CLASSROOM: Up and down seasons for lacrosse teams

    Students, faculty, and parents alike look forward to each sports season at Waltham High School.  With lacrosse growing more and more prominent every year, it has quickly become a big time sport at Waltham High School, and 2007 was no different.
    As the popularity of the sport rapidly grows, so do the expectations of varsity boys lacrosse coach Stephen Duffy. Despite "fantastic contributions by the senior players", the team fell short of expectations in 2007. For the second straight season, the Hawks finished with a record of 3-15. The record may be a little misleading since the Hawks played 16 tournament-bound teams this season and, according to Duffy, "had some hard fought losses with one of the toughest schedules in (Eastern Massachusetts)".
Although the team fell short of expectations, there is still a sense of optimism in the air for both Duffy and the players returning next season.
The second leading scorer on the team this season, attackman Tim Doolin, who is a junior, said, "We have a solid  group of players coming back next year and hopefully we can turn things around."
Sophomore midfielder D.J. Nurse, echoed Doolin’s thoughts. "We did not end the season very well this year but we’re a very young team. Most of our starters are returning next season and things look pretty good for the future" said the team’s third-leading scorer.
Even though the players and the coaching staff are confident that they can have a better season next year, they know that it won’t be easy. "It was a tough year and we need to a lot this off-season to get back to the level of play that we used to be at" explained junior Marco Duca, the starting goalie.
It will be interesting to see if the confidence shown by players and coaches translates into victories on the field next season for Duffy’s squad.
    Although it may seem like sometimes girls lacrosse takes a backseat to the boys, the Lady Hawks proved in ’07 that they should not be overlooked. The Lady Hawks were able to put together a successful season with a 13-6-1 record and a spot in the tournament. The team won their first tournament game against Lexington but fell to undefeated Framingham, which earned the top seed in the tournament.  It was easy to see the pride on varsity goalie Amanda Tedford’s face when she spoke about the season after it was over.
 "It was a successful season and I am proud of the girls and what we accomplished as a team during this year. We achieved our goals and after looking back at the season, I feel really honored to be a part of the team we had this year."
Going into what would be their final game of the year, Tedford described her emotions as "excited but nervous at the same time."
Tedford believes that the team would have advanced farther in the tournament if they did not have to play the dominant Framingham. Most of the players on the team are confident that they can have another successful season next year and advance farther in the tournament. Tedford shared her excitement for the future and confidence in her teammates when saying "After watching the way we played against Framingham and how hard we fought, I am pretty confident that we can contend with any team in the state."
    I guess we will find out in 2008.