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| Wolcott’s coaching staff and players look on before the second half of Monday’s match at St. Paul. Chris Hayes, middle, is the head coach. (Copyright, Sports on CT-69) |
Wolcott boys lacrosse has had a tough two-match stretch against Holy Cross and St. Paul.
The Eagles lost 12-11 in sudden death overtime to the Crusaders at home last Friday, then were drubbed 16-2 by the Falcons on Monday. The losses dropped Wolcott to 2-3 on the season.
The Eagles had bigger struggles to worry about up until the season began. Wolcott was officially without a head coach until March 20, when Chris Hayes was approved at a Special Board of Education meeting. Hayes took over for former head coach Sam Glaser. Glaser’s resignation was approved at the Oct. 10, 2017, Board of Education meeting. Glaser has since become a coach of Nonnewaug’s club lacrosse team.
Hayes is the head coach of the junior varsity football team. Anthony Bell and Dean Bard were approved as volunteer assistant lacrosse coaches at the same March 20 BOE meeting.
It was a quick adjustment period for the new coaches and their players, given that the first official day for practice was three days earlier on March 17. For those who played last season, Hayes is their second head coach in just two varsity seasons.
The season opener against St. Paul on April 4 was a rough one. Wolcott followed it up, however, with two straight wins over Bristol Central on April 5 and Vinal Tech on April 13.
Wolcott’s seniors, according to the CIAC roster, are Joseph Bly, Michael Harkin, Colin Pawlak, Nathan Lucas, Ryan Audibert, Nicholas Welton and Justin Thibeau.
PHOTOS: Click here to see photos from Monday’s match against St. Paul.
A DYNAMIC DUO FOR HOLY CROSS
The Crusaders picked up a 6-4 road win over Watertown on Monday night, and two players were once again at the center of the action.
Senior Dillon Sanzari and junior Alex Ward each scored two goals for Holy Cross. Sanzari and Ward lead the Crusaders with 12 goals apiece, according to stats posted on MaxPreps.
Ward is also very strong on faceoffs. He has won 32 of 46 faceoffs, or 69.6 percent.
If there’s an assist on a goal for Holy Cross, it generally comes from freshman Danny Mara. Mara had an assist on Monday and leads the team with 11.
Junior goalie Justin Bebarski tallied 16 saves for Holy Cross on Monday. He has 57 in five matches in this season.
Sanzari and fellow seniors Rich Blanco, Manny Diorio and Cam Cooney are counted upon to grab groundballs. Sophomore Jack Villano has also contributed in that department.
