Educational Excellence Since 1912
Hamden Hall Country Day School
Educating students in PreSchool through Grade 12

Boys Lax on the Way Back

Bud Kohler
       A year ago, the Hamden Hall Boys Varsity lacrosse team was poised to capture the New England championship crown. Having twice come up short in the final, the 2020 team looked absolutely formidable.

Unfortunately, like so many other teams in the high school world of sports, they never got their opportunity to play a single game, let alone vie for the title. Senior standouts like Alex DiVincentis, Chase Lilly, LJ Pezzolesi, and Zack Giugno graduated brokenhearted, though they have moved on to continue to play in college. A year later with athletics now optional, no team faces a bigger rebuilding task in aspiring to recapture their previous level of excellence. But the job has begun, and the Hornet squad is already buzzing.

     Offensive star Kai Bruneau, midfielder Liam Kohler, and junior longstick Paul Gregory have been named captains for this season. Zach Conlon, one of the transfers who would have added so much to that 2020 team, will serve as the engine at midfield through which the offense will operate. Coach Kevin Warnock is faced, however, with putting a relatively thin and young squad out on the field against some tough competition. Three middle schoolers, in fact, make up a large part of the attack: 8th graders Slade Engstrom and Niko Millhouse, plus 7th grader TJ Nixon. The defense includes some young blood with an imposing freshman Xavier Carter and an equally fierce sophomore Bennett DellaValle  joining Gregory and the ferocious Konye Taylor in front of rookie goalie Tyler Gibson. Newcomer David Pace, steady Colin Gore-Grimes, and speedy John Golioto join Kohler in the relentless job of transitioning back and forth at midfield.

     In their away game debut against King School last Saturday, the Hornets were clearly still getting to know each other and learning the plays as they succumbed to a Viking onslaught with a 16-3 result. Yet the baptism by fire took immediate effect, and by Monday afternoon, the Hornets were already showing vast improvement as they squared off against rival Cheshire Academy. It became clear right away that much of the game would hinge upon the Cats’ ability to handle the threat of Zach Conlon with the ball. The Hornets struck right away and built a 3-1 lead after one quarter. However, the game became a seesaw affair, and HH could never quite pull away. Throughout the game the Hornets would nudge ahead only to see Cheshire respond and stay within reach. As the 4th quarter wound down, and with the game tied, the Hornets had to survive 2 full minutes with a man down. They bent but did not break, showing incredible composure, to force overtime. Within minutes, Conlon found the opportunity to draw all the attention and then slipped a pass to Millhouse, who fired past the sprawled Cats’ keeper for an exciting win.
     Conlon finished with 3 goals and 2 assists. TJ Nixon struck for 2 while both Engstrom and Golioto found the back of the net as well. However, in holding Cheshire to under 10 goals, the story was the total team effort on defense, including 8 saves by Gibson in net. After the game Coach Warnock remarked how well the team responded to their initial setback with a strong delivery in every phase of the game, especially on defense.

     Captain Liam Kohler added,” Yeah, the guys who have been here a while obviously wish we could have had our chance to win it all last year. But we are all working just as hard this year to show what we can do. Coach Sparks and Coach Coffrin are really pushing us, and everyone is responding, including the younger guys. Beating Cheshire the way we did was something special.”
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Hamden Hall Country Day School

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Hamden Hall Country Day School is a nurturing and inclusive community with a dynamic learning environment that promotes academic excellence by understanding each child and fostering their individual growth.