This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
05/22/2015 12:00 AMThe Guilford boys’ lacrosse team has challenged itself all season long by taking on some of the area’s top competition and, even in defeat, the Indians know that those losses will leave them battle-tested for what they believe will be a strong postseason run.
Following its 3-0 start to the year, Guilford endured a four-game losing streak, including tight defeats to the top three teams in the SCC from North Haven, Xavier, and Fairfield Prep. From there, the Indians won six straight until a 15-1 loss at a 12-2 Simsbury squad on May 18.
Junior midfielder Rob LoRicco netted the lone goal for the Indians against Simsbury. The Indians were held to less than 20 shots on goal, which Head Coach Brian White said, “is pretty low for us.” Still, White’s Indians know that one setback doesn’t define his team, which owns a solid record of 9-5.
“We showed up after playing Hand on Saturday [a 16-10 win that sealed a spot in the SCC Tournament] and then we were off Sunday with little preparation, so we ended up being a little off,” said White on the Simsbury contest. “They played a pretty good game and they took it to us. We couldn’t do too much. Some of it was a letdown after the Hand game, yet Simsbury was a quality team that played really good. Even at say, 8-8, we are better than a 14-2 squad that plays no one.”
Within a 2015 stretch of ups and downs, Coach White added that his squad has fought past some injuries—including one to junior netminder James Bright.
“Part of our consistency this year has been because of some injuries with guys playing at maybe 75 percent. But when we are playing competitive, we play against those top teams really well,” White said. “We weren’t competitive then [during the four-game slide]. We knew we needed to improve, but we really started clicking in that winning streak. We were moving well offensively and moving the ball around really well. James also had a foot injury after the New Fairfield game, but returned for the Hand game.”
The Indians tried to take things piece by piece during their midseason downturn, instead of looking at the standings. Via that simple approach, Guilford righted the ship and clinched itself yet another SCC Tournament bid.
“We just focused on staying positive and doing the little things right. We focused on getting better and not worrying about wins and losses,” said White. “When you do the little things right, things really add up. I think at New Fairfield [a 10-3 victory that ignited the streak], I think was when we really turned the corner versus a good team. When we have the ball is what helps our defense, honestly. We made [sophomore] Shane Molloy our face-off guy and he’s made an impact there. In our losses, we found our defense couldn’t match up and other teams had the ball most of the game and wore us down. We had to make that change there and, from there, we began to win more possession time.”
White explained that the Indians value playing the best competition through the regular season each year. He maintained that Guilford may not earn any unbeaten marks or top playoff seeds by taking that path, but he knows it can help the Indians get to their ultimate postseason goal.
“A big point of emphasis for us is that we want the team to get better as the season goes on. Once you are in the postseason, record doesn’t matter, and you also have to be playing your best lacrosse,” White said. “Our schedule doesn’t give us any breaks, yet it’s planned like that because we don’t want to play any cupcakes. It’s really common sense because playing these top teams will make us a better team.”
Looking ahead to the four-team SCC bracket, it’s a wide-open field, which makes this the perfect time for Guilford to snag the title following two-straight finals losses.
“This time around when you look at the SCC, this is the closest the four playoff teams have been. Xavier, Fairfield Prep, North Haven, and us are all relatively close,” said White, whose team will also compete in states. “There is a lot more parity in the league among the four teams to the point where it’s not out of the question for us to beat Fairfield Prep, unlike last year.”
• In eight of its first nine wins, Guilford held its opponent to under 10 goals.
• The Indians are coming off of two-straight SCC Tournament final appearances with both resulting in defeats to Fairfield Prep.
• Guilford finished 7-3 against SCC squads for the regular season this spring.
• Guilford’s SCC victories came against Hamden (19-5), Amity (7-4), Shelton (12-4), Cheshire (9-7), Notre Dame-West Haven (20-9), Branford (16-3), and Hand (16-10).