Peabody HIgh Boys Lacrosse Looks to Rebound

Long recognized as one of the top programs in the region, the Peabody Veterans Memorial High School Boy’s Lacrosse team is looking to get back on track this spring after a disappointing 2010 season.

Despite an experienced defense, the Tanners finished under .500 for the first time in six years last spring, falling victim to inconsistency in a strong division. Coach Kevin Holden will welcome back  his defensive core this season, something he hopes will return the team to its familiar place atop the division.

“We have a lot of experience defensively with all of our starters coming back this season,” he said. “My expectations are to get back in to the tournament and to league championship contention. We underperformed last season. We are in a very strong league and it caught up to us last year.”

Holden will welcome four senior captains this season, midfielders Jay Connolly and Greg Celentano and defensemen Gonzalo Tolosa and Anthony Carpinelli. For all of the experience on defense, though, the squad will have to adapt to a change in net this season as senior Luke Grayson will replace J.P. Oulette as the team’s goaltender.

“Luke has been performing well so far,” said Holden. “He has some big shoes to fill with us losing JP who did a tremendous job for us last year.”

Holden is entering his 23rd year with the team, his 17th as head coach.  With the popularity of the sport booming at schools across the region, he predicts another challenging year for his group, but expressed confidence they can compete at a championship level.

“I think the league is going to be strong again this year,” he said. “ I think that we are very well balanced this year and ready to make a run.”