Head Coach Adam Rice is poised to bring the boys lacrosse team to its fifth straight MAC Championship and make it back to the VISAA Division I Tournament after missing out last year for the first time in five years.
“We won our league for the fourth consecutive year and we had a really good overall season, but just missed out on the state tournament,” Rice said. “We finished ninth and the top eight teams go, so were hoping to battle and get back to the tournament this season.”
To accomplish that the team is going to need to rely on a host of new faces, as 15 seniors graduated and only nine of the 27 players return.
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“We are inexperienced but definitely have some good players coming back,” Rice said. “This is a very young team and the least amount of people coming back we have ever had.”
Senior midfielder and captain Tyler Lewris was the team’s league player of the year last season, and big things are expected in his final year at the school. Attackman Matt Montagne will be running the show on offense.
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Leading the defense once again will be junior Andy Rehberger, who is the only returning defenseman for the team.
Goalie Pat Farrell will start this season after backing up the team’s all-pro last year.
“He’s a top-notch goalie,” Rice said. “ Having a great goalie to start, is to me, the most important thing to have on the field.”
With 14 games on the schedule before the league and state tournaments, the lacrosse team has plenty of time to gel.
The season kicked off March 15 with a 14-2 loss to Bullis. Their next game is Friday against Bishop Ireton.
Games to keep an eye on include home games against Episcopal on April 2, St. Andrews on April 5 and their big rivals Potomac on May 6.
Girls Lacrosse hope experience will lead to winning recordUnder the guidance of Coach Samantha Eustace, the Flint Hill girls’ lacrosse team played its first season in the upper division in 2010, finishing 9-10, and the experience should help them as they prepare to leave an even stronger mark this year.
“I’m expecting us to do well and I’m excited about the season,” Eustace said. “Being in the upper division in Double AA last year, our goal was to stay there and we ended up fourth out of eight teams. We’re looking to improve on that and looking to qualify and do well in states again.”
Led by seniors Megan Stertzer and and Jess Fellows, the lacrosse team is in position to improve on their strong play last year.
“Jess will be going to the Naval Academy to play next year and she probably broke all the milestones last year,” Eustace said. “She was a First Team All American and has a great attitude on the field.”
For her part, Fellows is looking forward to her last year at the school.
“I like the amount of energy and enthusiasm everyone has,” Fellows said. “Everyone is here to work 110 percent, and it doesn’t matter if they have played before or not, it’s been a great atmosphere. We’re all here to help each other.”
The team is returning a lot of players having graduated only three seniors last year, and they have added some new girls to the mix, as well.
“We have a lot of new people and we recruited a lot of people from the basketball team this year and that should help the defense,” said senior Claire Doyle. “I think we are looking strong so far.”
Junior Caroline Stottlemeyer will be playing her first season with Flint Hill and there’s also a new goalie in the fold.
“It was important for us to fortify the goalie position and we are pleased with that,” Eustace said. “We are pretty balanced in each of our defense, mid and attack.”