It’s a brand new season of lacrosse at Schreiber High School. Head boys varsity lacrosse coach Tom Rooney and his team are looking to improve from last season’s progress and play deep into the month of May.
The Vikings finished last season with a 9-8 overall record, which placed them fourth in their league. They eventually bowed out to Farmingdale in the quarterfinals. They were unfortunately riddled with a lot of injuries. All 10 starters missed games at some point during the year and some were out for the whole season. Fortunately, other players stepped up and performed well. This provided not only some quality playing time for the boys, but experience as well.
This year, the Vikings are ranked no. 3 in their league. They have 17 seniors and many returning starters. The team has been working hard since last summer to prepare for a very competitive season. “Our league is pretty good top to bottom,” said Rooney. “Most of our league games are pretty challenging and our non-league games are tough.” With games against Massapequa, Syosset, Oceanside, Baldwin and Farmingdale, there are no easy games. Also, the non-league games against Southside, Friend’s Academy, Locust Valley and Calvert Hall from Maryland should be interesting match ups.
The Vikings’ lineup consists of four college bound players in the midfield, Joey Froccaro, who was All-American nominee (Princeton), Luke Cummings, who was All-County nominee (Lafayette), Ryan Garry (UMass-Lowell) and Conor Jenkinson (undecided). They also returned four guys who started at some point on defense, Charlie Scharf, John Neil, Greg Basham and Aidan Finnerty. In the goal is three time All-County Selection Nicky Ferrero. The attack is looking very solid with Chris Athanasian, Seth Obadia, Brian Crawley and John Athanasian up front. “All of our starters are an important piece of the puzzle,” said Rooney.
The key to this year’s success will be to stay healthy. Last season, the team did not start the same lineup in any two games. “We’re probably a little bit deeper this year and a little bit more prepared because of all the injuries last year,” said Rooney. The catalyst for the Vikings this season is to stay healthy and take their game to the next level. “We want to continue to improve and be playing our best lacrosse in May,” said Rooney. The Vikings hosted their first game of the new season at Schreiber High School on March 17. Their first in conference game is scheduled for March 31 at the high school.
