2014 Season Recap!

The 2014 season came to an end following a close 9-8 defeat to rival Dr. Phillips in the state playoffs.   Despite the gut-wrenching end to the campaign, the Warriors managed to put together one of the most successful seasons in school history.  In the end, the Warriors set a new standard with 15 wins and won a district championship for a school record third-straight year.

These accomplishments are even more notable due to the fact that the Warriors were dealt a tough hand from the get-go with numerous injuries throughout the season.  In fact, there was not one instance in which all the members of the varsity team ever practiced or played together during the season.  Even though cohesiveness amongst the players was never established thanks to the ever-rotating line-ups from game-to-game, the Warriors kept fighting through all the hurdles placed in front of them.  A lot of credit is due to the captains and the rest of the seniors who worked hard to make sure those who played were ready.  The team entered the season with two pillars of belief:  Trust and Believe.  It’s a fact that the Warriors would not have been as successful this season if the players didn’t trust and believe in each other. 

In addition to winning a school record 15 games and a third-straight district title, the Warriors had other team accomplishments to brag about at the end of the year.  Defensively, as a unit, the Warriors saw a lot of turnover in the line-up from game to game.  However, thanks to the senior leadership from goalie Tyler Barreto and d-poles Trenton McGee and Trevor Peters the Warriors posted the best defensive squad in school history, allowing only 5.20 goals per game.  Much of the Warriors’ success can be attributed to commanding possession each game.  This was due to the sheer domination at face-offs by senior Grant Malquist and freshman Zach Malaussena.  As a team, the Warriors won a school-record 280 face-offs.  Finally, a milestone was reached in the victory over Lyman when Malquist scored the 3,000^th goal in school history.

A number of individual accomplishments were made throughout the season, including a few career records.  Here’s a breakdown of the season by position:

ATTACK 

Back in 2011, Nick Poidomani became only the third freshman to start at attack under Coach Baker.  Now that his career has come to an end, Poidomani leaves with a number of career marks established – despite missing four games his senior year due to injury and playing in the district tournament with an injured knee.  In total, Poido holds the career record for points (309), goals (157) and assists (152).  He also owns the season record for assists (53) that he set his junior season.  Additionally, Poido turned in one of the best individual performances ever in a game by matching the school record of 12 points (6g/6a) in a victory over Holy Trinity Episcopal.  He finished the year with a team-best 89 points and 36 assist and was second in goals with 53.  For his effort this season, Nick earned All-Metro Conference honors for the second-straight year and was named first-team All-District.  Poidomani will leave his mark at WO as the most prolific offensive player in school history, setting the standard for future Warriors to strive towards.

The one constant throughout the season at attack was senior Connor McElvaney.  The second-year varsity member produced one of the best single-season improvements by leading the team in goals (57) and was second in points (75).  The 1^st-Team All-District honoree will leave WO ranking 10^th all-time in points, goals and assists despite only playing two years of varsity lacrosse.  It can be said that without Lil’ Mac’s production at attack this season, a number of games could have gone the wrong way.

Connor McElvaney led the Warriors with 57 goals.

Junior Bailey Sarp exploded onto the scene last year with an impressive 64 goals at midfield.  This year, he made the transition to attack.  However, off-season surgery on his feet slowed down the progress of the lefty sharp-shooter and caused him to miss a number of games early on and only play limited time during others.  Despite the physical set-back, Sarp was still able to turn in an impressive performance, notching 41 goals and 10 assists.  He was named as a 2^nd-Team All-District honoree. 

While Nick Poidomani was only the third freshman to start at attack for Coach Baker, Liam Mueller became the fourth this season.  The scrappy attackman contributed seven goals and six assists while earning a starting spot at the beginning of the season.  With the return of Sarp, Mueller’s minutes wound down.  However, the experience will play dividends for his future as a Warrior.

In a season shrouded in injuries, no one may have suffered more than senior Blake Angione.  After breaking his foot during the preseason, Angione worked to rehab himself back onto the team.  He got cleared the day of the Senior Night game vs. Wekiva and got to start his first game, contributing an assist in the victory. 

Junior Tyler Tanski became the poster child for hard work at the end of the season.  He played the 2014 season on JV, learning the attack position after moving from midfield.  He was brought onto the varsity team following the conclusion of the JV season.  His hard work during varsity practice eventually earned him a starting spot in the state playoffs, in which he contributed an assist during the game while earning great experience.

MIDFIELD

Senior Grant Malquist will leave his mark on the WO record books as the best face-off midfielder in school history.  He led the Warriors with 144 F/O victories this year and set the career standard at 519 wins.  He also attained the career record for ground balls with 292 after finished second on the team this year with 115.  Grant wasn’t just a FOGO for the Warriors, either.  He turned in his best offensive season by notching 18 goals, second-most at midfield, and adding eight assists to earn 1^st-Team All-District honors. 

Grant Malquist set career marks in F/O wins and GBs.

Logan Dyer finished his senior year with his best career performance.  He led the midfield with 31 goals and added 21 assists for a position-best 52 points.  It was the best offensive performance by a midfielder since 2012.  His non-stop motor gave him a lot of valuable minutes on both the offensive and defensive sides of the field.  He collected 80 GBs in total, third-best on the team.  Dyer earned All-Metro Conference and 1^st-Team All-District honors for his performance.

If someone is going to challenge Malquist’s records, then freshman Zach Malaussena would be a good pick.  Zach turned in the best freshman midfield performance in WO history.  He ended the season first in GBs (125) and second in assists (29) and F/O wins (125).  Zach complied 36 points, second-most among middies, while anchoring the second line and earned  2^nd-Team All-District honors.  Fellow second-line freshman Danny Luette and Justin Bittenbender gained valuable experience and playing time in their first year.  Luette finished with nine points on the season to go along with an impressive 29 GBs.  Bittenbender collected five points.

Zach Malaussena led the midfield with 29 assists and 125 GBs.

Sophomore Hunter Fromberg continued to develop at a young age, gaining playing time throughout the season, included a number of games on the first line.  He ended the year with nine points.  Senior Danny Perez played nearly every game this season and set the sideline on fire when he scored his first career goal for WO against Lyman.  Junior first-year varsity letterman Blake Frazier got his first taste of varsity lacrosse and also scored his first career goal.

Senior Spencer Craig and junior Jason Gise were among the unfortunate to see their playing time cut down due to injuries.  Craig scored two goals in the season opener before a broken arm ended his season.  Gise began the season on the first line before going down to injury after the second game.  He returned near the end the season, but was never back to full health.  His offensive and defensive production was sorely missed, yet he still was able to tack-on nine points for the year.

DEFENSE

Senior Trenton McGee proved to be a leader throughout the season for the defensive unit.  McGee will go down as perhaps the best on-ball defender at WO thanks to his tenacious stick checks and ability to cause turnovers.  He was second amongst d-poles in GBs with 63 and created many scoring opportunities from his transition play, leading to three assists on the year.  McGee was awarded All-Metro Conference and 1^st-Team All-District honors for his efforts.

Trenton McGee earned All-Metro and 1st-Team All-District honors.

Fellow senior defenseman Trevor Peters made the most out of his only season on the varsity squad.  After starting the season at LSM, Peters moved down to close defense and continued his punishing defensive ways on attackmen.  Peters proved even more valuable in the ground ball game, leading all d-poles in GBs with 78.  He often would turn GBs into transition chances and assisted on two goals.  Trevor was named as a 2^nd-Team All-District honoree.

Freshman Alex Kouchalakos earned a starting spot on defense and never relinquished it, gaining valuable experience and playing time throughout the year.  His man-down goal early in the second half against Buchholtz helped spark the comeback victory.  Junior Matt Cohn played a utility role on defense, filling in at both close and LSM, as needed.  The second-year varsity player showed how well he improved during the offseason in all 20 games and assisted on one goal.  Jake Fromberg was another freshman on defense who earned a mid-season call-up from JV.  Jake saw action in eight games and also earned valuable experience with the varsity squad.  

Fellow junior Josh Haith played the majority of the season as the Warriors’ starting LSM.  The speedster improved throughout the season and displayed great lock-down defense at the midfield.  He assisted a goal in the big victory over The First Academy at the end of the season.  Haith earned Honorable Mention All-District honors.  Senior Adam Honour split time with Haith at LSM, making the most out of his one season at WO.  The athletic LSM proved to be a valuable asset to the team and garnered two assists. 

Josh Haith with a defensive clear.

GOALIE

Many questions were asked heading into the season regarding the starting goalie position.  Senior Tyler Barreto provided answers to those questions.  The 2^nd-Team All-District honoree compiled a 13-5 record while seeing time in the cage in 19 games.  He was impressive with a 63% save percentage, tallying 165 saves overall.  He leaves WO with a single-season school record of 5.05 goals against average amongst qualifying goalies.  He is also 10^th all-time in saves.

Tyler Barreto set a record with a 5.05 GAA.

Junior Garrett Burns saw a lot of time in the cage as Barreto’s back-up.  Burns was 2-0 in his only two starts and saw action in seven games all season.  He posted a save percentage of 65% and a goals against average of 1.14.  His season highlight came in the game against Lyman in which he led the Warriors to their only shutout of the season.