Malverne-East Rock Boys Lacrosse Ready to Build On Last Season's Success

After finishing last year with a 7-8 conference record, the Malverne-East Rockaway varsity boys lacrosse team has high hopes for this season.

"We bring back many players that last year contributed a ton," said Head Coach Mike Whalen. "They are seniors this year, and are looking to build off of last year's season."

Some of those players include midfielders Niguel Williams, Lionel Matthews and Brian DeMott.

"They should do a lot of the grind-it-out work for us and control the flow of the game," said Whalen. "All three of these guys are good with the stick and are very reliable on the defensive end of the field as well."

Brendan Cross will get the offense going in the right direction playing the attack position.

"He will use his muscular frame to beat guys and will end up drawing many double teams," his coach added.

Two guys who will look to prove themselves after missing their junior seasons because of injuries are Matt Fuller and Jessie Gillespie.

Fuller is a large presence who will ride well and score his fair share of goals.

Gillespie is a shifty attackman who has a good knowledge of the game and good field vision, according to Whalen.

Some more short sticks looking to contribute are Sean O'Hara, Marlon Johnson and Dwayne LaCroix.

"If we play as a team this group offensively should put a lot of points on the board," said Whalen.

The defense will be led by returning goalie Billy Dey.

He will serve as the anchor to an inexperienced defense, who graduated many seniors from last year's team.

"We are hoping the young guys mature quickly and some of our leftover seniors step up to help Billy out."

Some of the defenders include Josh Warner, Adam Reicherter, Quinn Neideckar, Saad Rana, Myles Mays Fletcher and Anthony Lovelace.

"Truth be told, we had some success last year because the kids bought into what we were teaching them," said Whalen. "Hopefully, this year's group will do the same."