SAUGUS — Last year’s Saugus High boys lacrosse program saw a major improvement from the previous season, and coach Rob Scuzzarella is hoping to kick up the momentum this spring.
Two years ago, the Sachems only won three games. Last year they qualified for the state tournament.
“I lost a lot of guys from last year’s team,” said coach Rob Scuzzarella. “I had 18 seniors last year, and then this year I have 19 kids total, so our numbers are a little bit down.
“We are a little light on numbers for our first couple of games,” said Scuzzarella.
Despite the loss in numbers, the new players who are playing this season are quick to catch up, Scuzzarella said.
Four of the top six scorers are coming back this season, and that could be a big advantage. Senior Christian Billingsley, and captains Nick Sanderson, Nick Heffernan and Drew Worthley — all seniors — are all key players returnees.
Billingsley and Sanderson were the two leading scorers on last year’s team. Another player to watch this season is junior Joe Cross, who plays the attack position. Scuzzarella said that Cross has improved a lot since last year.
The defense will only see one returning starter — junior Jake Morgante, who has started since he was a freshman and is a great source of leadership on the defensive end, the coach said.
“I’ve got two seniors this year who haven’t played lacrosse before,” Scuzzarella said. “One is a football captain, the other one is a hockey captain. They are pretty well respected by the guys, and they bring a good leadership element to the team.
“They’ve been picking it up really quickly, and they are going to be stepping in there on defense as well,” said Scuzzarella.
Scuzzarella is excited for the new energy these new players are already bringing to the team.
“That’s probably been the best part of the team so far,” he said. “I would say over the past two weeks the kids have really brought great energy to practice, and that’s something I can’t really coach. The effort they’ve given us over the past two weeks have been great.”
The expectations for Scuzzarella will always remain the same. His primary goal is to qualify for the state tournament. The team is playing 16 games this year, they need to win eight to qualify.
“My expectations for the season are state tournament No. 1, and our secondary goal is to win the (Northeastern) conference, which I think is pretty doable, as long as we take care of business on offense and these guys pick up lacrosse pretty quick defensibly,” said Scuzzarella.
Offense is the No. 1 strength for the team this year, with the seniors playing since they were freshman. These are seasoned players with a lot of experience.
“Our strength is definitely on the offensive side of the ball and on the other end of the ball I think our strength is our athleticism. We lack in lacrosse defense experience, but we really got some athletic kids down there,” Scuzzarella said.
Saugus opens the season tonight (7) against Lynn at Manning Field.
