By Matthew Aveni
The Central Connecticut men’s lacrosse team walked off the field last season losing in the PCLL Conference playoffs to Worcester Poly Tech. This season the Blue Devils seek to build off of last year’s playoff run and start the season off with a strong fall season.
The Blue Devils are led by their head coach Philip Orzech and senior captain’s Brian Ricardi and Steve Monteiro. Entering this season they are an experienced team with many returning starters and players who can fill up the starting lineup.
“We have great coaching. Each practice Coach Orzech gets the best out of each and every one of us and his expectations are high for our team this year. If we listen to his coaching and fulfill his game plan we should put up a tough fight in all of our games,” said senior Captain Brian Ricardi.
There are two seasons for the lacrosse team in the fall and in the spring. The fall schedule is for preseason games and exhibition games where the Blue Devils hope to fill the few holes in their starting lineup.
“We have an experienced team coming into the fall. It’s nice because we can work out many of the positions that need to be filled in the fall, so when spring regular season comes around we will hopefully have a feel of how we play together,” said Ricardi.
Since many schools in and around the state of Connecticut do not have the funding for lacrosse teams, many of the schools have club teams. Central will play important games against the likes of UCONN, Stonehill, Southern Connecticut, University of New Haven and their rival The United States Coast Guard.
“We always get hyped up when we play UCONN because they always have a good team, but when we play The Coast Guard the team always seems a little bit more focused. Year in and year out they always have a top team,” said Ricardi.
Last season the Blue Devils finished with a (4-6)(3-4 NEC) record. The goal every year for the men’s lacrosse club team is to make the playoffs and with their division. This year the goal seems to be in reach with the experience they have and the new players they have joining the team. The experience should benefit the team. They have many leaders on and off the field that will represent our school proudly.
“Last year we had some success and we barely made the playoffs. This season I hope to build on what we started last year except take it a step further and win the PCLL. It will be hard but if we work hard enough and pay attention to detail we can get it done,” said Ricardi.
With the fall lacrosse season coming up quick the team is practicing three to five times a week and is getting ready for their first exhibition game against the University of Connecticut.