St. Peter-Marian Lacrosse Trying to Start Games Quicker

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Friday, April 20, 2012

Joe Parello, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

The lacrosse team at St. Peter-Marian knows it has offensive firepower, but also knows that it cannot reach its potential if it doesn’t compete for the entire game.

“We know we’re capable of scoring 13 or 14 goals a game,” coach Michael McAuliffe said. “But if we don’t get going until 10 minutes in, we only end up scoring six or seven goals.”

In an attempt to get his team going early on in games, McAuliffe and his staff have turned to more physical warm up drills, among other methods. Thus far it has not worked, but the coach acknowledges that this is not a new problem.

“As coaches, we’re seeing what we can do to start quicker,” McAuliffe said. “It’s a problem that we’ve had for going on three years now here, and we can play with anybody, but we can’t give them a head start.”

Finding Timely Scoring

It has been these slow starts that have limited the Guardians to just over seven goals a game during their 2-2 start to the season. Their most recent game, a 7-6 defeat at the hands of Hudson, was an example of another problem the Guardians have been having. They have not gotten the timely scoring their coach desires.

“We have to figure out how to put things together when we really have to,” McAuliffe said. “At the end of games, we need to be able to close things out.”

Sophomore Brett LeClair is one of Central Mass' rising stars.

A Budding Star

Despite struggling at times, the Guardians are a much improved team from last year. St. Peter-Marian went only 4-12 in 2011, and this year’s squad has one of the rising stars of Central Mass.

Sophomore Brett LeClair started the season quickly with three goals over Worcester Combined and has not slowed down, scoring at least two goals in each of St. Peter-Marian’s games. His 10 goals lead the Guardians, and McAuliffe is excited about his development.

“Brett LeClair has been a really good player for us,” McAuliffe said. “He’s an excellent scorer, and he’s always getting better.”

Key Players

But the Guardians will not be able to win on the back of LeClair’s scoring alone. McAuliffe is looking for midfielder Ryan Garvey to help tie the whole team together, and Conor Breeden is another dangerous scoring threat at attacker. Dylan Forss returns to command a defense that has been solid all season.

Despite the slow starts, McAuliffe is confident in his team, and thinks the year still holds great promise.

“We want to win districts, we’ve got to make the playoffs,” McAuliffe said. “We have a solid defense, and it’s just about playing a full 48 minutes. If we start games fast and play from minute one to the last minute of the game, we can get there.”

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• St. Peter-Marian Growing Into a Champion
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• Milford Lacrosse’s Offensive Coming Together

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