2011 Mepham Lacrosse Previews

Girls Lacrosse

2010 Record: 13-3 (Lost to Division in the first round of the Class B playoffs)

Head Coach: Geraldine O'Brien (Fourth season)

Assistant Coach: Marybeth Vetro (Fourth season). 

2011 Conference: B-II

Top Players: Cristina Olson, Jayme Batcher and Ashley Appel.

Expectations: The Lady Pirates went 12-0 in conference play last season and won Conference V before being bounced in the first round of the playoffs by a very tough Division team.

However, the conferences have been realigned this season and Mepham will need to have its foot on the gas all season long if it wants to return to the playoffs.

"It's a new organized conference, so we have to see how we play. We're really excited to go out and play teams that we haven't been able to play before because they were higher than us. We would like to see our team elevate this year and play those tough teams in the conference."

The Lady Pirates have to finish in the top half of the conference, which coach O'Brien said was the team's overall goal.

Big Games: March 28 @ Sewanhaka, 4:30 p.m.; April 29 @ New Hyde Park, 4:30 p.m.; May 5 vs. Kennedy (senior day), 4:30 p.m.

"New Hyde Park is always a challenge for us," O'Brien said. "They're a strong team with a history of championships, so I always look forward to playing them -- plus, it's my hometown."

News & Notes: The Lady Pirates' starting lineup will consist of roughly eight to nine underclassmen out of 12 positions on opening day.

"We're a very young team," O'Brien said. "... But the talent is in the youth. It's not that we're stuck going to them, we're choosing to go to them because a lot of the talent lies in the freshman and sophomores."

From defense to offense, the Mepham youth movement, combined with enough veteran leadership, should be more than enough for the Lady Pirates to make a run in the playoffs.

Boys Lacrosse

2010 Record: 5-11 (Lost to No. 2 Garden City in the first round of the Class B playoffs)

Head Coach: James Koester (Fifth season)

Assistant Coaches: Tom Mazeika

2011 Conference: B-I

Top Players: Chris Shevins, Vinny Moryc and Brian Monks.

"We have three seniors that we're going to expect to do a lot, not just with leading to be leaders, but we're going to expect them to do a heck of a lot on the field," Koester said.

Expectations: The Pirates went 3-5 in league play last season and are ranked eighth heading into the 13-team Conference B-I this season. The team plays a 15-game schedule with eight league games, and every one of them counts.

"I expect us to be 4-4 in the league," Koester said. "I think we definitely have a chance to go 5-3. ... I think 4-4 is probably where we're looking to be, right in the middle there."

Mepham also has a tough non-league schedule against teams like East Meadow, Floral Park and Hewlett, which should help strengthen the team in its quest to reach the playoffs again.

Big Games: April 13 vs. Great Neck South, 4:30 p.m.; April 30 @ Roslyn, 10 a.m.; May 10 vs. Division, 4:30 p.m.

News & Notes: Junior goalie Brandon Lazarus played every game as a sophomore and will be expected to lead his team in net again this season. Koester said he hopes Lazarus has learned from last season and elevates his game even more this season.

Along with Shevins, Moryc and Monks, Koester said he needs his role players to be focused this year and contribute when called upon.

"We have a really nice group of kids," he said. "... Outside of those three guys, if everyone else can kind of be 'role guys' and limit the mistakes, I think that we can be okay. So far it's been a good first seven or eight days of practice."