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04/25/2019 12:00 AMXavior Cognata has been a quality goalkeeper for the North Branford boys’ lacrosse team since taking over between the pipes midway through his freshman season. Xavior was a defender when he started playing lacrosse in 7th grade, but then moved into the net the following year, and found his home on the field. Now a junior, Xavior is in his third season as the T-Birds’ goalie.
“When I played defense, every time kids would shoot the ball, I would jump in front of the shot. When I got to 8th grade, and our goalie went to high school, I stepped up,” Xavior says. “Goalie was always a position I wanted to play. I liked it because it was different from any other position. When I would watch lacrosse when I was first getting into it, I found it crazy how these guys put their bodies in front of shots going 95 or 100 miles per hour.”
Xavior has worked on plenty of skills in order to better his craft. This includes things like how to hold the stick, the right way to stand in goal, and his proper positioning in the arc of the crease. However, out of everything, Xavior feels that communication may be the most important thing.
“That’s how you have to be if you’re a goalie. Every goalie has to be very loud and call out if a ball moves position,” says Xavior, who also plays football for North Branford. “Communication is key. I like to make sure everyone can hear me. You have to be vocal at any level.”
After saving 127 of 235 shots as a freshman, Xavior made 198 saves on the 365 shots that he faced during his sophomore season. He’s on pace for an even better year this spring, having stopped 71 of 112 shots thus far.
“I like to tell the guys that every possession is an important possession. Any time the ball gets past the defense, it’s a 50-50 shot I’m going to make the right calculation or not make save,” Xavior says. “If I can save more than half, I’m doing my job as a goalie.”
Head Coach Dave Carpenter is impressed that Xavior is making saves at a 63-percent clip through the T-Birds’ first five games. Carpenter believes that Xavior is emblematic of North Branford’s commitment to success on the defensive end of the field.
“As a team, we are giving up far less goals per game this year than last year with the help of a solid defense and a great backstop in Xavior,” says Carpenter. “Our defense has done a great job of only giving up low-percentage shots to opposing teams.”
Xavior says that Coach Carpenter has taught him a lot about lacrosse. Xavior appreciates how Carpenter keeps his spirits high when the going gets tough in goal.
“He’s done so much for me, and I wouldn’t be half as good if not for him. He inspires me to keep going and have a quick memory when a goal is scored,” says Xavior. “Thanks to him, I can easily forget it and keep playing.”
Xavior was selected to represent North Branford as one of the team’s captains this year. The junior feels honored that his hard work put him in a position to be a leader for the Thunderbirds.
“It’s a great honor. It’s really cool to think I’m only a junior and have another whole year to do my thing,” Xavior says. “It’s a cool feeling to have kids on the team look up to me and just have somebody they can ask questions. I like keeping the guys’ intensity level up.”
With a season and a half of lacrosse still to come, Xavior just wants to continue progressing in net and help North Branford win its fair share of games.
“My main goal is to get better and really perfect everything I can,” says Xavior. “Whether it’s how I’m holding my stick, staying high on a shot, I just want to be the best goalie I can be for my team.”