St. John’s Lacrosse Looking for Redemption in Playoffs
Thursday, May 24, 2012
One of the perennial powers of Central Mass, St. John’s is one of the favorites to win the district year in and year out. But, a dominant season by defending Central Mass champion Algonquin and impressive runs by both Grafton and Tyngsborough have the Pioneers taking a back seat.
That’s perfectly fine with St. John’s coach Terry Leary.
“We would have liked to have had the kind of regular season that would have made us the favorites, but in the end it doesn’t matter,” Leary said. “We play a tough schedule every year, so we don’t worry about where we are seeded (in the playoffs). Day in and day out, we’re just trying to play at a playoff level.”
The Pioneers (14-4) seemed to be playing at a playoff level for the majority of the season, but struggled down the stretch against some of the state’s better teams. St. John’s opened the year with a narrow loss at Algonquin, but then rolled off eight straight wins. The Pioneers then ran into upstart Grafton and fell 11-8.
St. John’s followed that loss with five straight wins, but a trip to Longmeadow and Round Two against Algonquin netted them back-to-back defeats.
“I think we were playing out best lacrosse a little bit earlier in the year,” junior goalie Andrew Arnold said. “It’s just a mental thing, I think. Getting beaten by Longmeadow and Algonquin was a wake up call for us, and hopefully we can get back to playing the way we were.”
“That’s what happened to us last year,” Desko said. “So, the two regular season wins help for rankings and confidence, but when it comes down to it, what you do in the playoffs is what really matters.”
The Pioneers will discover their postseason fate tomorrow morning when the playoff brackets are released. Leary sees his team as a happy median between other top teams in the area. The Pioneers are not trying to run quite as much a Grafton, but look to score more in transition than defensive-minded Algonquin.
“We want to play in transition out of our defense,” Leary said. “But we want to slow it down when the other team has the ball and make it more of a six-on-six game.”
Regardless of how they plan to do it, everyone at St. John’s is in agreement that anything less than a Central Mass championship would be a letdown.
“It’s definitely different this year, going to the playoffs after losing to Algonquin twice,” Desko said. “But our expectations are the same. At the beginning of the year I said that anything less than a district title would be a disappointment, and I still feel that way.”
“Once you qualify for the district tournament, winning the title is everyone’s goal,” Leary said. “There’s no intermediate prize and there are no moral victories.”
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