the team’s starters are underclassmen and looking ahead, he believes that in a few years they will make a really strong team.“Our size and a young ability in the coming next few years will make an amazing team,” Dove said.