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2009 Cohasset Boys Preview
Date last updated 7:12 am Apr 8th, 2009
2009 Cohasset Boys Lacrosse Preview
The cold may be lingering but the snow is off the back Cohasset High fields and the new and improved version of 2009 Skipper boys lacrosse has the boys flying out of the school each day to get back onto the fields to “do the work” that may bring another state title. The loss in the 08 D-3 championships to a very strong Scituate team only served to prompt our returning “Cohogs” to work even harder over the fall and winter to seek a different ending in the upcoming season.
The season began on 3/28/09 with a 14-0 shut-out of Hamilton-Wenham and the boys will continue with a 20 game season that includes battles against the current and 5 time defending D1 state champion and ranked national power Duxbury. Many other challenges will face the Skippers in 2009 including much larger HS programs like Hingham, Scituate, Norwood, Xaverian, Catholic Memorial, Barnstable, and Quincy. Other tough teams in our division include some home games against Dover/Sherborn, Hanover and Hull, as well as a tremendously confident Norwell squad that wants to unseat Cohasset as the South Shore league champs.
Our head coach Stew Curran is now in his 6th season and sees this squad as one of the deepest, balanced, and most cohesive groups he has ever had at Cohasset. The other boy’s coaches include 2nd year returnee, Tony Roman, who handles the JV team and leads the boys on the defensive end of the field. Later on this spring, they will be joined by a 3rd year returnee and current pro hockey official, Gino Binda. Coach Curran has stated again and again “the high school success is a direct result of the efforts of the CYL Lacrosse coaches. This year will be no different and our guys expect to be there again playing for a title due to the many hours spent on Milliken working on lax skills”.
The ‘09’ team is filled with a very experienced offensive group at the midfield and is led by key returning seniors in Andrew Dipaolo, Owen Landon and Alec Livingstone. Each boy has played a key role over the past two seasons and is really showing great leadership to the younger players as to what is required each day at the practices according to Coach Curran. These 3 midfielders are joined by 2 other returning senior letter winners in Charlie Mushin and Matt Wasel, who have been on varsity since their sophomore years and will be looked to contribute more this season. The juniors are led by Ian Quinlan and John Maher, who are shaping up into being on one of the 2 top middie groups. These younger midfielders must work to replace the stalwart FOGO, Chuck Czerkawski and the very fast Pete Ernst, who were among the best in the South Shore and Emass in 2008. The sophomores looking to meet that role include a new FOGO Alex Kinnealey and Thomas Flibotte, who’s also a fine 2-way player. Both Kinnealey and Flibotte will find themselves shadowed by the top defenders on the other teams due to their “highly prolific & offensive” nature. Another 10th grader that Coach Curran hopes to see shredding opposing defenses is Jack Carrier, a very speedy middie who began to show much promise late in the spring last season.
At the attack, the Skippers have a pair of outstanding seniors in Johnny Wade and the equally talented Gordie Smith, who partner up with juniors Will Wise and Dean Driscoll and Geoff Evans. This devastating combination of speed and skill look to return a grim outlook to the other team’s goalies who will then be forced to perform that “turn & rake drill” in 2009. Despite losing one of the states best pair of attackers in Mike Grim and Mark Flibotte, the Cohasset offense will score via balance and ball movement. The new attack group is swift and battle ready as they have shown great strides over the past two weeks of practice.
The backbone of Cohog success this year may prove to be at the defensive end of the field. Despite losing a 3 year starter in Jake Cuneo, this season’s defense may be even stronger. In the 3 scrimmages and one game thus far, the defenders have given up a paltry total of 8 goals. The defensive power was evident from the outset in the 1st practice that found our very capable offensive players beset by a hostile pair of senior warriors in Andersen Lyner and Vince Curran, and a very stout group of juniors in Will Lyner, Dana Valentine, Ian Porter and Nick Lieberman. This aggressive batch of 6 players are pushed hard each day in practice by an ‘even nastier’ group of 10th graders in Sam Leahy, Pat Dunn and Jake Kissick who are beginning to show that they too can bring a tough and skilled confidence in the defensive end of the field.
In the net, Cohasset must replace a 2 year starter in Nate Porter, who helped lead our HS team to state-wide prominence. The 09 version of that role is likely to be handled by Jack Murphy, a junior who earned a number of starts and wins in 08 including a scintillating OT victory over the D-2 power Hingham High team in 2008. Jack’s work in net so far in 2009 has been flawless with a 14-0 shutout victory over the top team from the North Shore in Hamilton-Wenham HS on 3/28/09, in that game he tallied 16 saves, some of which left the “Gennies” shaking their heads and wondering how he stuffed them. As is the case on any good team, a starting goalie needs to be pushed each day and sophomore Eric Wasel is showing signs that he doesn’t want to be just on the sidelines. Coach Roman has raved about how hard Eric is working to improve and he’ll certainly be ready when called upon during the season.