Lacrosse notebook: Close-knit Wakefield boys off to sizzling start

Wakefield s boys lacrosse campaign has shown grit and determination since Day of the spring It s the primary reason the Warriors have burst onto the scene as one of the state s top up-and-coming groups to watch I think the biggest thing that I have noticed about this group is how close they are noted Wakefield coach Andy Wells This is a band where every guy on it are legitimately friends which you don t invariably get at the high school level You can tell how long they ve all played together they ve grown up playing sports hockey football lacrosse together their whole lives These guys are really close and they play really hard for each other The scrappy bunch has blazed to a - start Wakefield s last truly memorable season came in That spring the Warriors made a run to the Div North sectional final before falling to Beverly They also had specific success in before faltering to eventual Div champion Longmeadow in the Round of After a stint coaching youth lacrosse in Wilmington Wells took over the plan in He had prior club coaching experience and had managed a few of the North Shore s upcoming talent over the years The opportunity was intriguing I knew growing up Wakefield perpetually had strong lacrosse programs especially at the youth level stated Wells They had a run where they were really really strong in high school It s a town that is passionate about their sports Good athletic department good administration so it was a pretty easy choice Everybody is pulling in the same direction They want the programs to be triumphant so there is a lot of encouragement there That was really the biggest thing for me The Warriors responded by making the Div playoffs but dropped their opening round meeting to a very tough Foxboro squad - However a new custom was being constructed and more athletes suddenly longed to join the activity On top of things the Warriors only graduated one member from their roster A limited new faces were added to the squad and confidence began to build as Wakefield won its first nine games in dominant fashion I think our key is indeed wanting to win this year reported Wakefield junior captain Seamus Cable Having the determination as a club and bringing it to practice everyday I think we re really close on the field and became closer as a crew even more so than last year Cable has already amassed goals and assists this spring The junior eclipsed career points this past week during a challenge with Winchester Wakefield has also been propelled offensively by John Scarpello goals assists On the defensive end Tommy DeFeo has been a spark plug with caused turnovers and ground balls Meanwhile JP Casey has caused turnovers and ground balls to go with three goals In the MIAA s latest set of Div boys lacrosse power rankings issued Friday Wakefield was seeded seventh with a unit rating of We know that we still have a lot to prove Casey reported A lot of people already at the beginning of the year had us crossed out They didn t think we were going to be anything special Now we have a target on our backs We re embracing it The Middlesex League might be one of the state s top fields but the Warriors would not have it any other way Now they look to close the spring strong before entering Div playoff contention We ve just got to come out and play our battle mentioned Cable Let the scoreboard do the talking Wakefield has seen great success in sports such as football Is this the point where its lacrosse company follows suit I would like to hope so noted Wells The group that we have right now they re motivated They re bought-in They want to have a flourishing season and finish off their high school career strong Only time will tell