This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
05/12/2023 07:01 AMFor Old Saybrook boys’ lacrosse Head Coach Jon Mason, senior Carson Percival is a player on his team that he would not want to face due to his resiliency, dedication to the sport, and constant dominance on the field.
“I played attack, which would go against his position, and I would not want to go against him,” Mason says. “He is relentless, it’s almost unfair. He uses his weight to his advantage, he’s a strong kid and quick as heck. He’s an impressive kid to watch.”
Carson’s stingy defensive play has helped lead Old Saybrook boys’ lacrosse to its first state playoff berth since 2017 this spring and earned him Sports Person of the Week honors. He says this season has been rewarding to be able to be around his teammates and be a part of something special.
“It’s been huge to go from a team that’s not really known for success to one that’s qualifying for the playoffs pretty early,” Carson says. “It’s special to be a part of.”
Carson’s stellar play has placed the Rams above the .500 winning percentage for the first time since he’s been with the program. Mason says Carson has matured over the years and has been integral to the team’s success.
“Each season has been so different,” Mason says. “The first Carson I met, he was a quiet kid, private and a bit reckless. He’d be on the field quickly and end up in the penalty box and be upset at himself. The next season he took a lot of time to really work at his craft and just got better and better and this year, he’s been named team captain. Doing that in lacrosse is really tough. Lacrosse is a sport that values patience and consistency, it takes a while to figure it out and make it click and he’s done it with a knack that really impresses me. I’m a big fan.”
For Carson, being captain has been an adjustment. He explains that he got a taste of captaincy in the fall, but still, differences remained that he needed to work through.
“It was a little bit tough at first,” says Carson. “I was captain on the football team, so I knew what to expect but it’s a different group of guys. They don’t really respect you right away, you’ve got to earn it.”
Although the senior has more than earned his teammates’ respect through his play, carrying out the duties of a captain can still be a shift from his usual demeanor.
“I’ve always been one of those guys that leads by example and what I do on the field instead of being a, ‘yay, rah-rah,’ type of guy,” Carson says. “So I’ve had to step into a role where I’m more vocal and leading everything on defense. Just have to talk a little more than I’m used to.”
Mason says that Carson has handled the role as captain well and impressed on the field, too. Carson is leading the team in turnovers caused and ground balls.
“He’s playing at such a high level now,” Mason says. “He leads our team in ground balls, in caused takeaways, which is probably one of the most surprising aspects.”
Carson’s put in a lot of hours to hone his skills. He says he started playing lacrosse in the sixth grade after getting inspired to pick up the stick by a family member.
“What inspired me to play lacrosse is my younger brother,” Carson says. “He started the year before I started and I wasn’t very good at baseball so I decided to give lacrosse a shot and was naturally pretty decent at it.”
Carson’s little brother, Wesley, shares the field with him, too, playing for the Rams as a sophomore this year.
“He stepped on the field as a freshman and was a starting faceoff guy which was pretty awesome to see,” Carson says. “He’s obviously a little bit of an inspiration to me.”
Now as a senior captain, Carson is leading the Rams’ defense and working to establish a winning culture alongside Mason, who began coaching the team when Carson was a freshman. The junior says he has an amazing relationship with his coach.
“We got there at the same time so it’s been cool to see that he’s watching the program develop at the same time as me,” Carson says. “It’s been cool to share that; he comes to me for advice, I go to him for advice, we bounce ideas off each other. It’s been great to have someone who is in the same boat as you.”
Even though Mason says he wouldn’t want to face Carson, high school competitors don’t have that choice. Carson says he tries to use his well-honed stick handling skills to his advantage each game.
“A lot of defensive guys are a bit thicker than I am so I have to use what I got,” Carson says. “I’ve worked a lot on stick skills and using the stick as a weapon almost, being able to take what I don’t have physically and make up for it with playing ability and stick handling.”
Being a student of the game, Carson says he devotes most of his time to improving.
“It’s a lot of hours in the backyard, hitting a wall, playing wall ball and shooting around,” Carson says. “Watching other people play, getting creative, going out and trying stuff. It’s a lot of experimentation.”
His hard work extends off the field as well, as Carson has aggressively pursued the prospects of playing collegiate lacrosse. He is committed to play at Massachusetts Maritime Academy and earned every bit of exposure by reaching out to coaches.
“Coming from Old Saybrook, we’re not much of a lacrosse powerhouse, we don’t have guys going out to Division 3 or Division 1, so as a player looking to play in college you have to be proactive instead of looking to get recruited,” Carson says. “I’ve had some schools I wanted to go to, so I looked up their lacrosse coaches, sent them a text or an email and just got on their radar and hoped for the best.”
Mason says he gladly touted Carson’s attributes to college coaches.
“He was relentless in how he pursued college coaches,” Mason says. “He reached out to a lot of coaches that reached out to me, so I’ve had a lot of conversations about Carson and I’m thrilled he’s going on to play ball at Mass Maritime.”
Carson has the rest of this season and the next to enjoy high school, play the game he loves and prepare for life as a college lacrosse player. Until then, the junior says he’s going to continue to perfect his craft.
“Nowadays (lacrosse is) consuming my life,” Carson says. “I get home from practice, play in the backyard, I eat dinner, go to bed, go back to school, back to practice, wash, rinse and repeat. It’s either school, food or lacrosse all the time in the spring, it’s all I do. It’s pretty awesome.”