Old Rochester boys lacrosse looks to keep improving in a building year
Chase Mills catches a ball. Photos by Mari Huglin 
Zach Mann looks on the field. 
James Devoll and Jake Ippini chase down a ball. 
Max Ohrenberger and Jake Iappini at the net. 
Gavin Bellanger looks for the ball. 
Gavin Bellanger and Chase Grillo face off. 
Owen Cooney and Desmond Murphy run on the field. 
Owen Cooney and Desmond Murphy run towards the net. 
Owen Cooney, Desmond Murphy and Gavin Eztevez. 
Owen Harrington and Ben Bartholomew fight for the ball. 
Owen Harrington and Ben Bartholomew break away. 
James Devoll and Zach Mann pick up the ball. 
Chase Grillo and Matt Tobin fight. 
Jake Iappini and Noah Robitaille look for the ball. 
Chase Almeida takes off from a drill.
Chase Mills catches a ball. Photos by Mari Huglin
Zach Mann looks on the field.
James Devoll and Jake Ippini chase down a ball.
Max Ohrenberger and Jake Iappini at the net.
Gavin Bellanger looks for the ball.
Gavin Bellanger and Chase Grillo face off.
Owen Cooney and Desmond Murphy run on the field.
Owen Cooney and Desmond Murphy run towards the net.
Owen Cooney, Desmond Murphy and Gavin Eztevez.
Owen Harrington and Ben Bartholomew fight for the ball.
Owen Harrington and Ben Bartholomew break away.
James Devoll and Zach Mann pick up the ball.
Chase Grillo and Matt Tobin fight.
Jake Iappini and Noah Robitaille look for the ball.
Chase Almeida takes off from a drill.
MATTAPOISETT — With a record of 8-8, the Old Rochester boys lacrosse is looking for wins as they head into the playoffs.
Head Coach Erich Carroll has coached Old Rochester lacrosse for around 15 years. Carroll said the team has done well in their conference, but looks to keep improving.
“We've won the games that we should win,” Carroll said. “We've lost some of the games to better teams that are just better than us.”
The coach said the team has played fairly consistently as a young team, since many of the starting seniors left last year. Only four starters returned making this a “building year” for the team.
Mostly sophomores and juniors, Carroll said the team needs to improve on game strategy and intelligence, but is always there with high effort.
“Their effort is probably the key thing, they're always going out there, they're playing hard,” Carroll said.
Chase Almeida, Nolan Blanchett and Tucker Cook are three senior captains who have worked on building up the young players.
Almeida of Acushnet said the team is tight knit and always works together. He said their team does well at supporting each other and playing defense.
“We build off each other's games and we don't put each other down,” Almeida said.
Blanchett said he hopes the team can get better at scoring and moving the ball more.
Cook of Fairhaven chimed in and said they should focus on being more aggressive at possessing the ball and look to pass before shooting.
The captains’ collective goal is to make it to the second round of the playoffs and hopefully move towards the championship.
Cook is just concerned with their team effort, not with how far the team gets or how many points they score.
“Honestly, put up a fight no matter who we play or how we play,” Cook said. “I don't really care about the score as long as we all gave it our all.”
