The boys’ lacrosse team fell to Merritt Island 17-2 Tuesday.

“The reason we lost isn’t because of effort because everyone worked their butt off. The only problem is we are young and haven’t learned each other’s tendencies yet,” sophomore Chance Baker said. “We are growing and bonding as a team though. It’s just hard because we have such a wide range [of ages on the team].

The boys have attended practice and worked on their skills, but the effort doesn’t seem to be enough at the moment.

“I thought we played relatively well,” sophomore Thomas Kendrick said. “I also thought we were at a disadvantage because we were missing a lot of players. And half way through the game we lost Ryan.”

The boys also do not yet know how to  handle aggressive plays.

“Merritt Island played very dirty and the refs called nothing, especially whenRyan Bellone was hit in the diaphragm and couldn’t breathe,” sophomore Jack Moore said.

Bellone retrieved the ball and was running up the side when a Merritt Island struck Bellones, a sophomore, in the stomach with his stick.

“I was clearing the ball towards our side, and the kid starts slashing me in the chest pads,” Bellone said. “Then he brought the stick behind his back with one hand and then laid it into me right under the chest pads. I fell to the ground and couldn’t breathe. I played until I was subbed out and then went back in, but still couldn’t breathe. I ran over to my parents and they took me to the ER and the doctor told me to take it easy for a while.”

Even though the team continues to lose, senior Wesley Finch said he sees  improvement.

“I think we are starting to get better as each game goes on,” he said. “We don’t really have the skills to compete with the other teams in our district, but we are starting to get our passing better and being able to move the ball around offense. Our defense still needs lots of work on being able to stop players from getting so many open shots. I think as time goes on, in just a few years we will be better.”

Senior Robert Pagen also sees hope for a turnaround.

“Well we got crushed as usual, but I scored so that was pretty cool,” he said. “Our offense looked better, but not great, and our defense looked worse. It’s just going to take some time for us to compete with other varsity teams.”

Junior Ethan Miles says the team is learning to keep its heads up high and to be patient

“From looking at the game itself, anyone would say it was a pretty [sorry] game, but as a whole and compared to other games this season, we played more as a team, more organized and had better control of the ball when we were on offense,” junior Ethan Miles said. “The thing to remember is that this is our second year playing, and from a player’s point of view, we played well, but not well enough.”

By Mary Kelly