The 2024 season was not a bright one for the Morgan Boys Lacrosse team. In 2024, the team’s record was 3-13 after losing nine seniors from the year prior. Last year, the team made a major jump and held a record of 8-10 and made the state tournament where they beat Stonington 8-5. Coming into this season, the team lost three key seniors from last season; Tyler Farrell, Hunter Roth, and Griffin Renaudo. All three players contributed to the team from an offensive and defensive perspective, however this year the team will have to look towards their eight returning seniors (5 of them starters last season), and the younger players to step up.
“This underclassmen group we have, it’s a pretty solid group, you know; we all respect each other, and I think being together another year will lead to success,” said senior captain Jake Lichack. Head Coach Connor Page added on, saying that “[He] firmly believe[s] that our seniors will continue to step up along with some of the underclassmen that saw varsity playing time last year.”
Last year the Huskies highlight of their team was their offense, where Lichack led the charge finishing as All-Shoreline Honorable Mention with 35 goals, 9 assists, and a total of 44 points. Senior captain Declan Shortt was another prolific offensive player scoring 18 goals, 23 assists, and 41 total points in his junior season. These successful seasons have motivated them to work hard all offseason with the team.
“Throughout the off season, the team and I have been in the weight room, at the field, and conditioning just trying to make sure we’re ready for the season,” said Lichack
The Huskies’ big question coming into the season will be on the defensive side of the ball. Last season, the team allowed a total of 349 shots on goal, 150 goals, and about 11 goals a game. This forced junior, captain-at-the time, and now senior, Braedan Steahle to have a heavy workload as the team’s goalie. Steahle was second team All-Shoreline Conference just one season ago, saving 199 goals and having a save percentage of 57%.
“Last season I felt a lot of pressure in goal, but I was able to play well through it. This year, our success will come from sharing that pressure as a team and trusting each other on defense,” said Steahle. “Our defense statistically improved over the course of last season. I expect to continue to improve on both sides of the ball. Our ability to slow the game down on offense and have better possessions also helps both our goalie and defense,” said Page.
Steahle, being a second-team all-conference goalie, is going to need less pressure and shots on goal in order to have further success for not only himself, but for the defense as well. With the huskies ability to slow the game down on offense, a defense that is able to complement the success of their offense, can definitely set up the Huskies to make a run for the postseason.
The Huskies haven’t made the shoreline playoffs since the 2022-2023 season where they lost in the semifinals to HK. This year, the team is setting their expectations high in hopes of getting into the shoreline tournament. The Huskies also believe highly of their ability to reach 10 wins which would be an improvement of 8 wins last season. Some key games in order to reach this goal will be rivals HK, Old Saybrook, and Valley and out of conference games like Waterford and Branford.
“I certainly believe that we have the ability to get into the state playoffs again and succeed along with getting into the shoreline tournament and competing as one of the better teams in the conference,” said Page, “I fully believe in our ability to make a deep run in both tournaments as a higher seed,” said Lichack.
Overall the boys lacrosse team has done everything they’ve needed to do up until this point for them to be ready. With improvement last season and an eager group of seniors, the Huskies are ready to shock the shoreline this season.
