With the school year coming to a close, the seniors on varsity boys lacrosse are ending their final high school semester as an athlete. Luckily, their last season was full of many more successes than failures and the memories will last them a lifetime.

Some teams are easier than others to play, but, as all York students know, it is always the dream to defeat Hinsdale Central—one of the toughest and most talented teams in the conference.

“One of the highlights from this season would be beating Hinsdale Central for the first time at their field,” said senior Nick Thomas.

Although beating Hinsdale Central was agreed amongst the team to be one of their greatest accomplishments, there were other moments that made for a memorable season that involved the team’s incredible ability to work together on the field.

“The top highlight of the year goes to Hutson McCann for making a great defensive strip picking up a ground ball and turning around to pass it to me,” said senior Finn McCarthy. “The only thing is that I wasn’t in goal and the ball goes straight into our own goal.”

It wasn’t all wins for boys lacrosse though. Even when they did lose, they fought back in the next game and showed their true talent.

“The highlight of the season so far has been how this team has handled adversity, specifically how they have fought after a loss,” said Varsity Coach Don Canfield. “After losing to Glenbard West, the team rallied to beat Hinsdale Central and Lyons Township, both in overtime. After a loss to Saint Viator, they came out the next day to beat St. Charles North. Finally, after a tough loss to Saint Ignatius, they came back and beat a very good Glenbrook North team the next game.”

The relationships formed this year, and over the past four years on the team is what the players are going to miss the

most.

“I’m going to miss the companionship the most,” said McCarthy. “As a team, we bond extraordinarily well.”

The team has a lot of events outside of their games and practices where they get together to spend quality time with each other.

“My favorite memory was having the entire team go out for breakfast at Rainbow and just enjoy some flapjacks,” said senior Louis Gianneschi.

Another reason this year’s seniors stand out more than ever before is due to their involvement in other extracurriculars outside of athletics. Being involved in other clubs or activities has seemed to make these boys better lacrosse players

“This group of seniors is very diverse with a wide range of personalities, interests, and skill levels,” said Coach Canfield. “We have players in the band, players involved in school government, players who have gone on to competitions for DECA and Skills USA, players who play multiple sports and others who are focused athletically on lacrosse. Despite all the differences, this group has really managed to come together and play as a team, and thrive as a team.”

It’s been a great season for the boys, and for some senior players, lacrosse does not end with their final season at York coming to a close. Many seniors are going on to play at college. Gavin Vandenberg is going on to play at MIT, Pierceson Mapes and Steve Robertson at Augustana, Nick Thomas and Matt Colagrossi at Monmouth, and Jack Redick at College of Wooster.

Congratulations to all of the senior boys lacrosse players on an incredible final season and good luck at playoffs and on the road to state. Go Dukes!