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06/12/2017 12:00 AMFollowing back-to-back winless campaigns, the Old Saybrook boys’ lacrosse team just wanted to start moving in the right direction this year. However, in Head Coach James Hespeler’s first season at the helm, the Rams did much more than just get incrementally better. Old Saybrook won seven regular season games to qualify for the Class S State Tournament, where the Rams beat Holy Cross 15-4 on their way to an overall record of 8-10.
Coach Hespeler admitted that he had some trepidation at the campaign’s outset, even though there weren’t heavy expectations on his squad.
“The night before the first practice, I slept about an hour. I was nervous about taking over a varsity team,” he said. “I was worrying, because they hadn’t won in two years. I just wanted to get one win. Then after two weeks, I knew we could make some noise. After we took North Branford to overtime, I realized we were a different team this year.”
Old Saybrook took a 9-8 overtime loss against North Branford in its first game of the season. Last year, the Thunderbirds won big in both matchups against the Rams, prevailing by scores of 20-4 and 18-0. The fact that this one was such a close contest showed Coach Hespeler that his team was turning things around.
“They got an early lead on us, and we came back with a minute and half left in the game,” said Hespeler. “In overtime, we missed two shots by a few inches and, from there, we knew the team was going to be successful.”
The Rams picked up their first win with Hespeler and their first overall since 2014 when they posted a 9-5 home victory over Cromwell on April 5. Old Saybrook lost its next five games, but then the turning point of the season came when the Rams went to Cromwell for a rematch and won 15-6.
“We got that first win against Cromwell, then the rest of the season went on and, halfway through, we only had one win,” Hespeler said. “I was getting a little nervous, but after we won against Cromwell the second time, we got hot toward the end of the season when it mattered.”
Old Saybrook recorded its signature victory of the season by prevailing at Shoreline Conference finalist Haddam-Killingworth, 9-6, on May 16. Two days later, the Rams punched their State Tournament ticket with a 19-2 home win over Vinal Tech. In the end, Coach Hespeler’s club won six of its last eight regular season games to make states.
“That’s where it all came together. We were missing two of our offensive starters, and our other guys stepped up,” said Hespeler of the H-K victory. “That was by far our biggest game of the season, and taking that momentum into the playoffs was huge for us. We got goals from kids who hadn’t scored much, and Christos Ellinas had his best game of the season.”
Ellinas, a senior captain, put together a monster season for the Rams by scoring 56 goals to go with 31 assists for the year.
“He went from last year having just three assists on the season to having over 30 this year,” said Hespeler. “He was our leading offensive player.”
Junior captain Keaton Roarick (318 saves) was another key factor behind Old Saybrook’s newfound success. Roarick broke the state record in career saves and was also named All-Shoreline Conference First Team and All-State Second Team.
“We’re lucky to have an All-Shoreline goalie Keaton Roarick. He really turned it on this year,” said Hespeler. “He’s coming back next year, so it will be great to have him back as a senior captain to help lead the team.”
Old Saybrook’s Most Valuable Player was senior captain midfielder Jack Oliveri, who had 20 goals with 16 assists, while logging some major minutes in the field. The Rams also relied on Oliveri’s ability to clear the ball out of the defensive zone.
“He was our utility player. He was mostly an offensive middy...He was out there nonstop, because we were low on middies,” said Hespeler. “He played 95 percent of the game. He came up big for us quite a few times throughout the season. If we ever needed a clear, just give it to Jack, and he would go.”
Coach Hespeler said that his captains not only played well on the field, but were also an asset off the field—and that was a huge help for the new head coach.
“Being a first-year coach, I didn’t know what to expect at all from the team,” he said. “It was a really nice surprise to have such good leadership from the seniors and the captains and have the underclassmen buying into that, as well.”
Another reason why Old Saybrook took such big steps this year was because of its improvement on the defensive end. Senior defenseman Sloan True had a strong season in the backfield and earned All-Shoreline Conference Second Team honors as a result.
“He was a real big and physical and easy to coach. If he made a mistake, you could correct him, and he would go out and be better,” said Hespeler. “He’ll be a big loss for us next year.”
Even though the Rams’ lose their best defender, Coach Hespeler is confident that the rest of the defensive unit can pick up the slack next year. A big reason for that is the help of his assistant coaching staff of Ian Lemly and Dante Gonzalez, who mainly focus on defense.
“It was nice during practice. We’d have those two guys take defense,” Hespeler said. “When we came back together, it would be like a game where they would have a little competition at the end of practice, and it seemed to work well.”
Two other Rams that received postseason distinctions were junior Connor Duncan and sophomore Antonio Castro, who were presented with the Most Improved Player Award and the Coach’s Award, respectively.
With a successful first season under his belt, Coach Hespeler believes that his program is primed for bigger and better things next year, provided his players continue to display the same dedication the propelled Old Saybrook to its turnaround campaign in 2017.
“Next year will be interesting. Hopefully, we can continue the momentum from this year, and the kids will keep playing in the offseason to keep getting better,” Hespeler said. “If we get a few more kids that take lacrosse as serious as someone like Keaton, then we should be pretty good.”
From the Sidelines
Old Saybrook’s regular season wins came against Cromwell (9-5 and 15-6), Bristol Eastern (13-0 and 17-3), Vinal Tech (17-2 and 19-2), and Haddam-Killingworth (9-6). Then as the No. 16 seed in the Class S State Tournament, the Rams netted a 15-4 home victory versus No. 17 Holy Cross in a qualifying round contest.
Old Saybrook’s roster consisted of senior captains Jack Olveri and Christos Ellinas; fellow seniors Liam Finnegan, Tenzin Rabjam, Sloan True, Ashton Reina, John Guarnaccia, Jefferson Yanza, Ben Molesky, Erik Frysinger, and Angus McKay; junior captain Keaton Roarick; fellow juniors Connor Duncan, Matthew Barnes, Max Chupak, William Patterson-Hatem, Tanner Jones, and Lucas Jordan; sophomores Antonio Castro and Caleb Elinas; and freshmen Shaun Ames, Cameron Grillo, Alem Tiden, Tucker Gomentz, and Ian Mason.