Dryden boys lacrosse developing young roster

Dryden boys lacrosse is a program that certainly skews on the younger side, with 10 sophomores compared to just one junior and four seniors. That makes a year like this, when teams are playing shortened seasons, critical to the future of the program.

Thus far, Dryden is 1-2 this season and coming off a tightly contested 8-5 loss to Watkins Glen. Going from a team last year that was set to have five strong seniors — including current Tompkins Cortland Community College players Braden Russell and Ethan Hicks — to one that is led by youth is a noticeable shift, but Barillaro is embracing the growth mindset for this season.

“I wish we had a season last year — we would have had a phenomenal team,” Barillaro said. “[Hicks’] class would have done a lot for our program to teach these younger kids. But there’s nothing I can do about it except move forward. There’s a lot of room for growth in all of them. We really have to get the knowledge of the sport in their heads, situational stuff. Hopefully, in a couple of years when they’re seniors, we’ll be a lot more competitive.”

The growth of the team was seen in Monday’s loss to Watkins Glen as they battled back from a rough third quarter to cut the deficit from three goals to just one goal. Barillaro discussed the difference that allowed them to make a comeback late.

“They started listening to myself and coach [Matt] Williams about cutting off-ball, moving their feet, keeping their sticks up,” Barillaro said. “The defense played a phenomenal second half, I thought, especially when we were in the defensive zone for a majority of that third quarter. But we had little victories. We’re pushing all the small, little things to them right now.”

On the offensive side of the ball, Zak Eshelman and Noble Cator-Szymanski tallied goals, but Owen Humphrey was the star of the show on Monday with the only hat trick from either team. Barillaro discussed his effectiveness.

“He’s a senior,” he said. “We need the seniors to really step up and lead the team, and Owen did that [against Watkins Glen]. He showed a lot of heart. He played a lot of the game, and I don’t ever expect my athletes to play the whole game. But he’s one of our captains and he knows the sport.”

Dryden’s goalkeeper, sophomore Hajo Wise, was also a standout player for the Lions on Monday, making a great number of saves while facing consistent pressure from Watkins Glen.

“Hajo is a very well-rounded goalie,” Barillaro said. “He is a goalie for soccer too, so he kind of combines the two. He knows what he has to do. He’s just very smart. I coached him on modified, and he kept us in a lot of those games as well. He’s got a lot of potential and he could go places to play in this sport.”

While the growth of the younger players is the main goal of the team this year, the presence of Section IV playoffs gives the team a tangible accomplishment to strive for. They’ll be reaching for that goal without the presence of coach Barillaro for the bulk of the season.

“It’s nice that we get to play sectionals,” Barillaro said. “Unfortunately, I’m going to miss about six or seven games. I’ve got my annual [National Guard] training coming up. It stinks that I’m not going to be here, but I’m going to be with them in spirit. Obviously, coach Williams will take the helm, and we just want to win each quarter. We’re focused on each 25-meter target, which is each quarter, each practice, and we are just going to move on as we hit each target.”

After Dryden hits all its targets this year, the roster will certainly be replenished by the strong youth program present in the town, with a freshman, Ben Wojcik, already on the varsity roster and scoring a goal on Monday.

“It’s huge,” Barillaro said. “Right now, I think we’ve got 40 youngsters signed up for this youth season. Myself, coach Williams, our modified coach, coach [Donald] Davis and coach [Erik] Eshelman down on the youth level, we’re all kind of preaching the same thing. We want it so they learn it down at the sixth-grade level, just as they’re about to come up to modified. Then in modified, we tweak them to be a little bit more focused on stick skills and situational stuff and the terminology so when they get to me, they already know everything.”

Having that constant stream of talent has made a positive impact on many programs across many sports around Section IV, especially when the coaches are in sync like Dryden’s. The varsity team will continue its season later this week when they host Ithaca on Friday and Horseheads on Saturday.