Claremont
“Those are the ones that really hurt,” Whitney said, pulling down one of her socks to reveal a hideous purple bruise on the side of her lower left leg. “The balls off the head, it hurts for a bit and then it’s gone.”
Whitney was sent home after Tuesday’s NHIAA Division III contest with orders to ice herself all over. Such advice might not be a bad idea for the Cardinals as a whole, for the 16-member team is absorbing its annual pounding. Stevens is 1-9 this spring and 3-63 during the past five seasons.
“You get frustrated and want to give up, but that doesn’t do anything,” said Whitney, whose team has been outscored, 136-26. “You just have to keep going. I try not to take it personally, and it motivates me to try harder in practice.”
The Cardinals are better than during past seasons. It just doesn’t often show up in their scores. Stevens is keeping games closer for longer, but the lack of bodies wears it down. Campbell (4-7) also had an advantage in faceoff whiz kid Dylan Brunelle, who won nearly every draw.
“He was phenomenal,” said sixth-year Stevens coach Jed Hart of the diminutive Cougar with deft hands. “We had to try and react to what he was doing and, at that point, hope is pretty much lost.
“He was not only reading what our (faceoff) guy was doing, he was reading our defenders and (flipping or pushing) the ball out where his teammates needed it to be. Kudos to him; he set the tone.”
Tuesday’s first quarter was competitive, but by halftime the hosts’ lack of substitutes showed in the 9-2 score. Cardinals Logan Bateman and Donovan Putnam scored before intermission, and teammate Chris Lafont tallied after the break.
Stevens is more polished not only in basic skills but can now substitute on the fly without confusion and mostly gets its players into position at the right time. Coordinated execution is still sometimes problematic, especially as the defense tires and the attackmen get few touches.
“It’s the lacrosse IQ that’s missing,” said Hart, a former Division III college player and upstate New York native who teaches in Charlestown. “You have to work hard when you don’t have the ball, and that’s our bugaboo right now.
“Once the ball gets into the offensive end, it’s one or two passes and a turnover. We don’t move and create space for each other. Instead, it’s one or two players trying to dodge an entire team.”
Bateman, the Cardinals’ best player and a junior defenseman who’s forced to clear the ball on foot more than Hart would like, said the level of play around him is clearly rising.
“They’re starting to get it,” he said of his teammates. “They’re catching and passing and taking good shots. Stuff is starting to fall into place, and it should more and more as kids come up through the middle school program.”
Hart said that lower-level team, in place for several years now, has 25 players this spring and that freshmen are arriving with notably better skills and understanding than in past years. Stevens loses only one senior, Scott Foisy, to graduation after this season, and Hart said there are 10 eighth-graders on the middle school team.
“If we had 30 kids to run with their 30 kids today, it might have been different,” Bateman said. “But we can’t buy more players. We have to develop them and deal with what we’ve got.
“I can see more kids with interest and who want to want to be better at lacrosse. In five years, this team could be playoff contenders.”
Notes: Whitney is also a field hockey goaltender and a basketball player. … Bateman began playing for the New Hampshire Tomahawks club lacrosse program last fall and said he’s drawn substantial interest from Division II and III college coaches. … Campbell shots hit the crossbar or posts five times. … First-year Stevens assistant Peter Lynch previously held the same position at Hartford. His presence has been a huge lift to Hart, who has sometimes worked without help in past years. … Stevens has had girls in its program before, including field player Emily Mudge last season and goaltender Caitlin Cullison several years ago. … Former Hartford High and current Colby-Sawyer baseball player Justin Devoid is in his school’s athletic training program and worked Tuesday’s game as part of his education. … Stevens has four games remaining this season… The Cardinals were winless in 2012, 2014 and 2015 and won two games during 2013.
Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com or 603-727-3227.