Tech, St. Mary’s prepare for boys lax seasons

LYNN – Tech lacrosse coach Brad Tilley is hoping the year or two of seasoning some of his players will bring to the field this spring will help get the Tigers heading in the right direction.Tech won its first two games (ever) last year to finish with a 2-16 record. Tilley is looking to put a few more in the win column this year and he may get his wish. He had 26 players show up for tryouts and many of them are returnees, including co-captain Richard Contreras.”We’ll finally have a goalie with some experience,” Tilley said.The midfield, with senior co-captain Jeff Valley as the anchor and juniors James Wall and Jordan Rucker joining him, should provide some stability. The Tigers lost two attackmen to graduation, but they do have Mike Donovan returning.”We’re looking for someone to stop up,” Tilley said.Senior Dave DiPietro will bring some experience to the defensive effort, along with Pedtro Aparicio, a three-year player and Bulger Limchau. Patrick Cherry, another veteran, will move from deep middie to long pole middie and Bulger Limchau”We have some young kids we’re looking at,” Tilley said.The Tigers’ will be doing some traveling this year, with games in Chatham, Worcester, Framingham and New Bedford on the schedule. .ST. MARY’SThe Spartans finished 4-12 last year, but second-year coach Jeff Smith is optimistic about his team’s prospects this season. St. Mary’s finished the season with 38 guys last year and this spring, 52 showed up for tryouts.Senior captains Shane Swain, Mike Toomey and Joe Twomey should shore up the midfield nicely while Don Hesse, who started in net as an eighth grader last year, will return battled tested. Senior attackman Craig Story, junior defensemen Chris Toomey and junior attackman Seamus O’Leary should also help the cause.The Spartans lost a couple of key players from last year including Jim Mamos, a captain, who graduated and is now at Salem State College, and Bobby Adam, who transferred to Pingree.”We have a lot of guys coming back and a lot of guys who worked hard in the off-season. Our goal this year is to play well in the Catholic Central League and make the tournament,” Smith said.