By Meg Peters
Review Co-Editor
With three weeks left in their regular season, the varsity boys? lacrosse team is working hard.
Most recently the Dragons lost a tough game to Eisenhower on Saturday, 6-4, and again to Troy on Monday 17-7.
‘Our defense played extremely well. Our goalie Zach Daining really put in a great effort,? Coach Brad Thomas said. ‘Offensively we are right there, we just have to find a way to finish.?
Their record stands at 2-6
‘We’ve played a very tough schedule and they are going to benefit with that experience going to the state tournament.?
The relatively young team is known for its passion, dedication to the sport, and ferocity to improve. Of the 30 total players, eight are seniors, 14 are juniors, seven are sophomores and one is a freshman.
The team’s captains are seniors Tyler Burmeister, Craig Luca, Ben Bock, Aaron Gies and Zach Serzo, who have been instrumental in the team’s leadership.
‘We’ve improved immensely since the beginning of the season and have a great group of seniors that are showing the younger guys the way,? Thomas said.
Starting goalie Daining (11) has made over 50 combined saves this season, with starting attackmen Jake Chapie (11) and Aaron Gies (12) scoring over 15 and 7 goals respectively.
Cole Schaefer (11) is one of the team’s strongest middies, and Drew Hubbard (10) is one of their strongest defensemen.
Not only are the boys working hard in each game, they are training in the off-season with summer travel, fall programs and an eight-week winter training session.
The Lake Orion Boys Lacrosse program has only grown since its induction of one team in 2007 to three teams at the high school level and five teams at the youth level. Youth teams consist of a U9 team, a U11 team, two U13 teams and a U15 team totaling just under 120 youth players that together with the varsity, JVA and JVB high school teams brings the entire Lake Orion Boys Lacrosse program to more than 180 players.
All teams will be playing Clarkston this Saturday on Dragon turf, with the boys? varsity game slated to start at 3:00 p.m.
Lacrosse for a Cause
The Dragons? team spirit goes far beyond the field, and they have an opportunity for the community to participate too. Just this year the boys created ‘Lacrosse for a Cause? and scheduled all three high school teams to play against Rochester Adams Tuesday, April 28, to raise money and awareness to benefit ALS of Michigan.
The fundraiser is in honor of Wendy Sylvain, mother of attackman Justin Sylvain, who passed away from ALS at the end of 2014.
The boys will be selling t-shirts and purple hearts at the gate, all to benefit ALS of Michigan. Anyone wearing a t-shirt may watch the game for free.
‘The boys and the teams wanted to do something special, and decided to make it a big event, the school is getting behind it, so it’s going to be a really fun,? Thomas said.